Social and Emotional Confinement free essay sample

Hardy’s Jude the Obscure was not intended to offend as many people as it did when it was published, but amid the social criticisms, frank descriptions of sexual desire, and a, extremely tragic and disturbing climax, the general public of 20th Century England was completely shocked. For years, critics and the public denounced Jude, while overlooking perhaps the most important conflict within the book. Thomas Hardy, in the introduction to the first non-serial edition of the novel, explains to readers that while the novel did contain many criticisms of socials structures in England, the main purpose of composing the book was â€Å"to tell, without a mincing of words, of a deathly war waged between flesh and spirit, and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims†. (Hardy, 3). As protagonist Jude Fawley works against some of the most sacred social institutions in England, he is forever battling uphill against society and fate itself. Jude, hoping to transcend his low social stature and break free from the contract of his marriage, is not only left with â€Å"unfulfilled aims† but is constantly confined; he cannot break from his marriage or from his embarrassing social stature. This idea of a person being confined or imprisoned by society and life itself contributes to the tragic nature of the novel, as Jude finds himself at the mercy of the world around him. Another example of confinement in Jude the Obscure is the institution of marriage. In the context of the novel’s setting and the period in which it was published, marriage, like Jude’s values and goals, are rooted in tradition while facing new values and ideas, some of which are hard to swallow for society and the citizens of Wessex. Many individuals were starting to question the contractual nature of marriage; â€Å"That marriage had become a problem, that somehow it was in crisis and need of reform was an idea very much in the air. † (Howe, 134). What Hardy believes to be the ideal structure for marriage is almost opposite what the church and law governed marriage to be. In the introduction of the original publication of Jude, Hardy outlines his belief that â€Å"a marriage should be dissolvable as soon as it becomes a cruelty to either of the parties† (Hardy, 5); if marriage were this way, than the entire cast of characters within the novel would have been spared of numerous tragedies, as the binding nature of marriage has been â€Å"used in great part as the tragic machinery of the tale† (Hardy, 5). He and a host of other characters are trapped into a marriage that they are rawn back to, regardless of divorce or feelings for other characters. Throughout the novel, Jude feels trapped by marriage, and â€Å"[inquires] what he had done†¦that he deserved to be caught in a gin which would cripple him†¦for the rest of a lifetime† (Hardy, 63). When he is forced into marrying Arabella in response to her announcement of pregnancy, Jude is forced to give up his dreams of the distant Christminster and his future as a scholar, as he informs her that the marriage is a â€Å"complete smashing of [his] plans† (Hardy, 58). When Arabella reveals that she was not actually pregnant, Jude begins to believe that the marriage was a trick, to which Arabella replies with â€Å"What can ‘em do otherwise? Married is married. † (Hardy, 61) Throughout their time together, Jude concludes that ‘[t]heir lives were ruined†¦by the fundamental error of their matrimonial union: that of having based a permanent contract on a temporary feeling† (Hardy, 71), and this contract continues to â€Å"ruin† Jude’s life even after Arabella departs, as Jude is still technically married to despite her departure from his life. A similar marriage befalls Sue, despite her cynical views towards marriage; she believes that â€Å"the social moulds civilization fits us into have no more relation to our actual shapes than the conventional shapes of the constellations have to the real star-patterns† (Hardy, 212), and thereforeâ€Å"[doesn’t] regard marriage as a Sacrament† (Hardy). Unaware of how binding a marriage was, she eventually promises to marry Jude’s former mentor, Richard Phillotson. She and Jude may see marriage differently, yet they are both trapped in tragic marriages caused by forethought. The once individualistic, â€Å"Ishmaelite† Sue has been transformed into a domestic housewife by marriage, even though Jude still believes that she is â€Å"not Mrs. Phillolson†, but is still â€Å"dear, free Sue Bridehead, only [she] [doesn’t] know it! † (Hardy, 194). When Sue’s feelings of regret for marrying Phillotson are revealed to Jude, it becomes apparent that both their dreams and beliefs have been confined by marriage; Sue’s image as an independent woman and Jude’s dream of higher education and marrying Sue are put on hold indefinitely. This confinement, however, eventually inspired the pair of star-crossed lovers to break free from the confines of their marriage and live together. The confinement of their first marriages, however, is not erased by divorce. Jude and Sue find brief happiness as they return to Christminster, free from the tragedies of married life. The following scene shows the bond Jude and Sue share: Sue, in her new summer clothes, flexible and light as a bird, her little thumb stuck up by the stem of her white cotton sunshade, went along as if she hardly touched ground, and as if a moderately strong puff of wind would float her over the hedge into the next field. Jude, in his light grey holiday-suit, was really proud of her companionship, not more for her external attractiveness than for her sympathetic words and ways. That complete mutual understanding, in which every glance and movement was as effectual as speech for conveying intelligence between them, made them almost the two parts of a single whole. Hardy, 298). The touching moment is distrubted, however, by Arabella’s view and commentary of the event. Michael Millgate notes that â€Å"[t]he momentary upward movement is skillfully held in check by the looming background presence of a scornful yet envious Arabella, appearing here†¦as a figure of ill omen. If the promise of what might yet be is strong, so is the blighting threat of what must be† (Millgate, 328). Hardy designed this scene to show that while Jude and Sue may be legally separated from their first partners, their first marriages will continue to bring tragedy into their lives. For Jude, this is symbolically shown through Little Father Time, a product of Jude and Arabella’s marriage that eventually tears Jude and Sue apart for good. Sue is initially upset when she first see’s the child, as she says to Jude â€Å"I see you in him†¦But the other half of him is-she! And that’s what I can’t bear! † (Hardy, 284). When Father Time hangs himself and Sue’s two children, the symbolism is clear; Jude is still confined to his first marriage because it continues to affect his life, and the event caused by his first marriage confine him once again to Arabella as he and Sue return to their original partners. Jude’s ambitions and desires, although inspiring, were implausible at best, and Jude’s failure to realize his dreams contributes greatly to the tragic nature of the story as the societal standards of the novel serve as a trap stronger than marriage. Within the first few pages of the novel, Jude’s fervor for education has already been expressed by his Aunt, who proclaims that â€Å"[t]he boy is crazy for books,’ (Hardy, 14), and eventually â€Å"[becomes] †¦ romantically attached to Christminster† (Hardy, 24), a city filled with the promise of traditional education. However, Jude’s aspirations to attend one of the colleges based in Christminster leads to tragedy, as Jude comes to realize that his social status will prevent him from attending any major university. After a failed marriage and months of working in Christminster, Jude receives acknowledgement from only one college, and this acknowledgement comes in the form of a polite suggestion that â€Å"as a working-man †¦ [Jude] will have a much better chance of success in life by remaining in [his] own sphere and sticking to [his] trade† (Hardy, 121). This is the second instance of Jude’s plans being thwarted, and yet another instance of Jude being confined to his social status. As Jude leaves Christminster, he pursues a career in divinity â€Å"without taking double-firsts in the schools of Christminster, or having anything but ordinary knowledge† (Hardy, 133), but when Jude fails to realize this goal because â€Å"[w]hat Sue had said in warmth was really the cold truth†¦He was unfit, obviously, by nature, as he had been by social position, to fill the part of a propounder of accredited dogma† (Hardy, 224). Jude’s â€Å"nature†, (sexual desire for Sue) would make it social and morally unacceptable for Jude to work in divinity, just as it was unlikely for someone of Jude’s economic status to be accepted to a college, and it becomes apparent that Jude will always be confined to a life of simple labor and a lowly career. Jude becomes increasingly more aware of this as his aspirations shrink after each attempt at improvement is thwarted by disaster. When looking at the entire timeline of Jude’s life, Bloom makes this statement: If we were to represent graphically this pattern of Jude’s progressively declining aspirations and the repeated checks upon them, they would appear as a line with a succession of peak representing his aspirations followed by a subsequent decline, the peaks and valleys becoming progressively lower and flatter, until reduced to scarcely more than a ripple† (Bloom, 91). Jude’s entire life is, when examined in full, confined to not only to the lower social class, but because of the ever-increasing discrimination against him and his eventual family with Sue, it is also trapped in a series of personal failures. The unusual situation of Sue and Jude’s marriage leads to rumors and judgments from the Christminster community, and they are both quite aware. â€Å"’They are talking about us, no doubt! ’ [moans] Sue. ‘We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angles, and to men! ’† (Hardy, 346). One of the most dramatic outcomes of the social rejection of Sue and Jude’s lifestyle is their eviction following their landlady’s attempt to â€Å"gather something of the circumstances of the family she had taken in† (Hardy, 339). The landlady’s actions are symbolic of how society as a whole snares Jude’s family into a vicious cycle of poverty. While the social institutions of the 20th century confine Jude to a life of obscurity and poverty, the natural forces ensuring Jude’s â€Å"unfulfilled aims† are just as important; even if they are not elaborated on as much as the aforementioned societal road-blocks of Jude’s life, they serve an equally powerful purpose as they take Jude’s confinement to another level. Little Father Time, already a symbol for Jude’s inability to escape his marriage, also serves as a very naturalist view on confinement – that is, Little Father Time is confined to a life of cynicism and poverty simply because he was born into misfortune. When commenting on Little Father Time’s murder suicide, Jude remarks that â€Å"[i]t was in his nature to do it. The doctor says there are such boys springing up amongst us†¦They seem to see all [life’s] terrors before they are old enough to resist them† (Hardy, 345). An even more obvious example of natural prisons for Jude’s aspirations is death itself ignoring Jude when he becomes fixated on killing himself. While Jude taunts Arabella, promising that â€Å"[she’ll] see [his] spirit flitting up and down [their home]† (Hardy 403), Jude â€Å"recovered somewhat, and worked at his trade for several weeks† (Hardy, 408). Class prejudice, marriage, and now death itself have all confined Jude to the obscure life of a common worker with a tarnished past. The cycle of marriages, divorces and remarriages furthers the tragic elements of the novel as it mirrors Jude’s inability to fulfill his aims. As Jude recites his story to a group of former co-workers, he presents to them the dilemma of choosing â€Å"whether to follow un-critically the track he finds himself in, without considering his aptness for it, or to consider what his aptness or bent may be, and re-shape his course accordingly†, and Jude admits that.