Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure: 

Jude the Obscure is a novel by Thomas Hardy, which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896).[1][2][3] It is Hardy's last completed novel. The protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man; he is a stonemason who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The novel is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion, morality and marriage.( Click Here )

Question 1: What is the significance of epigraph written by Hardy - 'Letter Killeth' - for this novel, Jude the Obscure?

Answer:

About letter killeth: There Paul writes: “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” This verse is usually cited in support of Spirit led ministries, over against those that prioritise theology and study. Because the letter kills, so the logic goes, we should not overemphasise detailed teaching or a focus on the Bible.

Obscure Forms: The Letter, the Law, and the Line in Hardy's Social Geometry

There could scarcely be a novel more searingly critical of social contradictions than Thomas Hardy's last, and arguably the last Victorian one, Jude the Obscure. Between its Pauline epigraph (“the letter killeth”) and its unforgettable tragedy (“done because we are too menny”), Jude bears out in its plot an indictment of law's inherent abjections and an interrogation of the value of life that seem to precociously articulate the consensus of today's hegemonic biopolitical theory: that human institutions tend inexorably to subjugate humanity itself. Yet the form of the novel develops another theory of the political, another conception of the letter of the law. In ways legible from the presentation of the epigraph onward, that form is conspicuously experimental about typography, the lining and lettering of the letter. The form is also, as Hardy himself repeatedly maintained, “geometrically constructed,” riveted by the study of lines and shapes. Reading Jude's manifold geometric imagery in the context of the revolutionary non-Euclidean break in Victorian-era mathematics and tracing the novel's bold typographic experiments, this essay highlights Hardy's surprising exuberance about the shape of letters. Typography and geometry are unexpectedly crucial to the political imaginary of Jude the Obscure, which projects the malleability of social lineaments even as it tells the tale of lethally rigid norms.

• Theme of Jude the Obscure :

Marriage

Much of Jude the Obscure consists of a critique of the institution of marriage, which Hardy saw as flawed and unjust. The novel’s plot is designed to wring all the possible tragedy out of an unhappy marriage, as Jude is first guilted into marrying Arabella by her feigned pregnancy, and Sue marries Phillotson mostly to make Jude jealous. Both protagonists immediately regret their decisions, and realize how a single impulsive decision can affect their entire lives. When they meet each other and fall in love, Sue and Jude’s pure connection is constantly obstructed by their earlier marriages, and Hardy even presents the tragedy of Little Father Time’s murder-suicide as a natural result of broken marriages and unhappy relationships.

In the narrator’s asides Hardy also criticizes marriage, describing it as a binding contract that most young lovers are incapable of understanding. He doesn’t believe that the institution is inherently evil, but that it isn’t right for every situation and personality – “sensitive” souls like Jude and Sue should be able to live as husband and wife without a binding legal contract. Though he argues for this flexibility and seems to propose the couple’s unmarried relationship as an ideal solution, Hardy then punishes his protagonists in his plot, ultimately driving Sue back to Phillotson and Jude back to Arabella.

The novel is not a simple diatribe against marriage, but instead illustrates a complex, contradictory situation. Sue and Jude want their love to be true and spontaneous, but also totally monogamous and everlasting. The epigraph to the novel is “the letter killeth,” which comes from a quote from Jesus in the Bible: “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth light.” Hardy intended this quote to refer to marriage, where the contract of the institution kills joy and true love, but Hardy purposefully leaves off the optimism of “the spirit” – Jude and Sue’s joy is fleeting even when they are only following “Nature’s law,” and in the end they find no good answer for how to properly love and live together. By the novel’s tragic end Hardy still leaves the question of marriage unanswered, emphasizing only his dissatisfaction with the institution as it stands.

Question:2  Is it possible to connect the meaning of the epigraph of 'Esdras' at the beginning of the first chapter of the novel and the myth of Bhasmasur?

Answer:

To answer this question, we need to know the epigraph of "Esdras" and its context within the novel. The epigraph is a short quotation or saying placed at the beginning of a book or chapter to introduce its theme or set the tone.

Once we have the epigraph, we can analyze it for any connections to the myth of Bhasmasura. Here are some possible avenues for exploration:

Themes and Motifs:

* Power and its Misuse: Both the epigraph and the myth could explore the dangers of seeking and wielding immense power without wisdom or restraint.

* Hubris and Downfall: Both might highlight the consequences of excessive pride and self-absorption.

* Divine Intervention: The myth of Bhasmasura involves a divine intervention (Mohini, the avatar of Vishnu) to prevent destruction. The epigraph could allude to a similar theme of higher forces influencing human affairs.

Symbolism and Imagery:

* Fire and Destruction: The myth of Bhasmasura involves the power to turn people to ashes. The epigraph might contain references to fire, destruction, or consuming passions.

* Illusion and Deception: Mohini's trickery to defeat Bhasmasura could be mirrored in the epigraph through themes of illusion, deception, or false appearances.

Literary Devices:

* Irony and Paradox: The epigraph might use irony or paradox to highlight the contrast between human aspirations and their ultimate limitations.

* Allusion and Reference: The epigraph could directly or indirectly reference the myth of Bhasmasura or other similar stories.

Specific Connections:

Without the exact epigraph, it's difficult to pinpoint specific connections. However, here are some possible examples based on common themes:

* If the epigraph focuses on the pursuit of knowledge or enlightenment, it could be linked to Bhasmasura's quest for power.

* If the epigraph highlights the fragility of human life or the impermanence of material possessions, it could resonate with Bhasmasura's ultimate destruction.

* If the epigraph emphasizes the importance of balance and moderation, it could contrast with Bhasmasura's excessive ambition.

By carefully analyzing the epigraph and its relationship to the myth of Bhasmasura, we can uncover deeper meanings and insights into the novel's themes and intentions.

Question 3 :

Structure of the Novel 'Jude the Obscure'

• Critical 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 medieval culture, her scorn of conventional religious belief, her buying of pagan statuary, her reading of Gibbon. Jude's beliefs are, at first, conventionally Christian, as his desire to be ordained, his reading of standard authors, and his love of medieval culture and architecture show. By the end of the novel Sue has reverted to conventional beliefs, as evidenced by her concern for the sanctity of marriage and her desire to perform penances for her sins. On the other hand, Jude no longer professes his old beliefs and finds himself, as he says in his speech to the street crowd in Christminster, in "a chaos of principles."

This change in beliefs is closely paralleled by their marital relationships. At first, they are separated by marriage to other people as they are apart in belief As Jude's ideas change, they are legally freed by divorce, and they come to live together and to be "married," in fact, if not in name. When Sue returns to conventional Christian beliefs, they separate and remarry their first spouses.

Jude's death as a failure in Christminster and Sue's forcing herself to go to Phillotson's bed are striking signs of their defeat in life. This defeat is mirrored as well in Phillotson, who at Marygreen has fallen to the bottom professionally and who stiffly requires Sue to swear loyalty to him on a New Testament, and to a lesser extent in Arabella, who though she loses Jude does not lose her vitality.

In these changes and defeat Hardy has embodied the theme of his novel: Jude and Sue have been caught up in the modern spirit, have struggled to break free of the old ways, and have suffered and failed. It is this that justifies Hardy's description of the novel, in his preface to it, as a "tragedy of unfulfilled aims."

Refrences;

Jude the Obscure: Introduction: Character, Plot, Themes.” Wikipedia, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_the_Obscure. 

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