Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster. Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl …
Description
Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster. Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl who pretends to be pregnant by him, Jude marries her and is then deserted. He earns a living as a stonemason at Christminster; there he falls in love with his independent-minded cousin, Sue Bridehead. Out of a sense of obligation, Sue marries the schoolmaster Phillotson, who has helped her. Unable to bear living with Phillotson, she returns to live with Jude and eventually bears his children out of wedlock. Their poverty and the weight of society's disapproval begin to take a toll on Sue and Jude; the climax occurs when Jude's son by Arabella hangs Sue and Jude's children and himself. In penance, Sue returns to Phillotson and the church. Jude returns to Arabella and eventually dies miserably. The novel's sexual frankness shocked the public, as did Hardy's criticisms of marriage, the university system, and the church. Hardy was so distressed by its reception that he wrote no more fiction, concentrating solely on his poetry.Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.
External links
OpenLibraryEditions of Jude the Obscure
Filters
Jude the obscure
468 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 1999 by W.W. Norton.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-393-97278-8Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 38993098
Jude the obscure
444 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 1996 by Bantam Books.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-553-21191-7Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 35800820
Jude the obscure
Paperback, 443 pages
Published Aug. 14, 1981 by Bantam Books, Bantam.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-553-21023-1Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 16538748
Jude the obscure
484 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 2006 by Penguin.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-14-144201-3Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 65467580
Jude the Obscure
Hardcover, 451 pages
English language
Published Sept. 7, 1998 by North Books.
- ISBN:
- 978-1-58287-092-2Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 42298348
Jude the obscure
75 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 2000 by Pearson Education.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-582-41819-6Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 283800140
Jude the obscure
371 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 1996 by Barnes & Noble Books.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-7607-0420-2Copied ISBN!
- OCLC Number:
- 36055462
Jude the Obscure (Webster's Spanish Thesaurus Edition)
Paperback, 492 pages
English language
Published Feb. 5, 2006 by ICON Reference.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-497-26167-2Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
Paperback, 504 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2006 by Hesperides Press.
- ISBN:
- 978-1-4067-9258-4Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
Hardcover, 400 pages
English language
Published Feb. 7, 2003 by Macmillan.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-333-16897-4Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure (Oxford World's Classics)
496 pages
English language
Published by Oxford University Press, USA.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-19-283379-2Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
325 pages
English language
Published June 7, 1980 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-395-05191-7Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
468 pages
English language
Published Jan. 7, 1978 by W. W. Norton & Company.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-393-09089-5Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
Paperback, 336 pages
English language
Published Dec. 1, 2006 by Dover Publications.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-486-45243-2Copied ISBN!
Jude the Obscure
528 pages
English language
Published Aug. 7, 2019 by Penguin Books, Limited.
- ISBN:
- 978-0-241-38269-1Copied ISBN!
Can't find the edition you're looking for?














