University of Pula

Faculty of Humanities

Marta Magaš

Thomas Hardy
THE THEMES OF JUDE THE OBSCURE

SEMINAR PAPER

Supervisor:
doc. dr. sc. Tatjana Šepić

Pula, 2023
 CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................3

2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT.................................................................................................................4

3. THEMES IN JUDE THE OBSCURE................................................................................................5

3.1. EDUCATION, CLASS AND SOCIETY....................................................................................5

3.2 MARRIAGE.................................................................................................................................5

3.3 RELIGION...................................................................................................................................6

4. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................7

5. WORKS CITED.................................................................................................................................8
1. INTRODUCTION

Jude the Obscure, also recognizable as “Jude the Obscene”, how malicious critics liked to
call it, is the final novel by the remarkable Victorian author Thomas Hardy. The novel was
published in the late Victorian period, more precisely in the year 1895. It is probably one of
the darkest novels by Hardy himself, so it is definitely not surprising that at the time it
sparked more controversy among critics and readers than Hardy’s most significant piece, Tess
of d’Urbervilles. Jude the Obscure is frequently seen as Hardy’s critique of the society that
prevented working-class from pursuing higher education at the time. Besides that, the novel
also represents themes such as marriage, society and position of women in society, religion,
isolation and many more. The purpose of this seminar paper is to analyse listed themes by
also mentioning and briefly explaining historical context during the time the novel was
written in.
2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Thomas Hardy wrote the novel during a period in English society which is known for its
sexual repression and generally exceptionally conservative worldview regarding marriage and
the family unit, which he openly criticised. Education plays a huge role in the novel, which is
indeed visible by Jude’s desire to be a part of Christminster. The town of Christminster is
modelled after Oxford, which was along with Cambridge the only available university in
England in the beginning of 19th century. Others had certainly tried to establish universities
but Oxford and Cambridge stopped it. Those universities wanted to limit who had control
over education and the people who attended university. It is not a secret nor exceptional that
during those times colleges excluded people based on gender, religion, financial and societal
status. By the time Thomas Hardy was writing his novel at the end of the century, this had
really started to change, meaning Oxford and Cambridge were becoming less discriminatory.
Universities were just beginning to accept working-class students during Hardy's time, but
Hardy himself could not afford a university education and was for a period of time taught by
his mother.
3. THEMES IN JUDE THE OBSCURE

3.1. EDUCATION, CLASS AND SOCIETY

Throughout the novel we can see that Jude is definitely intelligent and bright
enough to make it into college, but what he lacks are financial resources and
societal status. It is unfortunately very clear that Jude will never be able to
advance beyond the class into which he was born. This is very evident early in
the novel when Jude is writing letters to colleges in Christminster. Even though
he studied classical languages for years, he is never accepted due to already
mentioned issues. Universities simply care more about wealth and status, rather
than qualities which an individual might possesses. In the novel we can see that
the wealthy have created a society which only they can control, when lower
classes are condemned to staying below them for the rest of their lives. Sadly,
this was also the case in the real society of Hardy’s time.

3.2 MARRIAGE

Hardy was far ahead of his time in many aspects. Besides believing that
universities should accept members of the working class, what also separates
him from the crowd is the fact that he truly believed and supported the idea of
the unmarried couples living together. We can confirm that by the plot in Jude
the Obscure. Jude and his cousin Sue are unable to find a room or a steady job
simply because they are not following the tradition, i.e., they are not legally
married. By this, Hardy tried to demonstrate Victorian society’s oppression of
“unconventional” domestic situations. We cannot say that Hardy certainly
implied that marriage is always bad. What he is actually implying is idea that
people should at any time be able to leave a marriage if things are not working
out, without losing all respect that they gained throughout the years. He also
suggests that marriage is not always associated with love. Jude and Sue
genuinely cared for each other, but that was unimportant to society at the time
since the only thing that truly mattered to society was official marital status of
individuals.

3.3 RELIGION

Thomas Hardy’s criticism of the Church is less about faith itself and more about
inevitable consequences of judgmental attitudes of the Church in British culture.
We can see that religion plays a huge role in Jude’s life, especially when he was
a young boy. Later on, however, he begins to doubt his former beliefs because
the Church considers his and Sue’s relationship to be sinful. Religion does play
a role in Sue and Jude’s downfall in the end, but Sue, who has always opposed
religion, turns to Church after the death of her children. This is meant to be seen
as a tragedy rather than a positive experience.
4. CONCLUSION

To conclude, it is important to highlight one key issue. Thomas Hardy’s society doubtlessly
was not ready for criticism which he provided in many of his novels. It is truly a shame that
resentment against Jude the Obscure was so harsh that Hardy gave up writing of the fiction.
However, Hardy’s beliefs were revolutionary in many areas.
5. WORKS CITED

1. https://victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/diniejko13.html

2. https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/jude-the-obscure/themes

3. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jude/

4. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/jude-the-obscure