Romanticism in Jude the Obscur
In the novel Jude the Obscure, Hardy shows the reader that the Romantic characteristics and ideals of the characters (Jude and Sue) are detrimental to them in their anti-Romantic world. Their romantic ideals are so inherent in their personality, and so antithetical to their society, that they are better off dead than living in their world. In his novel, Hardy shows the opposition between Romanticism, associated with tradition and a "golden age," and Darwinism, representative of modernization and progress. (Davis) Hardy's characters repeatedly feel the "ache of modernism." (Rogers) Jude's character is Romantic rather than Darwinian, which is why he cannot survive in this age. He is sensitive to nature, which is not acceptable in Darwinian society. "...he was a boy who could not himself bear to hurt anything. He could scarcely bare to see trees cut down or lopped, from a fancy that it hurt them; and late pruning, when the sap was up, and the tree bled profusely, had been a positive grief to him in his infancy." (Hardy 17) As a boy, Jude is very aware of life's inequities. (Hassett 432) From the very beginning of the novel, Hardy shows us not only that Jude has a strong imagination
This can be seen in the passage where Arabella and Jude must kill the pig and Arabella's has a rather matter of fact way of rationalizing the pig's death "Pigs must be killed. Shelleyan parallels continue throughout the novel. From Marygreen to Christminster, which Jude repeatedly calls the "city of light," (Hardy 25) to Shaston, which is said to be "the city of a dream," (Hardy 199) and once again back to the idealized Christminster. (Davis) Jude's initial vision of Sue paves the way for his relationship with her, he never sees her realistically. When he first sees the photograph of her, he describes her as having a ". Throughout the novel, it seems as if the characters are at "war with society. , but also that there is a disparity between his imaginative world and the real world. Sue says to Arabella: "Of course Christminster is a sort of fixed vision with him, which I suppose he'll never be cured of believing in. " (Draper 243) Jude the Obscure stresses the importance and impotence of words, the huge arena between actuality and ideality that they fill. Here one can see the influence of Shelley in Hardy's novel. (Davis) Upon first seeing Christminster, Jude runs home with thoughts of giants "Herne the Hunter, Apollyon lying in wait for the Christian. "For a moment there fell on Jude a true illumination; that here in the stone yard was a center of effort as worthy as that dignified by the name of scholarly study within the noblest of the colleges.
Common topics in this essay:
Davis Jude's,
Jude Sue,
Sue Jude,
Christminster Romantic,
Farmer Troutham,
Jude Christminster,
Davis Christminster,
Romantic Darwinian,
Sue Arabella,
Christminster Hardy,
davis jude's,
jude obscure,
weinstein 229,
hassett 433,
jude sue,
hassett 432,
christminster jude,
dream hardy,
throughout novel,
hardy 90 sue,
romantic notions,
hassett 433 hardy,
draper 248 jude,
|
Acceptance Essays
