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michaeltylerland 's review for:
Jude the Obscure
by Thomas Hardy
3/5 stars
Minor spoilers follow, I guess.
Moral of the story: Do not cheat on your spouse with your first cousin. Rolle Ye Olde Tyde.
In seriousness, I have major issues with this story. It’s a Greek tragedy set in Victorian England. The actual story is wonderful. The disintegration of the aptly-named Fawley (Folly) family is something that might come straight out of Shakespeare. Unfortunately, it is mixed with a lot of social commentary which brought down the experience for me.
The novel critiques Victorian ideals of marriage, divorce, sex, adultery, and religion. This was extremely well-done up until the very end of the book, when Sue mysteriously changes her mind and everything the novel said about marriage is reversed. Perhaps that’s part of the grand tragedy of the novel; the characters were so close to egalitarianism before being crushed by their circumstances and reverting back to socially acceptable behavior. On the other hand, it could also be read as tacit support for the pharisaical attitudes of Victorian England, so I got mixed messages.
Additionally, for a novel that professes a modern-day view of gender relations, the characterization was quite sexist. Jude and Richard are noble men whose tragedies come about solely because of the women in their lives. Every female character is either a walking exposition, a harlot seeking to entrap men, or a shrinking violet whose major behavioral characteristic is inconsistency. There’s nothing wrong with having an amoral female character, but when *every* woman in the book acts this way, there’s something wrong.
Overall, the wonderful plot is marred considerably by the inconsistency of the morality tale. I understand why it was controversial and relevant when it was published, but I’m not sure that it is still necessary to read today.
Minor spoilers follow, I guess.
Moral of the story: Do not cheat on your spouse with your first cousin. Rolle Ye Olde Tyde.
In seriousness, I have major issues with this story. It’s a Greek tragedy set in Victorian England. The actual story is wonderful. The disintegration of the aptly-named Fawley (Folly) family is something that might come straight out of Shakespeare. Unfortunately, it is mixed with a lot of social commentary which brought down the experience for me.
The novel critiques Victorian ideals of marriage, divorce, sex, adultery, and religion. This was extremely well-done up until the very end of the book, when Sue mysteriously changes her mind and everything the novel said about marriage is reversed. Perhaps that’s part of the grand tragedy of the novel; the characters were so close to egalitarianism before being crushed by their circumstances and reverting back to socially acceptable behavior. On the other hand, it could also be read as tacit support for the pharisaical attitudes of Victorian England, so I got mixed messages.
Additionally, for a novel that professes a modern-day view of gender relations, the characterization was quite sexist. Jude and Richard are noble men whose tragedies come about solely because of the women in their lives. Every female character is either a walking exposition, a harlot seeking to entrap men, or a shrinking violet whose major behavioral characteristic is inconsistency. There’s nothing wrong with having an amoral female character, but when *every* woman in the book acts this way, there’s something wrong.
Overall, the wonderful plot is marred considerably by the inconsistency of the morality tale. I understand why it was controversial and relevant when it was published, but I’m not sure that it is still necessary to read today.