SYMBOLS &THEMES IN JUDE THE OBSCURE

Symbols & Themes in Jude the obsecure

Symbols in jude the obsecure:

Christminister:

Christminster is a fictional university town based on Oxford, England. Jude first learns of it when he is eleven years old and his teacher, Mr. Phillotson, leaves Marygreen to go there. Christminster then becomes the young Jude’s goal in life, and he idealizes the place as “The New Jerusalem” and a “city of light,” watching its faint, distant glow from the roof of the Brown House. When Jude finally makes it to Christminster, he imagines the shades of dead philosophers speaking to him in the streets. In the first part of the novel Christminster symbolizes Jude’s hope and idealism, and his desire to make a better life for himself despite his low social class.

Little   father time:

Little Father Time Symbol Icon

Little Father Time is a character in the novel, but he also acts as a symbol of coming of age and Hardy’s apprehensive view of the generation to come. Little Father Time lacks personality except as an excessively morbid, unexcitable child, but when he kills himself and Sue’s children it is the climax of the novel. As a symbol, Little Father Time represents the depression and amorality that Hardy sees as the inevitable result of the injustices in his society. Father Time is driven to despair by how poorly Jude and Sue are treated for being unmarried, and by his lack of love from Arabella and her parents. After Little Father Time’s death, the doctor actually diagnoses his murder-suicide as “in his nature” and “the beginning of the coming universal wish not to live.” In this way Hardy horrifies his readers and makes his social critiques seem that much more urgent, implying that the injustices of his generation will lead to tragedy in the next.

Animals:

In the novel, Hardy used some animals’ images represent the main characters and their destiny. Firstly, Hardy shaped Arabella‘s image associated with a pig. Pig has meaning "sacrifice" in the novel. Jude for animals’ pity implied his own destiny like butcher killed pig. Arabella represented nature of false and evil. The book also twice let Arabella compared to female tiger. When Sue visited her in the hotel, Arabella shouted out just like a beast. Arabella kill Jude’s hope and aspiration, leaving him a limited material satisfaction. She ignored any type of her husband’s obligation and responsibility.

Biblical Archetypes in Jude the Obscure:

Symbolism from nature is one of Hardy's chief means of showing the unity of man and his natural environment. Moving from natural level, we find ourselves involved in the immense web of Christian symbolism that is one of the most extraordinary and striking elements in the novel. The Bible has influenced numerous poets and writers in western countries. In fact, the popularity of Hardy's Jude the Obscure and other novels has a close connection with his use of biblical archetypes.

.Sue bridehead :

It's hard to give an exact picture of Sue's complex character, for she is modern with liberated thoughts, charming, interesting, intellectual, rational and unconventional, and at the same time she is neurotic, self- centered, selfish and even cold and relentless. There is great unstability in her character. She is very sensitive in protection of herself. She has always switched from discussion to emotion as soon as their talk verges on criticism of herself. When the argument is going against her, she hastily withdraws from it, usually making her opponent feel guilty at the same time.

She is a victim in the particular society. The incident of the trapped rabbit also has symbolic overtones. Jude and Sue are sensitive to the suffering of other creatures. The incident, while bringing them closer, is also symbolic of Sue's situation: she is caught and trapped in an unhappy marriage. In the society, women are set to be adjusted themselves to their husbandas Sue says "And it is said that what a woman shrinks from—in the early days of her marriage——she shakes down to with comfortab1e indifference in half—a However, Sue cannot submit herself to it．This is much 1ike saying that the amputation of a limb is no affliction. since a person gets comfortably accustomed to the use of a wooden leg or arm in the course of time. After she is ful1y aware of the contracted marriage to Phillotson and her strong love for Jude，she chooses to get away from the marriage and divorce Phi1lotson．In the novel, Hardy opposes the unjustified domination of women. He tends to advocates a harmonious relationship among people in the novel.

Themes in jude the obsecure :

Marriage:

It could be argued that the rejection of marriage is the central didactic point of this novel. Hardy repeatedly emphasizes that marriage involves making a commitment that many people are emotionally unequipped to fulfill - this sentiment comes from the narrator, but it is also expressed by Sue, Jude, Phillotson, and  at various points in the novel. Whether the institution of marriage can be saved is open to interpretation. Jude and Sue are clearly a good match for each other, so Jude wants to get married. Sue, however, feels that marriage will poison the relationship. The narrator does not seem to favor either side; it is left up to readers to decide how the problems with marriage might be solved.

Education:

Hardy highlights many kinds of education in Jude the Obscure. Most obviously, we have Jude's desire to get a university degree and become an academic. However, Hardy also emphasizes the importance of experiential education. Because Jude is inexperienced with women and with social situations more generally, he is especially susceptible to Arabella's seduction. In the novel, the level of traditional education one reaches is closely tied to the class system, and if someone from Jude's class wants to learn, they must teach themselves. Although the narrator seems to admire Jude's willingness to teach himself, he also points out the limits of autodidacticism, noting that despite Jude's near-constant studies, he cannot hope to compete on the university entrance exam against richer men who have hired tutors.

Religion:

As Jude the Obscure can be interpreted as critical of the institution of marriage, Hardy is equally as possessed with the church. Throughout their relationship, Jude and Sue have many conversations concerning religion, the former being initially more devout than his intellectually curious cousin. At a diorama depicting Jerusalem, the major characters' feelings on religion crystalize. Sue wonders why Jerusalem rather than Rome or Athens is deemed important, Phillotson counters that the city is important to the English as a Christian people, and Jude is utterly absorbed by the work - though he also strains to agree with Sue. Later, Sue mentions a friend who was the most irreligious but also the most moral. Hardy points out that these concepts are not mutually exclusive.

Jude's faith is tested by Sue. He realizes his sexual attraction to her makes him a hypocrite. Rather than suppress his natural physical desire, he burns his books, marking his break with Christianity. This makes Sue's reversal later in the novel all the more shocking. Jude likens her conversion in the wake of her children's death to his partaking in alcohol during difficult times. Here Hardy calls into question the motivations behind faith. Through Sue's self-punishing adherence to her Christian duties despite her true nature, Hardy suggests those motivations are not always pure.

Disappointment:

Disappointment crops up over and over again in this novel: Jude is disappointed by his career; he is disappointed in his marriage to Arabella and then his cohabitation with Sue; he is disappointed by Mr. Phillotson, who never achieved his dream of getting a university degree. Even Time's assertions that he never asked to be born suggest a certain disappointment with life. Since most of the novel's tragedies come as lost opportunities, the ways that the characters deal with disappointment contribute to their characterization. For example, Phillotson takes a relatively mature perspective when he is disappointed in his marriage to Sue, and allows her to be with Jude. Arabella, in contrast, deals with her disappointment in Cartlett by spying on Jude and scheming to get back together with him.

Conclusion :

As the sum up of symbols of Jude the obsecure  the readers can came across  the truth how symbol are presented the quality of the character and it also presented that by symbol readers can get clear concept about  the plot construction  also.