Hardy is trying to tell us that we should not fall into the same predicament as Jude; we should not allow ourselves to run after religion as an escape to our problems because it will only lead to hardships. By calling the main character of the book Jude, Hardy is making a reference to a group of people who believe in God and are classified as wandering. Judas betrayed Jesus to his enemy for thirty pieces of silver. His desire for this ideal vision involves a rejection of reality. When Jude was in his younger years he had strong feelings towards religion. We see Hardy’s message  as Jude encounters many major rejections in Christminster; included in these are his not getting into any of the colleges he desired to attend and his love Sue leaving him for Phillotson. The second symbol is Christminster. Here Hardy compares Jude to Jesus by having him say “crucify me if you will.”, Tutor and Freelance Writer. His discovery that Arabella has deceived him is the first disillusionment he suffers in his quest for meaning. His ideal value system, represented both by the Christian and the classical framework of Christminster, is put aside, however, when he meets Arabella, described by Hardy as “a substantial female animal.” Seduced by the flesh, Jude marries Arabella when she says she is pregnant and gives up his hope of an education. He feels that man has many desires that go against the laws of religion, and these desires lead man to feel very hypocritical. “From the beginning, Jude sees in Christminster and its university the image of an attainable ideal world. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. We also encounter a reference to Nebuchadnezzar’s  furnace, which is used to question God by asking why the righteous suffer. (Ingham, xxvii) Throughout the book Hardy displays his feeling that religion is something that people use in order to satisfy themselves by giving their lives’ meaning.… Thus, from the first Jude must find a new center and a new hope to relieve his loneliness. As defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “obscure” has a number of meanings that seem relevant to the life of Jude Fawley, the central character of Thomas Hardy’s novel Jude the... What are the major themes in Jude the Obscure? The morality issue is large. Discuss how Thomas Hardy portrayed women in Jude the Obscure. 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Hardy further illustrates this point by making Jude a “wanderer.” Jude is a wanderer both literally and figuratively. Free proofreading and copy-editing included. You know you are the world to me, whatever you do!” (Hardy, 216), In this instance Hardy’s negative views towards religion are seen. Visit BN.com to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our award-winning NOOK tablets and eReaders. The hanging picture is of Samson and Delilah. CHAPTER 7 . Literally we see him wandering from place to place to find work, and figuratively we see him searching for his own identity. Jude’s first disillusionment at Christminster comes when he is turned down by all the colleges to which he applies. At first when Jude reaches a high point outside of town, the "ridge-track," he cannot see Cbristminster; nor can he see it from the roof of a barn nearby, locally called the Brown House. Christminster is also seen as a place where he hopes to fulfill all his hopes and dreams. One theme in "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy is the contrast between rural and urban culture. Summary SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. Jude’s life seems to contain many similarities to Judas’s life. He does this in order to escape his complicated reality. By bringing up Samson at such a time Hardy is trying to tell us something. Jude the Obscure is the most crushing example of Hardy’s vision. Jude began to move away from God as his life progressed. According to him, they use the conventions of society to get what they want. He feels that people should not just blindly follow religion without deciding for themselves that this is what they want. One instance in which Hardy clearly displays this is when he writes, “It had been the yearning of his heart to find something to anchor on, to cling to.” (Ingham, 94) In order to bring out this point Hardy chooses to create Jude as an orphan and has him come from obscure origins. At first, Christminster is symbolic of a place that is supposed to be wonderful like the world of the Church. Jude the Obscure may be thought of as the argument of Tess of the D’Urbervilles taken one step farther. In Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, Hardy shows his views on religion and commitment to the Church which were said to have declined in the latter years of his life. When Sue leaves Phillotson and returns to Jude, he has new hope, in spite of the fact that Sue is unwilling to live with him as a wife. Jude wanted to be religious, yet at the same time he wanted to remain together with Sue. This comparison is brought up when Jude and Sue are talking about which inn to go to, in order to avoid being seen by others. Young Jude is hungry for learning and yearns to go to Christminster, too, but he has to help his great-grandaunt, Drusilla Fawley, in her bakery. Jude does what he can do the best he can do... What is the significance of little Father Time in "Jude the Obscure"? (Critical Survey of Literature for Students). © 2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. He writes that Jude sees Christminster as “the city of the light,” in fact it is seen as “a place he had likened to the new Jerusalem,” the city of redemption. We encounter negativity towards religion by the town called Christminster. He then realizes that with his true feelings he cannot continue to follow the Church because it would be hypocritical. Thus, the view on religion is: it seems to be the “light” we should follow, but, it is actually only an illusion. Once Jude realizes that he has caused Sue to feel bad he immediately tries to comfort her. Parable of the Good Samaritan: Gospel of Luke Analysis & Explanation. Samson showed his lack of adhesion to the laws of the bible by sleeping with three forbidden women. Christminster can be broken down into Christ and minister. Jude the Obscure is a novel by Thomas Hard y that was first published in 1895. Christminster symbolizes a world in which Jude sees how remarkable the Church is, but it is a place that exists only in Jude’s imagination. Your online site for school work help and homework help. Thus we see that religion causes someone to be very confused and act in a very hypocritical manner. Subsequently, Jude’s reaction to the world around him is complete indifference. Jude is not swayed like most by what others feel he should do, but rather he is a fighter. These feelings of hypocrisy then cause man to have many inner conflicts that lead to many problems. People should not be as Jude who becomes obsessed with religion simply because his mentor Phillotson felt this way. By doing this he creates a character who is looking for something to give him an identity. Jude the Obscure is Hardy’s last work of fiction and is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are The symbols that convey this message are the name Jude, which is an allusion to Judas Iscariot who was a traitor to Jesus. What happens in... What are the themes of "Jude the Obscure"? Jude the Obscure. It may be one of his last novels because it is difficult to imagine pushing the tragedy of lost hopes beyond this point. The problem for Jude is that all of the symbols of meaning for him—education, religion, the beauty of Sue Bridehead—are illusions. Moving to the town of Christminster, Jude meets and falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead, a sensitive, freethinking 'New Woman'. When the most morbid of the children kills himself and the others, Sue makes an extreme shift from her former rebellion and accepts a supreme deity whose laws she believes she has transgressed. Finally, the job Jude chooses is also symbolic of the anti-religious attitude that is shown. Examples are of Jude's marriage. Jude is an allusion to Judas Iscariot. The name Jude can also be a reference to the wandering Jew. “You simply mean that you flirted outrageously with him, poor old chap, and then to make reparation, married him, though you tortured yourself to death by doing it.”, “Well-if you will put it brutally!–it was like that-that and the scandal together-and you concealing from me what you have told me before!”, He could see that she was distressed and tearful at his criticisms, and soothed her saying, “There, dear; don’t mind! Here we have Jude intending to commit adultery with Sue and we have Hardy comparing him to Jesus.