Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure is a novel written in 1896 by Thomas Hardy.
The protagonist of the novel is Jude Fawley, a poor man who lives with his lover Sue, their children and the son he had from Arabella (he was abandoned by Arabella).
The theme of the novel is the relationship between men and women and here we can find a man (Jude) who had two women (Arabella and Sue).
Just considering the name of the male character the reader may create some expectations: Jude was one of Jesus' apostles, the only one who betrayed Jesus.
The reader may understand that Jude is a very important character also because his name is the first word at the beginning of the text.
The first part of the text consists of a minute and detailed description of what Jude does in the morning after getting up: it represents a realistic scene.
The reader may see the scene in his mind and what Jude does, his mechanical actions are described paying a careful attention to every single detail; it seems to be a scene that has been filmed.
This is given by an external narrator who reports to the reader every detail.
A noise stops the quiet in the house: Sue screams.
The scene moves to another room and the reader may almost hear the shriek.
Sue faints: two of their children are suspended from two hooks for hanging garments, they are dead!
The ghostly description of the two bodies creates a grotesque effect: "his glazed eyes were slanted into the room; but those of the girl and the baby boy were closed".
Jude goes near the bodies and touches them as if he were a doctor: here we can find the presence of the third sense, touch.
The father wants to know if his children are really dead.
He feels displaced: there is a strong opposition between the calm and everyday actions and a horrible experience like discovering two young guys' death.