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Jude the Obscure
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Jude the Obscure: Week 2: Part Second - At Christminster
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Why is it so forbidden that Jude should contact Sue...! :)
I am pleased to meet a familiar character from “Far from the Madding Crowd”. Jude reminds me of Gabriel; humble, working class, pure mind, pushed by women, leaving his village to seek a better life. I try to fit Hardy into this: is he living out a fantasy of how his life would have been or ...
It is interesting to see whether the dream of education and knowledge will succeed and bring happiness to Jude.
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I wondered too!
Me too! Perhaps there was a feud between the families?
Charlotte wrote: "Jude reminds me of Gabriel; humble, working class, pure mind, pushed by women, leaving his village to seek a better life..."OK - now I have read more about Hardy and I can see that Jude and he are similar in some ways. He grew up in the countryside, his studies were interrupted by construction work, his wife thought she was from a superior social class etc.
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Sue quits her place of lodging after her landlady destroyed her Greek figurines as they were not "proper." Jude helps her find new employment as a teaching assistant with Mr. Phillotson. Jude feels lonely in her absence.
Meanwhile, Drusilla has become frail and sold her bakery business. She is confined to bed and tended by a live-in widow. Jude pays her a visit.
Jude's dreams of entering university come crashing down after he gets up the gumption to make serious inquiries. He is depressed, starts drinking and loses his job. He returns to Marygreen and sees hope in perhaps becoming entering the Church.
Kerstin wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Why is it so forbidden that Jude should contact Sue...! :)"I wondered too!"
Is part of it from Drusilla's view of the tragic natures of the marriages of the parents of each of them?
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I can't quite piece it together either. Why is she holding back information? If it truly is in Jude's best interest to follow her advice shouldn't she be more up-front? ...unless she has something to hide herself.
Kerstin wrote: "Lily wrote: "Is part of it from Drusilla's view of the tragic natures of the marriages of the parents of each of them? I can't quite piece it together either. Why is she holding back information?..."
One does have the reticence of the (Victorian) age to talk about things, especially issues considered somewhat scandalous?
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...or maybe I am over-complicating things and Hardy is just a guy who likes to write about characters who go from pathetic to worse...
Kerstin wrote: "...Hardy is just a guy who likes to write about characters who go from pathetic to worse......"Imho, Hardy is a complicated figure. What I have read of a couple of biographies of him is a man in argument with himself, with women, and with the age in which he lived. Not a man I would likely have liked, but may well have come to respect (-- as an author, but never as a husband/lover), as I do respect his novels, even when I don't like them. Tess I find brilliant, if difficult -- perhaps because I agree so much with what I consider to be the heart of Hardy's message -- which may or may not be a "good" way to judge a novel. The others, I struggle with more.
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https://www.bl.uk/people/thomas-hardy"
Thank you Charlotte!
Thank you, Charlotte! This explains a great deal.
After finding lodgings he roams the streets and colleges deep in contemplation of the historic figures who had walked these same streets in times past.
In the light of morning his nocturnal ruminations have lost their romantic luster. He looks for work but it will take some days before he is hired on.
From his aunt he knows his cousin Sue Brideshead - whose picture had stood on Drusilla's mantle - is also in Christminster. He finds out where she works but doesn't approach her for a while. He starts to have intense feelings for her.
Sue finds out by accident that her cousin Jude is in town. They finally meet face to face and have a lovely evening calling upon a common acquaintance, Mr. Phillotson.
Let's stop here for now. There is a lot going on between the lines!