Jude the Obscure in The Obscure Reading Group

Feb 21, 2020 Kathleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, philosophical, death

“But I don’t admit that my failure proved my view to be a wrong one, or that my success would have made it a right one; though that’s how we appraise such attempts nowadays—I mean, not by their essential soundness, but by their accidental outcomes.”

This is a true tragedy, but didn’t feel sad, exactly. Instead, the tragic events happen as a matter of course. There was a feeling of predestination in the prose, from the very beginning of the story. I found myself mumbling while reading, like multip ...more

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Feb 09, 2011 Laysee rated it really liked it

I read Jude the Obscure years ago in an undergraduate Literature course and remembered feeling emotionally devastated. Time has erased almost all memory of the setting and plot except that of a young child who made a brief appearance. He is called Father Time because he seems perpetually melancholic and aged from having lived a storm-tossed life despite his tender years. My heart broke when I met him again and encountered the hopelessness he must have felt.

Father Time is the son of Jude Fawley, I read Jude the Obscure years ago in an undergraduate Literature course and remembered feeling emotionally devastated. Time has erased almost all memory of the setting and plot except that of a young child who made a brief appearance. He is called Father Time because he seems perpetually melancholic and aged from having lived a storm-tossed life despite his tender years. My heart broke when I met him again and encountered the hopelessness he must have felt.

Father Time is the son of Jude Fawley, the lead protagonist, in this 1895 classic story that is set in fictional Wessex in the southern part of England. I lost count of the times I said to myself “Oh Jude!” or “Poor Jude!” I finished reading this book on Valentine’s Day, a day romantic love is celebrated, and was struck by how Jude the Obscure must be one of the saddest love stories in classical literature. Love, ostensibly between individuals who profess to love each other, is sorely tested and cruelly blighted by a confluence of factors that are insurmountable: core character traits/flaws, deprivation marked by poverty and lack of education, traditional values surrounding morality and marriage, and the stronghold of social opinion. Hardy painted a worldview that was irredeemably bleak as the lives of the characters seemed to be driven by Fate, leaving them no autonomy to chart their own future.

Hardy first introduced us to Jude as an 11-year-old orphan weeping by a well as he bids farewell to his teacher (Mr. Phillotson) who is heading to Christminster to further his studies. Jude lives with his Great Aunt Drusilla who dutifully raises him but regards him as a burden. To earn his keep, Jude works on a farm as a human scarecrow! This tenderhearted child ends up feeding the birds and getting beaten. To young Jude, the birds ‘seemed, like himself, to be living in a world which did not want them.... A magic thread of fellow-feeling united his own life with theirs.’ Jude aspires to go to university in Christminster like his teacher in hopes of one day becoming a member of the clergy. How can one not feel protective toward Jude, cheer him on, and hope he realizes his dreams?

Jude’s tender-heartedness and honesty are his areas of strength as reflected in his readiness to help others (e.g., find storage for Phillotson’s piano, advertise wonder pills for a money-faced village doctor who promised him Latin grammar books but forgot them; run errands for his Great Aunt’s bakery). However, they also constitute his greatest weakness and render him susceptible to manipulation and deceit. (view spoiler) Jude’s soft-hearted nature also means that he is easily moved by others’ distress, defers to others’ opinions, and readily caves in to their demands against his better judgment and needs.(view spoiler)

Add to Jude’s gentle nature his passive tendency to wait on the sidelines instead of taking prompt action, and we have a slow cooking crockpot of disaster - unfulfilled dreams and a sequelea of events that culminate in tragedy. He has too many scruples for his own good and is his own worst enemy. Another tragic character flaw is perhaps Jude’s low sense of self-efficacy that has its roots in his humble beginnings. Jude clearly values education and the high calling of the church. In his own words, ”I care for something higher.” However, he has doubts about his ability to succeed given his lack of access to books and tutors. Circumstances such as the snobbery of the university elite also pose huge roadblocks to his quest for betterment. (view spoiler)

What upsets me the most is how the story rewards the bad and punishes the good. Shallow and unprincipled characters like Arabella who are unscrupulous in furthering their own agenda end up getting what they want and having their own way. In contrast, characters with integrity like Jude get short-changed. Similarly, unconventional characters like Sue who value independence suffer because society is not ready for them. Religion too is cast in an extremely poor light with guilt gnawing at the conscience, bringing destruction. (view spoiler) I hated how Hardy gave opportunistic and lying Arabella the last word in this novel. It is grotesquely unfair. How could you, Mr. Hardy?

The tragedy that unfolds in this story feels overblown and melodramatic. By design it is perhaps Hardy’s indictment against life in Victorian England that despises the working class, ‘the so-called self-taught’ with their ‘laboured acquisitions’ and denies them opportunities to better themselves. Hardy criticizes the Church whose religious conventions constrict rather than liberate the human soul. Likewise, he criticizes the institution of marriage. One of my GR friends, Ken, astutely observed that Hardy likely used his characters “as a foil against society, the Church, and other harsh monoliths. In other words, the characters aren't the point themselves so much as they're used to MAKE a point."

Jude the Obscure turned out to be an absorbing but difficult read. Hardy wrote a strong prose that was itself a pleasure. I had the privilege of reading it with a group of extremely well-read and erudite Goodreads members and learned so much from our group discussion. There are religious allusions and literary conventions that are an inherent part of this novel’s richness and complexity, which I will not go into. Suffice to say, Jude the Obscure is a well written classic that showcases Hardy’s profound understanding of human nature and empathy for individuals who are trapped by circumstances beyond their control. ...more

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Feb 22, 2020 Ken rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-newly-read, finished-in-2020

I wish I could recall other Hardy novels I've read by way of comparison, but I read them so long ago.

On the plus side, there was just enough soap in this opera and pot in this boiler to keep me turning the pages. I was genuinely interested in where our man Jude might wind up. That and how he'd deal with the two strong women in his life: Arabella and Sue.

On the negative side, entirely too much talking, often in situations where people might not even talk. Some unrealistic scenes, especially towar ...more

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Mar 26, 2011 Cathleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, british-lit, favorites, 2020-reads

I first read Jude the Obscure as an undergrad, back in the 80s, and hadn't read it since but have always considered it one of my "favorite" books. For this reading, it lost none of its power, beauty, or intensity. If I were to make a list of my "favorite" books or the "best novels," Jude the Obscure would be among the top two or three. ...more

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Jan 13, 2020 Erich C rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-library, favorites, rereads, best-of-2020, read-it-again

Second reading. A masterpiece!

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Sep 19, 2015 Shaz_Neel rated it liked it

I love Thomas Hardy - Loved Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Mayor of Casterbridge, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Jude the Obscure. This was probably my 3rd or 4th time reading the story of dear Jude. The song "Hey Jude" by The Beatles seemed to have been written for Hardy's tragic character.

But reading it again, I realized my perspective had shifted since those early teen and 20-something years when I was often moved by tales of bittersweet romances within the context of heteronormative coupledom. I love Thomas Hardy - Loved Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Mayor of Casterbridge, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Jude the Obscure. This was probably my 3rd or 4th time reading the story of dear Jude. The song "Hey Jude" by The Beatles seemed to have been written for Hardy's tragic character.

But reading it again, I realized my perspective had shifted since those early teen and 20-something years when I was often moved by tales of bittersweet romances within the context of heteronormative coupledom. Now, armed with something close to the wisdom of aging years, I absolutely could not wait for the story to just finish! Despite loving Hardy's beautiful, reflective prose through the third person voice, I felt the story sort of spiralled down and crashed. Things moved from bad to worse. Sue Bridehead's sobbing hysterics became louder with each turn of the page, and she and Jude couldn't seem to get through a conversation without the shedding of tears or one trying to convince the other. This scene kept playing out during the latter half of the book.

I found the same to be true of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I loved that story like mad as a teen; Kate Bush's song of the same name kinda intensified my literary infatuation for that book. But again, attempting to read it again now, I can't seem to fathom it, but probably because I have changed. Sue and Jude, and Catherine and Heathcliff have similar storylines that end in misfortune and tragedy.

No doubt this book is a Classic due to the observations and critique Hardy makes about an oppressive society and its strict norms of conduct and class; and how Jude, a young person with budding dreams of academia, realized - to borrow a modern term - the intersectionalities of social and economic status, yet tried with all his futile might to challenge the barriers. He tried for a while, and then along came two women who in their own ways also tried to smash the barriers that restricted their choices at that time.

I'd still recommend it. ...more

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