Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Jude the Obscure: Themes - College Term Paper

Jude the Obscure: Themes

The best explanation of the book was stated by Hardy in his preface, where he declared that the work was intended “to tell, without a mincing of words, of a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit; and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims.” To these could be added two other important themes: an attack on convention and society and an examination of human beings’ essential loneliness.

Exhibiting the flesh-spirit division is, of course, Jude’s conflicting nature. His relationship with Arabella represents his strong sexual propensities, while his attraction to intellectual pursuits and his high principles reveal his spiritual side. His obsession with Sue is a reflection of ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

and servant of a religion that is so suspicious of sexual love.

“The tragedy of unfilled aims” is forcefully present in both Jude and Sue. For years Jude, in a truly dedicated and scholarly fashion, devotes himself to preparing to enter Christminster (Hardy’s name for Oxford). Even after he frees himself from the sexual entanglement with Arabella, his hopes for an education are doomed, for the master of the college who bothers to reply advises him to “remain in your own sphere.” Through no fault of his own and despite his seeming ability, he is continually denied what he so desperately seeks. The fact of his birth as a poor person is unchangeable, and Jude must accept its results.

His second great desire, a spiritual (as well as sexual) union with Sue, is also doomed. When Jude first sees Sue’s picture, he thinks of her as a saint, and he eventually derives many of his maturing intellectual concepts from her. His passion for Sue is true and full; yet Sue’s deeply ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Jude the Obscure: Themes. (2021, June 8). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jude-the-Obscure-Themes/107728

"Jude the Obscure: Themes." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 8 Jun. 2021. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jude-the-Obscure-Themes/107728>

"Jude the Obscure: Themes." Essayworld.com. June 8, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jude-the-Obscure-Themes/107728.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 6/8/2021 07:17:14 AM
Submitted By: FuckU
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 854
Pages: 4

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier