A review by sumatra_squall
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

3.0

On the whole, I found this a better read than either the Mayor of Casterbridge or Wuthering Heights, although Jude the Obscure reminded me of both novels in several aspects. Jude Fawley's passionate attachment to Sue Brideshead brought to mind Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship at several points. Meanwhile, Jude's battle against his social circumstances to become first a scholar and later to join the church, against his family history which apparently rules out marriage for Jude, recalls Michael Henchard's struggle to master himself and to atone for sending his wife and child away in a drunken fit. I think what set Jude the Obscure above the Mayor of Casterbridge and Wuthering Heights for me, were the controversial issues it tackled - the relationship between Sue and Jude, Phillotson's acceptance of Sue's relationship with Jude and his readiness to relinquish his claim on her, and on a more minor point, Sue's early rejection of conventional religion.