Thact : Jude

• Structure  of the novel - ' jude the obscure' 

  

Introduction

  

    Jude the Obscure is a novel by Thomas Hardy .which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895  It is Hardy's last completed novel. The protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a  young man; he is a stonemason who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The novel is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion, morality and marriage.

Structure of the Novel

   The structure of the novel might be described as the reversals of belief in Jude and Sue and their changing marital relationships as they both go down to defeat. In the beginning Sue's view of things is secular and rationalist, expressed, for example, in her sympathy with ancient rather than medieval culture, her scorn of conventional religious belief, her buying of pagan statuary, her reading of Gibbon. Jude's beliefs are, at first, conventionally Christian, as his desire to be ordained, his reading of standard authors, and his love of medieval culture and architecture show. By the end of the novel Sue has reverted to conventional beliefs, as evidenced by her concern for the sanctity of marriage and her desire to perform penances for her sins. On the other hand, Jude no longer professes his old beliefs and finds himself, as he says in his speech to the street crowd in Christminster, in "a chaos of principles."

    This change in beliefs is closely paralleled by their marital relationships. At first, they are separated by marriage to other people as they are apart in belief As Jude's ideas change, they are legally freed by divorce, and they come to live together and to be "married," in fact, if not in name. When Sue returns to conventional Christian beliefs, they separate and remarry their first spouses.

    Jude's death as a failure in Christminster and Sue's forcing herself to go to Phillotson's bed are striking signs of their defeat in life. This defeat is mirrored as well in Phillotson, who at Marygreen has fallen to the bottom professionally and who stiffly requires Sue to swear loyalty to him on a New Testament, and to a lesser extent in Arabella, who though she loses Jude does not lose her vitality.

    It will be noticed that in the first two parts of the book the focus is on Jude, with his brave and persistent efforts to educate himself. Arabella is an obstacle at first, but she is taken care of. But with Part III, when Jude abandons his dream of entering Christminster, the focus now shifts to Sue. The plot revolves around her, and the Themes of love, marriage, sexual relationships and freedom replace the earlier theme of education.

With his training as an architect, Hardy was very conscious of structure. The plot is based on a symmetrical pattern of marriage, desertion, divorce and final remarriage. Jude marries Arabella, Sue marries Phillotson, and both leave their mates and live with each other. They both obtain divorces and are free to marry each other but neglect to do so. Ultimately, they each remarry their former partners, but this step only brings greater misery and suffering.

   The structure can also be interpreted as a reversal in beliefs for both Jude and Sue. Sue, at the beginning of the novel, is rational in temper and rather irreverent about traditional religion, but by the end of the book, she is plagued by guilt and remorse. She has reverted to conventional religion. Jude, who at the beginning was the traditionalist, holding conventional Christian views, has become skeptical and embittered by the end of the novel.

    Hardy is far more successful at catching the conversational tones of rustic characters and country folk, such as Aunt Drusilla , who gives the reader glimpses of Sue as a child. Some of his earlier chapters, too, of Jude trying to combine study with work while driving his baker's wagon combine realism with humor . The same can also be said of the account of Jude's entrapment by Arabella.

    Hardy's style, despite its few faults, is quite distinctive. His very clumsiness and roughness give his writing a strity and charm. Unfortunately, unlike his other novels, Jude the Obscure does not offer the reader many descriptions of the Wessex countryside. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles andin   Woodlanders Hardy reaches a peak of excellence in using landscape to create atmosphere and to recreate varied pictures of rural life.

Conclusion

   In these changes and defeat Hardy has embodied the theme of his novel: Jude and Sue have been caught up in the modern spirit, have struggled to break free of the old ways, and have suffered and failed. It is this that justifies Hardy's description of the novel, in his preface to it, as a "tragedy of unfulfilled aims."