Jude Fawley is a simple working-class man who dreams of one day becoming something more. Yet after the failure of his first marriage, a loveless entrapment built upon lies, Jude starts to have feelings for his cousin, Sue Bridehead, and soon sacrifices all that he has to pursue a life together with her.
A dark and pessimistic story of how man's unfettered desire may lead to the ruin of everyone around him, âJude the Obscureâ led to a scandalous outcry amongst its Victorian readership. It is the final novel written by Thomas Hardy, and one of his most powerful in its unabashed exploration of class, religion, and sexuality.
âJude the Obscureâ is a perfect tragedy for readers of BrontĂŤâs âWuthering Heightsâ or du Maurier's âRebeccaâ.
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English writer of poetry, novels, and short stories. He belonged to the Victorian realist tradition in English literature and was influenced by the writings of Romanticism.
His novels strongly criticise Victorian society for constraining individuals in regard to marriage, education, and religion: shunning happiness in the name of social propriety.
Hardyâs works explore themes of love, class, and poverty with a painstaking devotion to realism. His best-known works include âFar From the Madding Crowdâ, âThe Mayor of Casterbridgeâ, âTess of the dâUrbervillesâ, and âJude the Obscureâ.