The Influences of Jude
Rising from the abyss of anonymity to a throne of notoriety, Thomas Hardy began his ascent to fame from humble foundations as the son of a stonemason. At first, he was apprenticed to a local architect; however, under the urge of his mother, he was eventually enrolled at King’s College (Swaim 1). It was after this phase in his life that he focused on his writings. Jude the Obscure was his last, but most powerful novel documenting the terrible realizations about the world that one man has to acknowledge, a similar journey that Hardy himself had to travel. Hardy is able to criticize society by subtly infusing his own life experiences and philosophic ideas into Jude the Obscure.
There are many parallels between the life of Thomas Hardy and his work of fiction, Jude Fawley. Like his character Jude who did not have the heart to harm any living creature, Hardy was an overly sensitive child; he despised being touched and found the sound of music cacophonous (Carpenter 19). Being surrounded by stonemasonry all of Hardy’s life, influenced Jude’s occupation; Hardy’s father did the same reparations of churches that Jude did. During Hardy’s youth, he witnessed the hanging of a murderer. He was not expecting the abruptness of the event and highly regretted his decision to follow his curiosity (19). This was probably the origin of his pessimism toward life. In the 19th century, it was traditional for sons to continue the occupation of their fathers. However, Hardy created Jude as an orphan, possibly allowing Jude to choose his own course without the restraint of a father-figure. Both Jude and Hardy attempted to learn Latin and Greek, while entertaining thoughts of studying at universities. In 1862, Hardy ventured from his rural Dorset to the city life of London in search of an education. Jude also undertakes this expedition from Marygreen for Christminster. Jude encounters the same type of struggle that Hardy had when Hardy tried to publish his works. Also like Hardy, who was unsuccessful and greatly criticized at the time, Jude was unsuccessful.
Similar to Jude, Hardy was married twice. He was first married to Emma Lavinia Gifford (Swaim 2), who was a mixture of both Sue and Arabella; like Sue, she was intelligent, bold, and gradually became more religious into their marriage, but eventually she became like Arabella in Hardy’s eyes – at times crude and embarrassing. It was here that his hostility toward society and its social class prejudice emerged; his parents-in-law scorned him because of his inferior rank (2). Hardy’s second marriage was to his secretary, Florence Dugdale (2), who was 40 years younger than him – a mirror of Phillotson’s marriage with Sue. Later in his life Hardy experienced a loss of faith. Using Jude as a model of him who “meets with cruelty and misfortune at every turn” (4), Hardy hinted that “he, too, had been thwarted and battered by Christian England” (4). Also like Jude, Hardy had health problems; ever since he was a little boy he had been physically frail. It was a degradation of the body that resulted in death for both Hardy and Jude.
Jude the Obscure was the vehicle by which Hardy presented his ideas to the world. The Wessex region that Jude dwells in is almost an exact replica of Hardy’s childhood town, Dorset. The “Wessex cycle represents the Yoknapatawpha cycle of novels of William Faulkner…it stands for an unknown – a dark region not in geography but in man’s conscious personality and unconscious mind” (Ranald Character 7). Wessex is the setting in which Jude, upon realization, wakes up from his fantasy world to a brutal reality. Authors Dryden, Johnson, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott and Dumas all participated in the thought process of Hardy (Ranald Introduction 2). Hardy mentions Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” in Jude. Hardy “anticipates the modern anguish of unresolved tension in the stylized forms which contain the undirected chaos of life; the traditional character types who reveal Freudian subtleties of psychology…” (Brooks 11). According to John Milton, a “thinker” should let his mind lead the way. It should be almost intuition-like, pursued until the end (257). Jude pursued Sue, even after she had been married until she finally relented and divorced Phillotson. Likewise, Jude doggedly keeps his eye on his dream of going to university, even after he had received rejection letters, into his old age.
Jude is very similar to the “Marxist literary hero” whose life and aspirations are ruined by Fate (Ranald Character 1). In everything that Jude seeks to accomplish, he meets disappointment – his aspirations to become a scholar, his marriages, etc. Jude the Obscure could have been written purposely in the form and structure of an Aristotelian tragedy with a few twists; he refers to Aeschylus often in his tales – he quotes Aeschylus in the scene of the dead children (5). Also portrayed in this scene are his Victorian tendencies, which he draws upon for strong effect. This is also portrayed particularly in the scene of the hung children. Little Father Time personifies nihilism or pessimism; he is constantly melancholic and suspicious of anything pleasant in life. He carries with him a negative aura that affects everyone around him. It appears that the introduction of Little Father Time into the novel is symbolic of Jude’s awakening to the despair of the world; when Little Father Time enters the tale, Jude loses his job, people begin openly criticizing his relationship with Sue, his bond with Sue begins to crumble, etc. There are many Gothic aspects within Jude. Thomas Hardy realized after viewing the works of artist Thomas Mann, that there was friction between survival and downfall the Gothic style that made it self-destructive (Brooks 270). He also saw this once Jude was published – it was greatly condemned before it began to be appreciated.
Sue Bridehead takes on the personality of poet Shelley – she can give Jude everything that he desires except that which Arabella offers – but bears John Mill’s notions of equality in marriage and women’s rights (Ranald Character 3). Hardy believed that even “marriage…could victimize women, and did so more often than it victimized men” (Ranald Introduction 5). He shows this through the struggle and frustration that Sue experiences; Hardy is not only able to portray a sympathized male protagonist, but also an empathized female antagonist. With Darwin’s Origin of Species in mind, Hardy molded a tale in which “mutual butchery” (5) occurred. He believed in social Darwinism – the idea that people would do anything to succeed, survival of the fittest.
From the Old Testament to Jewish myths (Brooks 257), religion also played a large role in Jude. Many of the names, such as Jude in comparison to Judas and St. Jude, and characters portray figures in the Bible. Jude represents a combination of the Biblical icon Job who patiently overcame all torturous obstacles that God presented him; Jude met antagonizing forces at every turn, even losing his entire family – Sue metaphorically. Also like Samson, whose Delilah deceived and destroyed his strength, Arabella tricks Jude into marrying her twice, destroying his reputation the first time and completely ruining any sense of dignity Jude had remaining, the second time. As Samson was accosted by the Phillistines, Jude was challenged by Phillotson for the love of Sue. Similar to Jesus, Jude dies when he is near thirty years old; he is also “crucified by society” (Ranald Character 1).
Jude the Obscure incorporates many allusions to both Thomas Hardy’s life experiences and philosophical ideas. Past childhood experiences that initiated his tendency towards pessimism, materialized throughout the novel in the forms of Little Father Time, Jude’s travails and the melancholic mood that pervades the entire tale. Hardy’s knowledge of famed works, as well as religion also appeared in Jude. Numerous characters were symbolic both in name as well as personality, of an individual or thought, as Jude was similar in name to St. Jude and struggled just as Job did, and as Little Father Time embodied pessimism. The style of the story was influenced by the likes of Aeschylus, Marx, John Mill and many others. Pieces of Hardy’s own life were included in Jude’s, including the journey for knowledge and the relationships he encountered in his marriages. Thomas Hardy’s own life story and his erudition prompted the personalities of the characters within Jude and the course of Jude’s life.
Works Cited
- Brooks, Jean R. Thomas Hardy: The Poetic Structure. New York: Cornell University Press, 1971.
- Carpenter, Richard. Thomas Hardy. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964.
- Ranald, Ralph A. “Works of Thomas Hardy: Character Analyses.” Monarch Notes. 1 Jan. 1963: eLibrary. La Jolla high School Lib., La Jolla, CA 26 Mar. 2008. <http://www.proquestk12.com/myproducts>.
- Ranald, Ralph A. “Works of Thomas Hardy: Introduction.” Monarch Notes. 1 Jan. 1963: eLibrary. La Jolla high School Lib., La Jolla, CA 26 Mar. 2008. <http://www.proquestk12.com/myproducts>.
- Swaim, Barton. “Thomas of the Hardys.” The Weekly Standard. 21 May 2007: 29. eLibrary La Jolla High School Lib., La Jolla, CA 26 Mar. 2008. <http://www.proquestk12.com/myproducts>.