Themes of 'Jude the Obscure' by Thomas Hardy

1. 1
TEACH A COURSE
Prepared By : Nirav Amreliya
Batch : 2021-2023 (M.A. Sem. 1)
Enrollment Number : 4069206420210002
Ro. N/o. : 30
Submitted To : Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University,
Vidhyanagar, Bhavnagar – 364001
(Dated On : 8th Dec., 2021)
 Paper N/o., Subject Code,
Name : 104 : 22395 :
Literature of the
Victorians
~: Thematical Comparison to the Post-Independence India with the Special Reference to Jude the Obscure :~

2. o A novel written by Thomas Hardy in the year 1894.
o First began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first
published in a book form in 1895.
o Reflects Auto-biographical elements as Hardy himself had worked
as a mason just alike the protagonist Jude Fawley.
o The novel is concerned with issues of class, education, religion,
morality, and marriage.
o Preceded by : ‘Tess of d’Ubervilles’ (1891)
o Succeeded by : ‘The Well-Beloved’ (1897)
o Regarded by Hardy in the preface as “a tragedy of unfulfilled
aims.”
o Virginia R. Hayman observes Jude’s world as “The most repellent
of all Hardy’s fictional places.”
o Marxist critic Terry Eagleton rejects the conventional reading of
the text as “the tragedy of an oversexed peasant boy.”

3. THEMATICAL COMPARISON TO THE POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA
WITH THE SPECIAL REFERENCE TO JUDE THE OBSCURE :
3
Marriage :
Matrimonial Dichotomy
in Post-Independence
Society
1
Fate :
Poverty Ratio in India
Since 1993 to 2019
2
Women in Society
:
Predicament of Feminine
Locating Its Roots in
Some Controversial
Ancient Doctrines
3
Religion :
Religion as the Enemy of
Life with Reference to
“Letter Killeth...”
4

4. MARRIAGE :
4
 According to Diksha Bharadwaj, – a journalist of ‘The Print’ which is
an Indian online newspaper – this article reads as :
“As global divorce rates rise, studies show that India ranks the lowest in
the world – at less than 1 per cent. Luxembourg has the highest rate, at87
per cent, and the United States records 46 per cent.”
“The ability to dissolve marriage is a privilege most Indian women do
not have. The reasons are booth social and economic. A staggering
number of Indian women are not financially independent, which limits
their options severely. The social stigma of being a ‘divorcee’ is worse
than being unhappily married. Then, there are children.”
 As NFHS (National Family Health Survey) indicates :
‘More than a quarter of women surveyed in seven states said they had
experienced domestic violence.’
‘Women whose economic status equals or exceeds that of their husbands
are more likely to face domestic violence,…the causal evidence is that
such women have a more assertive role in decision-making and men use
violence to re-establish the patriarchal power balance.’

5. ANCIENT ROOTS OF THE
AUTHORITATIVE
PATRIARCHAL NOTION :
‘Manusmriti’ serves
the purpose to order
social affairs :
Men are given
privilege over
choosing a person
for marriage;
Whereas women are
treated as the object
of pleasure for Men :
5

6. FATE :
 As ‘Fate’ seems to be the
driving force for Jude, as
alike the fate is very much
relevant aspect or the
matter of talk for poor in
India.
6

7. WOMEN IN SOCIETY :
 As like Sue Bridehead, we
have the ladies like Chhutni
Devi from Jharkhand, India
who fought against social
injustice, superstitions of
rural and even urban
regions.
 We can compare Sue’s
character to the character
of Elizabeth Bennet from
Austen’s novel ‘Pride and
Prejudice’ (1813) for being
exceptionally modern
woman and alike Elizabeth,
an ‘obstinate, headstrong
girl’ deemed by Lady
Catherine de Bourgh.
7

8. RELIGION :
 In ‘Jude the Obscure,’
Christianity and the dictums
of The Holy Bible seem to be
questioned; when Sue
wonders why Jerusalem is
honored above Athens or
Rome.
 The notion of ‘Divine
Retribution’ is seen when
Little Father Time kills his two
infant siblings and suicides –
this incidents results into
Sue’s conversion out of fear in
Christianity.
 Hardy portrays Christianity as
life-denying and belonging to
“Letter” that “killeth.”
8
“The Letter Killeth, But Spirit Giveth Light.”
“Man Proposes, God Dispose.”

9. RESOURCES :
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/3352758
79_On_the_Theme_of_Thomas_Hardy's_Jude_the_
Obscure
 https://www.dailyo.in/variety/india-has-the-lowest-
divorce-rate-in-the-world-5-reasons-why-its-not-a-
good-thing/story/1/29213.html
 https://theprint.in/talk-point/does-indias-low-rank-
on-global-divorce-rate-indexes-mean-happy-
marriages-or-social-pressure/187180/
 https://thelogicalindian.com/mentalhealth/31-
children-died-by-suicide-every-day-in-2020-experts-
blame-coronavirus-pandemic-31645
 https://www.deccanherald.com/metrolife/india-
last-divorce-good-or-bad-718449.html
 https://www.indiaspend.com/women-2/in-parts-of-
india-more-than-25-women-still-face-domestic-
violence-702141
TEACH A COURSE 9