Jude the Obscure is Hardy's most pessimistic and controversial novel. Originally published as a serial, appearing simultaneously in England and America, the book provoked great moral outrage and criticism; it was burned, banned and denounced, and Hardy was so discouraged by this reaction that, although he had already published more than a dozen novels, he stopped writing fiction and devoted himself to poetry. However, after the vehement disapproval Jude had initially received, by the end of Hardy's life the qualities of the novel had won due recognition and for many modern critics it is the first major novel with a working - class hero. Jude the obscure not only marks the end of Hardy's novel - writing, it is also considered the last Victorian novel. This view is upheld on the basis of its profoundly modern attitude to society and the individual.
In the section "Done because we are too menny" take from chapter 2, Jude Fawley, who has been abandoned by his wife Arabella, lives with Sue Bridehead, their two children and the son he had from Arabella. They are an illegal couple and have troubles finding a place where to stay. Under the pressure of poverty and social disapproval their relationship deteriorates until tragedy overtakes them.
The text can be divided into three sequences.
In the first sequence it is presented what Jude did and how reacted. The narrator is a 3rd person omniscient unobtrusive narrator. The technique used is the technique of showing: the narrator doesn't comment.
The narrator describes actions in a minute way, he insists on the details.
The reader is free to make up ideas. The curiosity of the reader is due by Sue sunk. There are a lot of elements that underline the dramatic life.
One child, the one that Jude had from Arabella, committed suicide after having killed his brothers. The atmosphere is ghostly. It seems that narrator likes underline this elements. There is a grotesque effect.
Narrator focuses the reader's attention on details to return a realistic reality.
The novel has the qualities of plays and drama.
Jude has been driven to downfall; there is a flow in Jude and Sue that brings them to downfall: they can't manage finding a balance between their rationality and their instincts. Since instincts are part of human nature, nature doesn't care of human being. Jude was unable to adopt in the context he lived: according to Darwinian principle he had to fail.
In the second sequence the use of grotesque underlines the emotional distance: the crude reality of nature comes out. The use of dialect conveys similarity. In this sequence is showed that action of people brings to tragedy.
In the third sequence the situation is showed from Sue's eyes.
In Sue's opinion she is the cause of the misfortune. The narrator underlines different points of view to create different perspectives. The narrator speaks from the point of view of Sue. There is an indirect speech that report the speech of the doctor: a new man, a man of science. The doctor said that those children are too adult: they can see horrors of life.
Human being is alone, powerless, the nature doesn't take care of him but Jude goes on resisting.
T. Hardy was influenced by Schopenhauer, Spencer, Hume, and, of course, Darwin.