Many readers consider Thomas Hardy to be a cornerstone of English literature and poetry. Opinions aside, the man wrote fourteen novels, three short story volumes, and approximately one thousand poems! However, Hardy is most often remembered not for the quantity of his work but rather the quality; his simple style and socially critical tone make his novels enduring classics.

Thomas Hardy, famous English poet and novelist. Hardy was heavily influenced by Charles Dickens, who also was also highly critical of Victorian society.

Hardy is perhaps most well known for his novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, a tragic story about a ruined heroine whose poor, rural circumstances constrict her social mobility. Along a similar storyline and setting is the novel I plan to discuss today, Jude the Obscure. While it is not Hardy’s best-selling novel by any means, Jude the Obscure is extremely popular now compared to when it was originally released. The novel’s first release met a wave of public criticism and resentment: so much so that Hardy resolved never to write a book again. So what’s so controversial about the novel?

Well, a number of things in Hardy’s novels reviled the public at the time. In Jude the Obscure, Hardy spares no one in his critical examination of social institutions. The tale follows the life of Jude Fawley, a born orphan who grows up to become a working-class stonemason with high aspirations. Jude wishes nothing more than to attend a university in the city Christminster but his lowly position in society and the tricks of a young woman named Arabella impede his progress. After feigning a pregnancy, Arabella forces Jude into what will become a long and unhappy marriage. She eventually moves to Australia, leaving Jude free to pursue his lifelong dream: a dream that will prove virtually impossible due to the inexorable social class prejudices in academia at the time.

Hardy goes on to tell the love story between Jude and his free-spirited cousin, Sue Bridehead. Although the couple cannot marry because they cannot obtain divorces from their previous spouses, they still try to find happiness. From the beginning, nothing seems to go right and the couple’s story ends with one of the most shocking and deeply disturbing scenes in English literature. Using this scene to shock his readers, Hardy draws their attention to the evils that he believes are prevalent in Britain’s social institutions, including marriage, education, and deeply engrained social class divisions. Hardy’s novel uses the character Jude Fawley as a victim of the the darker sides of these institutions that are often glossed over in favor of traditional beliefs.

A quote from Hardy’s last novel, Jude the Obscure.

Marriage is arguably Hardy’s central focus in the novel, as it dominates the lives of his main characters. Specifically, Hardy critiques the societal response to Jude and Sue’s relationship and their refusal to acknowledge it as legitimate. Hardy draws on larger issues in society and asks tough questions that do not have easy answers: what is and what is not legitimate when it comes to a relationship between two people and who gets to decide? What are the ripple effects of our ingrained beliefs about marriage on others? These questions are still unresolved today, as we continue the debate over what is legitimate and what is not. If the popularity of this controversial novel is any indication of progress on this issue, then we are moving open-mindedly ahead.