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An essay on Thomas Hardy's novel
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Jude the Obscure
In Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy presents the characters Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead, who violate the conventions of the repressive Victorian society while attempting to follow their natural instincts. By studying the novel, one sees that Hardy's intentions in doing this are to arouse the reader's sympathy for the characters, and to join in their ridicule of the codes of conduct they are breaking.
The trial of Jude and Sue evoke a sympathetic response from the reader because the couple reflects the values which are prevalent in modern society. They suffer persecution for yielding to emotions which are no longer considered unacceptable or forbidden, as they were then. This portrays Victorian society as being cruel and unnatural, thus creating affection for the characters. Hardy understood the tendency for society to swing like a pendulum from one extreme to the other. He knew that the Victorian era would not last indefinately, and that future generations would become more liberated. This is beautifully illustrated in this reflection of Sue's: 'When people of a later age look back upon the barbarous customs and superstitions of the times that we have the unhappiness to live in, what will they think?’ (p.276) According to modern values, it is wrong to condemn people for following their pure and natural instincts, though they ‘have wronged no man, condemned no man, defrauded no man.’ (p.378) Therefore, by predicting these shifts, and exposing the injustice of Victorian society, Hardy evokes sympathy in the reader for Sue and Jude.
Hardy also uses the two characters to reveal that he finds the society in which they live ridiculous. He joins Sue and Jude as they laugh at ‘the artificial system of things, under which the normal sex-impulses are turned into devilish domestic gins and springes to noose and hold back those who want to progress. (p.279) In rare times of ‘Greek joyousness’ (p.366) Jude and Sue live by ‘Nature’s law’ and are able to enjoy, unabated, the ‘instincts which civilisation has taken upon itself to thwart.’ (p.413) It is during these times that the two are truly able to laugh at the conventions they have violated, as they are content and unaffected by the repercussions.
...’s work. Although dancing Taylor’s choreography, Grossman was allowed the freedom to experiment and this factor allowed him to develop as a performer. Grossman has admitted that he had some fear in dancing in Taylor’s Company; however he has further added that in doing so his fears were gradually diffused and he in fact reached “a sense of peace or calm”.
The character of Jude is one of an inwardly emasculated man. He has a job as a waiter but it is not enough to support a family of his own. He desperately desires a construction job at the tunnel but cannot get one, and he feels less than a man because of this. Since he cannot get a man’s job to fulfil himself, he decides to get married: “So it was rage, rage and a determination to take on a man’s role anyhow that made him press Nel about settling down. He needed some of his appetites filled, some posture of adulthood recognized, but mostly he wanted someone to care about his hurt, to care very deeply” (82). He feels like the only way that he will be a man is to get married and have a female at his disposal, but he is also looking for a comforting mother figure as well. Jude wants a woman to complete him: “With her he was head of a household pinned to an unsatisfactory job out of necessity. The two of them together would make one Jude” (83). Jude’s attitude toward women is shown in his belief that women should be submissive: “He chose the girl who had alw...
After the American Revolution, slavery began to decrease in the North, just as it was becoming more popular in the South. By the turn of the century, seven of the most Northern states had abolished slavery. During this time, a surge of democratic reform swept the North to the West, and there were demands for political equality, economic and social advances for all Americans. Northerners said that slavery revoked the human right of being a free person and when new territories became available i...
The most iconic volcanic eruption in history was the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius is located on the west coast side of Italy. Pompeii was the ancient town five miles from Mt. Vesuvius where people would flock to the area in 79 AD to be near the Bay of Naples. Little did they know that the volcano would erupt into the most destructive volcano in history. Mt. Vesuvius has erupted about three dozen times and was the most disastrous due to the large population around the area. The volcano, which is still active today, is a stratovolcano. A stratovolcano has pyroclastic flows and erupt explosively and violently. Pyroclastic flows don't necessarily look exactly like “flowing eruptions”. These eruptions are not the “flowing” type of eruptions because they are eruptions with explosions and blowing clouds that fill the air. These clouds are usually dark clouds that are made up of ash. Pompeii had some signs of the volcano erupting, but the technology was not like the technology of today where scientists can monitor the volcanic activity.
George Patton served as aide-de-camp to the American General John Joseph Pershing on Pershing’s expedition to Mexico in 1917. As a young lieutenant Patton was asked by General Pershing why he should be chosen to go on a dangerous mission The young, cocky Patton replied, “I want to go more than anyone else.”2 After making a name for himself early in his career, Patton earned a promotion; beginning the practice of many promotions to come. His experiences in Mexico prepared him for the soon to come war in Europe.
To better understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to understand the time period in which the accusations of witchcraft occurred. There were the ordinary stresses of 17th-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, factions among Salem Village fanatics, and rivalry with nearby Salem Town all played a part in the stress. There was also a recent small pox epidemic and the threat of an attack by warring tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. Soon prisons were filled with more than 150 men and women from towns surrounding Salem.
The rivers of Johnstone which are its lifeblood have also been one of Johnstown's greatest adversaries; this is especially true as its population increased. While the population grew and the city branched out it repeatedly encroached the adjacent rivers. Most if not all of the residential and business areas in the city center were situated on this flood plain. These areas were flooded on a regular due to snows melting and rainfall throughout the 19th century. The first major flood at Johnstown occurred in 1833. During this flood...
The sensational novel is usually a tale of our own times. Proximity is indeed one great element of sensation. A tale which aims to electrify the nerves of the reader is never thoroughly effective unless the scene be laid out in our own days and among the people we are in the habit of meeting. In keeping with mid-Victorian themes, Lady Audley’s Secret is closely connected to the street literature and newspaper accounts of real crimes. The crimes in Braddon’s novel are concealed and secret. Like the crimes committed by respected doctors and trusted ladies, the crimes in Lady Audley’s Secret shock because of their unexpectedness. Crime in the melodrama of the fifties and sixties is chilling, because of the implication that dishonesty and violence surround innocent people. A veneer of virtue coats ambitious conniving at respectability. Lady Audley’s Secret concludes with a triumph of good over evil, but at the same time suggests unsettlingly that this victory occurs so satisfyingly only in melodramas (Kalikoff, 9...
Jane Austen completes her story with a “Cinderella ending” of Catherine and Henry marrying. However, her novel is more than a fairytale ending. Although often wrong and misguided in their judgments, she shows the supremacy of males that permeated throughout her society. Jane Austen takes us from a portrayal of men as rude, self-centered, and opinionate to uncaring, demanding, and lying to downright ruthless, hurtful, and evil. John Thorpe’s and General Tilney’s total disregard for others feelings and their villainous ways prove Austen’s point. Whether reading Northanger Abbey for the happy ending or the moral lesson, this novel has much to offer.
A member of S, D, will not give A a reason for φ-ing if either the existence of D is dependent on false belief, or A’s belief in the
Hardy redefines the role of women in his novels, focusing on sexuality. By emphasizing the physical aspect of femininity in his unorthodox representation of the sexual female, Hardy threatens the Victorian model of women. Sexuality is evident in Far From The Madding Crowd when Bathsheba unknowingly admits her passion to Sergeant Troy. "If you can only fight half as winningly as you can talk, you are able to make a pleasure of a bayonet wound!" Baths...
Clarke, R. (n.d.). The Poetry of Thomas Hardy. rlwclarke. Retrieved February 1, 2014, from http://www.rlwclarke.net/Courses/LITS2002/2008-2009/12AHardy'sPoetry.pdf
Hardy originated from a working class family. The son of a master mason, Hardy was slightly above that of his agricultural peers. Hardy’s examination of transition between classes is usually similar to that of D.H. Lawrence, that if you step outside your circle you will die. The ambitious lives of the characters within Hardy’s novels like Jude and Tess usually end fatally; as they attempt to break away from the constraints of their class, thus, depicting Hardy’s view upon the transition between classes. Hardy valued lower class morals and traditions, it is apparent through reading Tess that her struggles are evidently permeated through the social sufferings of the working class. A central theme running throughout Hardy’s novels is the decline of old families. It is said Hardy himself traced the Dorset Hardy’s lineage and found once they were of great i...
“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” (Diane Arbus) Born on March 14th 1923, and died on July 26th 1971. Diane Arbus, she was an American born photographer, most well known for her taboo type style of picture taking. Photographs featuring all sorts of ‘taboo’ type people, such as people who were considered dwarfs, nudists, performers of the circus, people who are transgender, giants, or even people who have simply been considered or and viewed as ugly. Arbus was well known by many people as ‘The photographer of freaks’. In the year of 1971 Diane Arbus had killed herself. Which happened one year prior to Arbus having her photographs at the Venice Biennale, Diane Arbus had been the first American to have her images on display at that location.
Ever wondered about what initiated the ability of flight among insects and vertebrates? About how the creatures take off and venture into their flight? Well if “yes” was an answer to one of the questions (or even if it wasn’t), Flight is the place to find the answers.