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Jude the Obscure: Themes - College Term Paper

Jude the Obscure: Themes

The best explanation of the book was stated by Hardy in his preface, where he declared that the work was intended â€śto tell, without a mincing of words, of a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit; and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims.â€ť To these could be added two other important themes: an attack on convention and society and an examination of human beingsâ€™ essential loneliness.

Exhibiting the flesh-spirit division is, of course, Judeâ€™s conflicting nature. His relationship with Arabella represents his strong sexual propensities, while his attraction to intellectual pursuits and his high principles reveal his spiritual side. His obsession with Sue is a reflection of ...

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and servant of a religion that is so suspicious of sexual love.

â€śThe tragedy of unfilled aimsâ€ť is forcefully present in both Jude and Sue. For years Jude, in a truly dedicated and scholarly fashion, devotes himself to preparing to enter Christminster (Hardyâ€™s name for Oxford). Even after he frees himself from the sexual entanglement with Arabella, his hopes for an education are doomed, for the master of the college who bothers to reply advises him to â€śremain in your own sphere.â€ť Through no fault of his own and despite his seeming ability, he is continually denied what he so desperately seeks. The fact of his birth as a poor person is unchangeable, and Jude must accept its results.

His second great desire, a spiritual (as well as sexual) union with Sue, is also doomed. When Jude first sees Sueâ€™s picture, he thinks of her as a saint, and he eventually derives many of his maturing intellectual concepts from her. His passion for Sue is true and full; yet Sueâ€™s deeply ...

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Jude the Obscure: Themes. (2021, June 8). Retrieved January 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jude-the-Obscure-Themes/107728

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 6/8/2021 07:17:14 AM
Submitted By: FuckU
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 854
Pages: 4

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