16 h 37 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 16 h 37 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the life you long for belongs to a world that refuses to let you in?
In Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, a poor orphan teaches himself Latin and Greek while learning a stonemason’s trade. Jude Fawley dreams of studying at Christminster, where the colleges promise a future far beyond his village. But hard work and a hungry mind may not be enough to cross the boundaries of class.
Then love makes his hopes more tangled. Practical, bold Arabella Donn draws him away from his books, while his clever cousin Sue Bridehead questions the rules that bind women in marriage. Set in Hardy’s Wessex, this slow, searching novel asks what happens when private hopes meet the demands of marriage, faith and social rank.
What you’ll discover
- A scholar shut out Follow Jude’s hunger for learning as he faces barriers that effort alone cannot remove.
- Sue’s restless independence Meet a woman whose questioning mind strains against the rules surrounding love and marriage.
- Two different kinds of longing See how Arabella’s practical wishes and Jude’s scholarly dreams pull their lives in different directions.
- Beautiful colleges, closed doors Walk with Jude through Christminster, where grey colleges stand beautiful and indifferent to his hopes.
- Rules older than hope Explore Hardy’s searching questions about marriage, the church and who gets the chance to learn.
Who will love it
For readers who love Victorian novels with a social conscience, and for anyone who has ever felt shut out of a place they were sure they belonged.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A village boy dreams of Christminster
- Arabella catches him with a trick
- Christminster shuts its gates on him
- Sue Bridehead enters his life
- Sue's marriage to Phillotson goes wrong
- Jude and Sue defy the world
- A mind shut out by class
- Marriage, faith and the body
- How Hardy builds his tragic design
Who’s who
- Jude FawleyA poor orphan and stonemason who teaches himself Latin and Greek and longs to study at Christminster and serve the church.
- Sue BrideheadJude's clever, independent cousin, who works in a church art shop and resists the rules that bind women in marriage.
- Arabella DonnA pig farmer's daughter, practical and bold, who marries Jude young and wants a comfortable, lively life.
- Richard PhillotsonThe village schoolmaster who first inspires Jude, then becomes Sue's employer and husband, a gentle man bound by convention.
- Aunt Drusilla FawleyJude's stern great-aunt in Marygreen, who raises him and warns him that Christminster is not for people like him.
- Little Father TimeA solemn child who comes into Jude's household and who feels the weight of the grown-ups' troubles.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 16 h 37 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Jude der Unbekannte
by Thomas Hardy · 1895
A young stonemason dreams of Christminster, where class stands between him and the education he craves.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Jude the Obscure is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in book form in 1895 after running as a serial in a magazine. It is the last novel Hardy wrote.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A village boy dreams of Christminster
The story opens in the village of Marygreen, where the schoolmaster, Richard Phillotson, is leaving to pursue a degree at Christminster. The boy Jude Fawley, an orphan living with his great-aunt Drusilla, watches him go. He is a quiet child with a tender heart. Hardy shows this early when the farmer who hires him to scare birds beats him for feeding the rooks instead.
After Phillotson has gone, Jude writes to him for grammar books. Jude is thrilled, and the books arrive in due course. He finds them harder than he expected, because he had thought a language could be unlocked like a puzzle. Learning that every word must be learned one at a time is his first hard lesson in what study costs.
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What is Jude the Obscure about?
It tells of Jude Fawley, a poor stonemason who dreams of studying at Christminster, a city based on Oxford. His hopes are blocked by class, and his love life with Arabella and Sue is shaped by marriage laws and social judgment.
Who is Sue Bridehead in Jude the Obscure?
Sue is Jude's cousin, a quick-minded, independent woman who works in a church art shop and later trains as a teacher. She questions marriage and religion, and her tangled feelings for Jude drive much of the plot.
Why was Jude the Obscure so controversial?
When it came out in 1895, many readers were shocked by its frank treatment of marriage, sex and religion. Critics attacked it, and the reaction is one reason Hardy stopped writing novels and turned to poetry.
The author
Thomas Hardy
1840–1928 · English novelist and poet
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English novelist and poet. He was born in Dorset and lived in Dorset and London. His novels include Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), and Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891). He published poetry collections from 1898 until his death.
More by Thomas Hardy
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