Hardy’s Vision of Love in<i></i><i>Judethe Obscure</i>

Starting from the observation that Thomas Hardy’s vision of marriage, as reflected in Jude the Obscure (1895), should not be oversimplified into a straightforward denouncement of this institution, this paper offers evidence that his views are much more refined. By delineating marriages and the free union of its main characters, the novel intends to address several important issues. Sue Bridehead, who has the function of the author’s ventriloquist on this issue, offers scathing criticism of the Victorian marriage, which she views as an economic institution with nothing in common with love. As suggested by the examples of the conjugal lives in the novel, this institution represents a sordid contract that forces the spouses into an unequal relationship and is fundamentally unfit to shape the changing nature of emotional relationships. The novel suggests that legal provisions are unnecessary complications to already complex relationships between the sexes. Jude may be interpreted as Hardy’s appeal for the reformation of marriage laws that thwart the simple dissolution of marriages and contribute to the victimization of the more vulnerable spouse, objectification and denial of basic human rights to women. Hardy’s narrator gives priority to the free union of Sue and Jude, which is based upon equality and friendship, over conventional marriage. Sue attempts to raise their relationship to a higher level that transcends not only a socially and legally regulated institution but also physical love. Even though the couple endeavours to create a transcendent relationship free from external influences, their love is doomed to failure. The crucial question that the novel attempts to answer is — is a free and independent emotional relationship possible in Victorian society? The novel’s tragic end suggests that the unconventional cohabitation of Sue and Jude is too advanced for the time and place in which it occurs.