Jude the obscure: Thomas Hardy

The story of Jude Fawley, a young working-class man whose dreams of becoming a scholar are destroyed by class society.

Submitted by Reddebrek on May 12, 2015

Hardy's last and most controversial novel, Jude the Obscure caused much outrage when it was published in 1895. Jude Fawley, poor and working-class, longs to study at the University of Christminster, but his ambitions to go to university are thwarted by class prejudice and his entrapment in a loveless marriage. He falls in love with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead, and their refusal to marry when free to do so confirms their rejection of and by the world around them.

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