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Upon its first appearance in 1895, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure shocked Victorian critics and readers with a frank depiction of sexuality and an unbridled indictment of the institutions of marriage, education, and religion, reportedly causing one Angli-can bishop to order the book publicly burned. The experience so exhausted Hardy that he never wrote a work of fiction again.Rich in symbolism, Jude the Obscure is the story of Jude Fawley and his struggle to rise from his station as a poor Wessex stonemason to that of a scholar at Christminster. It is also the story of Jude's ill-fated relationship with his cousin Sue Bridehead, and the ultimate tragedy that causes Jude's undoing and Sue's transformation. Jude the Obscure explores man's essential loneliness and remains one of Hardy's most widely read novels.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Social life and customs, Death, Pine, Fiction, Unmarried couples, Man-woman relationships, open_syllabus_project, Adultery, Stonemasons, Diseases and pests, Illegitimate children, Children, White pine weevil, Illegitimate children -- Fiction, Unmarried couples -- Fiction, Children -- Death -- Fiction, Adultery -- Fiction, Stonemasons -- Fiction, Wessex (England) -- Fiction, Jude the obscure (Hardy, Thomas), Literature, Jude the obscure, Working class, Education, Spouses, History, British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author), Wessex (england), fiction, England, fiction, Marriage, Social conditions, Manners and customs, Hardy, thomas, 1840-1928, Fiction, historical, Thomas Hardy, conflict, divorce, murder, desertion, English fiction, history and criticism, 19th century, Dictionaries, English language, French, Korean, German, Marriage, fiction, Fiction, sagas, English literature, General, Social stratification, Married people, Ambition, Fiction (English), English fiction, English, Fiction, general, Fiction, historical, general, Didactic fiction, Love stories, Chang pian xiao shuo, Zhong guo, Dang dai, Maçons, Romans, nouvelles, Enfants naturels, Couples non mariés, Enfants, Mort, Romance, Large type books, Hardy, thomas , 1840-1928, Stonemasons--england--wessex--fiction, Adultery--england--wessex--fiction, Stonemasons--fiction, Illegitimate children--fiction, Children--death, Children--death--fiction, Unmarried couples--fiction, Adultery--fiction, Spouses--history, Spouses--england--wessex--history--19th century--fiction, Education--history, Education--england--wessex--history--19th century--fiction, Working class--history, Working class--england--wessex--history--19th century--fiction, Pr4746 .a1 1999, 823/.8People
Thomas Hardy, Jude Fawley, Arabella, Sue Bridehead, Phillotson, Father Time, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)Places
England, Wessex, Wessex (England)Showing 12 featured editions. View all 425 editions?
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Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster. Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl who pretends to be pregnant by him, Jude marries her and is then deserted. He earns a living as a stonemason at Christminster; there he falls in love with his independent-minded cousin, Sue Bridehead. Out of a sense of obligation, Sue marries the schoolmaster Phillotson, who has helped her. Unable to bear living with Phillotson, she returns to live with Jude and eventually bears his children out of wedlock. Their poverty and the weight of society's disapproval begin to take a toll on Sue and Jude; the climax occurs when Jude's son by Arabella hangs Sue and Jude's children and himself. In penance, Sue returns to Phillotson and the church. Jude returns to Arabella and eventually dies miserably. The novel's sexual frankness shocked the public, as did Hardy's criticisms of marriage, the university system, and the church. Hardy was so distressed by its reception that he wrote no more fiction, concentrating solely on his poetry.Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.
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October 3, 2012 | Edited by VacuumBot | Updated format 'eBook' to 'E-book'; Removed author from Edition (author found in Work) |
April 26, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
June 22, 2010 | Created by ImportBot | Imported from marc_overdrive MARC record |