Jude The Obscure

Below is a free term papers summary of the paper "Jude The Obscure." If you sign up, you can be reading the rest of this term papers in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view this term paper.

Term Paper Title	Jude The Obscure
# of Words	1847
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	7.39

Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure

     In Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Hardy shows his views on religion and
commitment to the Church which were said to have declined in the latter years of
his life. (Ingham, xxvii) Throughout the book Hardy displays his feeling that
religion is something that people use in order to satisfy themselves by giving
their lives' meaning. One instance in which Hardy clearly displays this is when
he writes, "It had been the yearning of his heart to find something to anchor on,
to cling to." (Ingham, 94) In order to bring out this point Hardy chooses to
create Jude as an orphan and has him come from obscure origins. By doing this he
creates a character who is looking for something to give him an identity. As a
result of his relationship with Mr. Phillotson (who leaves for Christminster in
order to become ordained), he finds religion and feels that he can use it to
help him gain an identity. Hardy feels that people should shy away from their
old ways of thinking and begin to form new opinions of their own. He feels that
people should not just blindly follow religion without deciding for themselves
that this is what they want. People should not be as Jude who becomes obsessed
with religion simply because his mentor Phillotson felt this way. One of the
major reasons that causes Hardy to have these views is that he feels religion
leads to hypocrisy. He feels that man has many desires that go against the laws
of religion, and these desires lead man to feel very hypocritical. These
feelings of hypocrisy then cause man to have many inner conflicts that lead to
many problems. This negativity towards religion is seen both through symbols in
the book and in the plot itself. The symbols that convey this message are the
name Jude, which is an allusion to Judas Iscariot who was a traitor to Jesus.
The name Jude can also be a reference to the wandering Jew. The second symbol is
Christminster. Christminster symbolizes a world in which Jude sees how
remarkable the Church is, but it is a place that exists only in Jude's
imagination. Another symbol that we encounter is that of Samson who is symbolic
of man going after women that are forbidden to him. We also encounter a
reference to Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace, which is used to question God by asking
why the righteous suffer. Finally, the job Jude chooses is also symbolic of the
anti-religious attitude that is shown.
     The negativity towards religion is first revealed in the name Jude. Jude
is an allusion...

This is not the end of the termpaper! Register below to see the complete version of this term paper.

Membership Plans	Credit Card	Check

1 month membership

3 month membership (You Save 50%)

6 month membership (You Save 67%)

Copyright © 2002-2007 Mid Term Papers. All rights reserved. This term papers website is used for research purposes only.
If you have forgotten your username or password, please click here.
If you like to cancel your account, please click here.

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22