1. In what specific ways are Jude and Sue counterparts? Take into account their personalities, their interests, the way they respond to things in life. (See Part 3, Chapter 3, and Phillotson’s comments in Part 4, Chapter 4.) 2. How has Hardy contrasted Sue and Arabella? Consider what is said […]
Read more Study Help Essay QuestionsCritical Essays Hardy’s Writing Style and Use of Quotations
Critics have often noted the faults in Hardy’s style, and perhaps this is to be expected in a writer who was largely self-educated. Such writers can express themselves in striking and original ways, but their lack of formal education sometimes causes them to fall into awkwardness and excess. Shakespeare was, […]
Read more Critical Essays Hardy’s Writing Style and Use of QuotationsCritical Essays Symbolism and Irony in Jude the Obscure
The symbolism in the novel helps to work out the theme. Such a minor symbol as the repeated allusion to Samson and Delilah reinforces the way Jude’s emotional life undermines the realization of his ambitions. Two symbols of major importance are Christminster and the character of Little Father Time. They […]
Read more Critical Essays Symbolism and Irony in Jude the ObscureCritical Essays Structure of Jude the Obscure
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 […]
Read more Critical Essays Structure of Jude the ObscureCritical Essays Setting and Plot in Jude the Obscure
Though in this novel Hardy makes less significant use of his Wessex landscape, as well as its customs, superstitions, humor, and human types, than he does in other novels, it is of some importance. Almost all the characters are deeply rooted in and responsive to place, as shown, for example, […]
Read more Critical Essays Setting and Plot in Jude the ObscureCritical Essays Hardy’s Use of Point of View
The most noteworthy thing about Hardy’s use of point of view is that it is conventional for his time. He uses a shifting third person point of view which is usually centered in Jude but sometimes is moved to one of the other main characters. Historically, then, Hardy makes no […]
Read more Critical Essays Hardy’s Use of Point of ViewCritical Essays Theme of Jude the Obscure
In no other novel by Hardy is theme so important. And his theme here may be stated briefly as follows: man is becoming aware that his life is governed by old ideas and old institutions and he desires to break out of these obsolete forms. This modern spirit causes him […]
Read more Critical Essays Theme of Jude the ObscureThomas Hardy Biography
Born on June 2, 1840, in Upper Bockhampton, not far from Dorchester, in Dorsetshire, Thomas Hardy was the son of Thomas Hardy, a master mason or building contractor, and Jemima Hand, a woman of some literary interests. Hardy’s formal education consisted of only some eight years in local schools, but […]
Read more Thomas Hardy BiographyCharacter Analysis Richard Phillotson
Phillotson is eminently the respectable man. Though he fails to achieve the same goals Jude pursues, his bearing and view of things do not change much. Even when Arabella encounters him on the road to Alfredston, now down on his luck and teaching at Marygreen because it’s the only place […]
Read more Character Analysis Richard PhillotsonCharacter Analysis Arabella Donn
Arabella is the least complex of the main characters; she is also the least ambitious, though what she wants she pursues with determination and enterprise. What she is after is simple enough: a man who will satisfy her and who will provide the comforts and some of the luxuries of […]
Read more Character Analysis Arabella Donn