Hardy's Jude the Obscure

Hardy's Jude the Obscure

In Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Hardy shows his views on religion and

commitment to the Church which were said to have declined in the latter years of

his life. (Ingham, xxvii) Throughout the book Hardy displays his feeling that

religion is something that people use in order to satisfy themselves by giving

their lives meaning. One instance in which Hardy clearly displays this is when

he writes, "It had been the yearning of his heart to find something to anchor on,

to cling to." (Ingham, 94) In order to bring out this point Hardy chooses to

create Jude as an orphan and has him come from obscure origins. By doing this he

creates a character who is looking for something to give him an identity. As a

result of his relationship with Mr. Phillotson (who leaves for Christminster in

order to become ordained), he finds religion and feels that he can use it to

help him gain an identity. Hardy feels that people should shy away from their

old ways of thinking and begin to form new opinions of their own. He feels that

people should not just blindly follow religion without deciding for themselves

that this is what they want. People should not be as Jude who becomes obsessed

with religion simply because his mentor Phillotson felt this way. One of the

major reasons that causes Hardy to have these views is that he feels religion

leads to hypocrisy. He feels that man has many desires that go against the laws

of religion, and these desires lead man to feel very hypocritical. These

feelings of hypocrisy then cause man to have many inner conflicts that lead to

many problems. This negativity towards religion is seen both through symbols in

the book and in the plot itself. The symbols that convey this message are the

name Jude, which is an allusion to Judas Iscariot who was a traitor to Jesus.

The name Jude can also be a reference to the wandering Jew. The second symbol is

Christminster. Christminster symbolizes a world in which Jude sees how

remarkable the Church is, but it is a place that exists only in Jude's

imagination. Another symbol that we encounter is that of Samson who is symbolic

of man going after women that are forbidden to him. We also encounter a

reference to Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, which is used to question God by asking

why the righteous suffer. Finally, the job Jude chooses is also symbolic of the

anti-religious attitude that is shown.

The negativity towards religion is first revealed in the name Jude.