奈良教育大学学術リポジトリNEAR
TWO PECULIARITIES IN JUDE THE OBSCURE
著者 Tohru Kojima
journal or
publication title
奈良学芸大学紀要. 人文・社会科学
volume 14
page range 1‑13
year 1966‑02‑28
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10105/3338
TWO PECULIARITIES IN JUDE THE OBSCURE
Tohru Kojima
Department of the English Language, Nara Gakugei University, Nara, Japan
FOREWORD
When I finished Jude the Obscure for the second time last summer (1964), I noticed that the plot of it was more architectually constructed than any other novel by Thomas Hardy. I thought it an interesting feature of the novel. After Jude I read F. E.
Hardy's1 'The Life of Thomas Hardy2 with the object of examining the life of the
poet and novelist, and I was surprised to find that the volume had a close
connection with Jude in respect of having many similar incidents. I considered it another amusing characteristic of Jude. I wanted, therefore, to write a small treatise concerning the two peculiarities mentioned above.
At length I have fulfilled my heart's desire, to my delight. I shall esteem it a great honour, if this monograph serves to furnish the reader with some information on Jude the Obscure. Before taking up the main subject I shall give a summary of the novel so that the reader may understand this treatise better, and also describe what criticism it faced when it was first made public.
I. SYNOPSIS OF THE NOVEL
Jude Fawley, the grandnephew of Drusilla Fawley, is a studious young mason who- longs for Christminster, the city of learning and religion. He falls victim to the wiles of a loose woman, Arabella Donn, who succeeds in drawing him intomarriage.
After a few months of discordant married life, they part, Arabella leaving for Australia with her parents.
Jude, feeling relieved of a heavy load, makes his way to Christminster in the eager hope of getting admission to the university. In the city he meets his cousin Sue Bridehead, a clever, unorthodox young woman, who immediately attracts him. But as a married man, he can not make advances to her. One day he tells Sue of Arabella,
and soon after she marries Richard Phillotson, Jude's old master.
Meanwhile Jude receives a discouraging reply from the university. He has lost both Sue and the hope of becoming a matriculate. His disappointment is bitter. Though Sue has married Phillotson, she can not forget Jude. Her heart departs from her husband, and gradually inclines towards her cousin. At last she leaves Phillotson and
flies to Jude.
Jude divorces Arabella legally, and presses Sue for their lawful union ; but Sue will not consent to it. She fears that marriage will destroy their mutual affection. Her
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fear has been engendered by their great-aunt Drusilla's tales of the unfortunate marriages in their family.
In the meantime Arabella sends Jude their child born in Australia. He is a
preternaturally old child who has been nicknamed Father Time because of his curious appearance. The inquisitive eyes of people are directed to the unmarried couple, and Jude can obtain no fixed employment. The two unavoidably auction their household goods, and quit the place. After removing from place to place, they ultimately come back to Christminster again. But they find difficulty in getting lodgings on account of their children. Taking this too seriously, Father Time puts an end to the lives of
himself and the other two children. The loss of her children seems to Sue a
punishment for despising the marriage rite. Finally she conceives the idea that she is married to Richard and to him alone. So she returns to her former husband refusing Jude's request for her stay with him.
Seeing this, Arabella makes up her mind to remarry Jude. She induces him to drink with the result that she is successful in attaining her purpose. But Jude is now completely broken in health. Shortly afterwards he dies lonely, while Arabella is out,
•Ecoughing and gasping : 'Water - somewater - Sue - Arabella I '
II. CRITICISM ON THE NOVEL
When Jude the Obscure was published3, Hardy was subjected to the torrent of abuse from the press and the religious circles. The Life of Thomas Hardy tells about the circumstances in those days as follows :
The onslaught upon Jude started by the vituperative section of the press unequalled in violence since the publication of Swinburne's poems and Ballads thirty years before was taken up by the anonymous writers of libellous letters and post-cards, and other such gentry. It spread to America and Australia, whence among other appreciations he received a letter containing a packet of ashes, which the virtuous writer stated to be those of his
iniquitous novel.4
In the book we find such an account as :
the Bishop of Wake field announced in a latter to the papers that he had thrown Hardy's novel into the fire5.
The same book also reprints from theNew York World the reproachful words of a maiden lady, which are :
'What has happened to Thomas Hardy?....1 am shocked, appalled by this story !....It is almost the worst book that I ever read....I thought that Tess of the D'Urbervilles was bad enough, but that is milk for babes compared to this--•E•EAside from its immorality there is coarseness which is beyond belief....When I finished the story, I opened the windows and let in the fresh air, ,...'5
By these articles we can well imagine how severe a criticism Hardy was exposed to.
Two Peculiarities in Jude the Obscure 3 The attack was far more violent in Jude than in the case of Tess. The Well-Beloved was also censured as immoral, but it was not so much as Jude. Causing an enormous sensation among the reading public, Jude became the most notorious and singular of all Hardy's novels. But there were some that praised this book highly. The Saturday
Review described Jude as :
the most splendid.of all the works that Mr. Hardy has given to the world.... (Feb. 6th..
1896.V
The Westminster Review (Vol. 145,p. 136. ) was hardly less hyperbolical : Jude is not his greatest work, but no other living novelist could have written it.8 Time burys everything from the memory of people. The sensation created by Jude is now an old story.
As regards interest and artistic value, what place does Jude take among Hardy's novels? Joseph Warren Beach says :
The Return of the Native, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Judethe Obscure prove to be the most interesting as well as the best made of his novels.9
Columbia Encyclopedia states as follows :
The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure are generally considered his finest novels.
Douglas Brown gives Jude seventh place in the novels he takes to represent Hardy's strength10. Among the critics are various opinions as to the valuation of his stories.
Jude is, however, generally thought to be among the five masterpieces.
HI. CONSTRUCTION OF THE PLOT
From the construction of the plot Jude is the joint-work of Hardy the author and Hardy the architect. It is built so architectually-some say 'geometrically'-that we may safely use the above words. No author could think of such plot-setting as Jude'sr unless he were an architect, mason, or the like. In Jude this feature is orderly exhibited in the disposition of persons, in the relation of persons and places, and in the pattern of plot. Hardy himself recognizes this and says :
'It required an artist to see that the plot is almost geometrically constructed 'll In his novels there are some12 that show somewhat of this characteristic, but none in which it presents itself so extensively as in Jude or in The Well-Beloved. Jude, the hero of Jude the Obscure, is a mason ; and Jocelyn, the chief person of The Well- Beloved, is a sculptor. Their occupations are both closely connected with architecture
4 Tohru Kojima
and geometry. Hardy likes mystery, and there are numbers of mystery stories by him, such as Desperate Remedies, The Waiting Supper, A Tragedy of Two Ambitions, The Superstitious Man's Story and others. He gives a puzzle to the reader ; and unravels it long afterwards, or leaves it unsolved to the end. Considering that he is
a writer who requires us to think a great deal, it is not a mere chance that Hardy has brought into Jude and The Well-Beloved persons having occupations related to architecture and geometry.
1. Disposition of Characters
(l) Blood Relations between Jude and Sue
Miss Drusilla Fawley had a nephew and a niece ; the child of her nephew is Jude, and the child of her niece Sue. Their relations are well-balanced as the diagram shows below :
Miss Drusilla-<
'Nephew (Jude's father) -åºGrandnephew (Jude) -Niece (Sue's mother) ->Grandniece (Sue) (2) Number of Chief Characters
The chief characters are four two men and two women. These relations are also well-proportioned, and a rectangle is described as shown below :
Jude
Phillotson
Arabella
Sue
Such a symmetrical arrangement of persons can not be seen in the other novels of
Hardy. Tess consists of three major persons one woman and two men. Under the
Greenwood Tree has four leading characters as Jude, but they are one lady and three men.
(3) Conjugal Relations among the Four Persons
Jude marries Arabella, parts from her, lives with Sue, separates from her, and finally remarries Arabella. Sue weds Phillotson, leaves him, lives with Jude, goes away from him, and lastly weds Phillotson again. These relations are so orderly and regularly established that there can be seen no warps in them. Thus :
Jude- Jude
-Arabella Arabella
Sue Phillotson Sue x Phillotson
Jude Sue
Two Peculiarities in Jude the Obscure
Jude x Sue
Jude Ara bella Sue Phillotson
We can not but admire the beautiful equilibrium of this architectual skeleton.
(4) Distribution of Characters in Each Part
Characters are quite regularly distributed in each part of the book as the diagram shows:
Part First (Marygreen) three (Jude, Phillotson, Arabella) Part Second (Christminster) three (Jude, Phillotson, Sue)
Part Third (Melchester) four (All members)
Part Fourth (Shaston) three (Jude, Phillotson, Sue)
Part Fifth (Aldbrickham) three (Jude, Arabella, Sue) Part Sixth (Christminster) four (All members)
Jude appears six times; Sue, five; Phillotson, five; Arabella, four. It is interesting to note that the number of times shows the order of the importance of characters,, and that each couple appears ten times in all :
J u d e S u e ‑ 5 P h i l l o t s o n ‑ 5 A r a b e l la ‑ 4 J u d e , 6
A r a b e l l a , 4 P h i l l o t s o n ,
S u e , 1 0
P o s i t i o n o f P l a c e s 2.
The story begins at Marygreen13, goes north to Alfredston14, moves farther north to Christminster*5 ; changing its course advances south to Melchester, *°
proceeds south-west to Shaston17, turns north-east to Aldbrickham, ls and again comes back to Christminster. When we represent these places with dots, and join them by lines,we find that the places are located at the apexes or lines of the triangle:
Christminster Alfredston
Marygreen -*.
Aldbrickham
Melches ter
Shaston
" ^Tohru Kojima
Judging from the way of Hardy, this triangle is no fruit of chance, but one after profound meditation. When I became aware,at first, of the orderly blood relations between Drusilla and Jude-Sue, I felt certain that there were yet more interesting geometrical secrets in the book. I felt highly delighted when I found out the above-
mentioned secrets after some time of patient study of Jude.
3. Pattern of the Plot
I shall seek this peculiarity (architectual construction) in the plot-setting. J.W.
Beach calls it 'parallel step,'19 and it is a noteworthy feature in Jude. This step is oftener found in the latter half of the book.
Arabella allures Jude three times. Her first wiles resemble her third. Hardy acknowledges this and says :
The circumstances were not altogether unlike those of their entry into the house at Cresscombe, such a long time before.20
In either case Arabella takes Jude up the stairs of her father's house.
When they arrived at her house he said lingeringly: 'I won't come in.'21
They had reached her father's house, and she softly un fastened the door, groping about for a light within.22
Arabella -> Jude Arabella -> Jude
After parting from him, Sue calls on Phillotson at his sick-bed. She bids him
farewell, declining his entreaty for her stay. After separating from her, the sick Jude goes to see Sue. His appeal being rejected, he lonely leaves the place.
'I don't ask you to go, even now. I ask you to stay'.
'I thank you, Richard; but I must. As you are not soill as I thought, I cannotstay! >23 'Let us then shake off our mistakes, and run away together ! '
'No; again no! Why do you tempt me so far, Jude!....Don't follow me don'tlook
at me. Leave me, for pity's sake ! '24 Sue ->•EPhillotson Jude-> Sue
At the appearance of Arabella Jude who has been supplicating Sue for mercy suddenly changes his attitude. As the result of it, Sue, in her turn, places herself in a position to ask Jude earnestly.
'I know it abundantly, Jude. But I think I would much rather go on living always as lovers, as we are living now, and only meeting by day.'25
'She isn't your wife any longer ! ' exclaimed Sue, passionately excited.
'You mustn't go out to find her ! It isn't right ! '26
Jude -> Sue Sue ->Jude
Since the tragedy of Father Time Sue and Jude has mentally walked in opposite
Two Peculiarities in Jude the Obscure <
directions. Sue who has believed in no God, and belittled the conventions and
formalities, begins to attach much importance to them. Jude, on the contrary,
travels the other way.
'I am absorbed in Theology, you know,' said Jude.
'I have no respect for Christminster whatever,' said Sue Bridehead earnestly.27
She was no longer the same as in the independent days, when her intellect played like lambent lightning over conventions and formalities which he at that time respected, though he did not now.28
The pious Jude -> The impious Jude The impious Sue -> The pious Sue
From the night after the funeral of Drusilla, Sue refuses the entrance of Phillotson into her room. From the night after Arabella's visit to the grave of Father Time, Sue will not permit Jude to enter her room.
'You ought not to have pulled open the door ! ' she cried excitedly. 'It is not becoming in you! O, will you go away; please will you ! >29
Jude did not permit himself to speak, but turned and descended the stairs.30 Sue
Sue
Phillotson Jude
As the result of Arabella's call, envy causes Sue to go into the chamber of Jude.
In consequence of Jude's visit, conscience makes Sue enter the room of Phillotson.
'I have nobody but you, Jude, and you are deserting me ! I didn't know you were like this 1 can't bear it,1 can't ! '31
The widow went out on the landing, and saw that Sue had disappeared.32 Sue
Sue
Jude Phillotson
When Jude returns to Christminster with his family again, it is the Remembrance Day, and the place is gay. When Jude breathes his last, it is the festival of the town, and the place is gay and noisy.
'The place seems gay', said Sue. 'Why it is Remembrance Day ! >33
Certain sounds from without revealed that the town was in festivity, though little of
the festival, whatever it might have been, could be seen here.34 Jude's arrival
Jude's death
Remembrance Day
Festival
Here I shall have a brief look at the plot-setting of The Well-Beloved which has some resemblance to that of Jude. In The Well-Beloved Hardy adopts the triple form '1-2-3' in the plot. Jocelyn's age, for instance, advances at a regular interval of twenty-forty-sixty. Jocelyn makes Avice Caro the object of his love at the age of
8 Tohru Kojima
twenty, and Ann Avice Caro (Caro's daughter) at forty, and Avice Pierston (Caro's granddaughter) at sixty years of age :
Jocelyn at twenty Jocelyn at forty Jocelyn at sixty
Avice Caro (Grandmother) Ann Avice Caro (Mother) Avice Pierston (Daughter)
Further, there are three couples of elopement-Marcia and Jocelyn, Ann and Jocelyn, Avice and Henri. That this novel consists of three parts is also of great interest:
Part First Part Second Part Third
A Young Man of Twenty A Young Man of Forty A Young Man of Sixty
The trio, as seen above, is an entertaining characteristic of this story ; but the form is so strikingly systematic that there is every probability of its artificiality
being easily perceived.
Hardy's works are often criticized as having many unnatural incidents. In point of unnaturalness, the parallel step of Jude and the triple form of the Well-Beloved
may also deserve censure. But Hardy adopted these forms intentionally, though he was quite cognizant of their being unnatural. Therefore those who understand Hardy well would never complain that these forms are unnatural.
IV. RELATIONS BETWEEN JUDE AND THE LIFE
The Life of Thomas Hardy is compiled largely from contemporary notes, letters, diaries, and biographical memoranda, as well as from oral information in conversations extending over many years. Therefore this book may be said to be the most reliable record of the life of the great author. As I have said inthe Foreword of this monograph, Jude has surprisingly many incidents similar to those The Life contains. It seems to me that Jude is more intimately related to The Life than any other work by Hardy.
In other words, the personal experiences of Hardy appear to be found in Jude most of all. I shall prove my words by extracting from the two volumes various things in commonwith each other.
Still Birth
At his birth he was thrown aside as dead till rescued by her as she exclaimed to the surgeon, 'Dead. ! Stop a minute: he's alive enough, sure ! >35 The Life.
At a very late hour the intelligence was brought to him that achild had been prematurely born, and that it, like the others, was a corpse.38 Jude.
Not Desiring to Become a Man
He was lying on his back in the sun, thinking how useless he was, and covered his face with his straw hat. Other boys were always talking of when they would be men;
he did not want tobea man." The Life.
Two Peculiarities in Jude the Obscure "
He pulled his straw hat over his face, and peered through the interstices of the plaiting at the white brightness, vaguely reflecting. If he could only prevent himself
growingup! Hedidnotwant tobea man.38 Jude.
Killing a Pig
and thishe dipped into the bloodof a pig which had just been killed 3S The
Life.
The blood flowed out in a torrent instead of in the trickling stream she had desired.40 Jude.
The Sohoolmaster and Latin
Hardy studied Latin under an able schoolmaster.41 The Life.
The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everything seemed sorry.*2 Jude.
he cut the string, opened the volumes, and turned tothe Latin grammar.43 Ibid.
FirstLove
One day this time Hardy, then a boy of fourteen, fell madly in love with a pretty
girl44 The Life.
At the age of twenty Jude saw Arabella Donn beside a brook, when returning from Alfredston to Marygreen.45 Jude.
Learning Architecture
he had sometimes, too, wished to enter the Church; but he cheerfully agreed to go to Mr. Hicks's.4" The Life.
Some time later he went to a church-builder in the same place, andunder thearchitect's direction became handy at restoring the dilapidated masonries47.... Jude.
Hanging
He seemed alone on the hearth with the hanged man, and crept homeward wishing he had not been so curious.48 The Life.
while from a nail a few yards off the body of little Jude was hanging in a similar manner.4 9 Jude.
Visiting an Old Acquaintance
During the first few months of Hardy's life in London he had not forgotten to pay a call on the lady of his earliest passion as a child, who had beenso tender towards him in
those days, i0The Life.
Jude called upon Phillotson whom he had not seen for a long time.51 Jude.
Combining Literature with Architecture
and it was suggested to him that he might combine literature with architecture by becoming an art-critic for the press,....52 The Life.
Jude the Obscure is architectually plotted.53
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Master also told, them that when persons are drowned in a high sea the sea
undresses them mauling off their clothes and leaving them naked.5* The Life.
'Your mother soon afterwards died she drowned herself, in short, and '55 Jude.
Unnatural Death of the Boy and the Inquest
Upstairs the body of the boy lay on a box covered with a sheet. The inquest was then held at the inn.58 The Life.
The jury duly came and viewed the bodies, the inquest was held; and next arrived the melancholy morning of the funeral.57 Jude.
Coughing
His cough pleases the baby, so he coughs artificially much more than required by his disease, to go on pleasing the baby.58 The Life.
He was sitting in an arm-chair before the fire, and coughed a great deal.59 Jude.
OntheIce
What can the sentiments of that man be, to enjoy ice at such a time?a0 The Life.
He ploughed his way inward to the center, the ice making sharp noises as he went.61 Jude.
The School Inspector
Yet he was frank and modest enough to assure Hardy deprecatingly that he was only a hard-worked school inspector.62 The. Life.
the inspector therefore came and watched her teaching 63 Jude.
Reflecting the Sun into the Face by a Looking Glass
That I should also be able to see it Miss Macmillan conceived the kind idea of reflecting the sun into my face by a looking glass.64 The Life.
She went to where a swing-glass stood, and taking it in her hands carried it toa spot....it could catch the sunshine, moving the glass till the beams were reflected into Phillotson's face.6 5 Jude.
The Auction
He says that the scene of the auction of turn-pike tolls used to be curious.66--The Life.
This, and the necessity of ready money, compelled him to decide on an auction,•E•E•E•E6T Jude.
A Man Resembling Father Time
He is a little figure, that oi an aged boy. I found him a very bright, pleasant, juvenile
old man.68 The Life.
He was Age masquerading as Juvenility,....69 Jude.
Dimple-makine
Rachel H , and her rich colour, and vanity, and frailty, and clever artificial dimple-
making.70 The Life.
Two Peculiarities in Jude the Obscure ll an adroit little suck to the interior of each of her cheeks in succession, by which curious and original manoeuvre she brought as by magic upon its smooth and rotund
surface a perfect dimple 71 Jude.
Disappointment and Suicide
A short story of a young man "who could not go to Oxford"- -His struggles and ultimate failure. Suicide. [[Probably the germ of Jude the Obscure.~) 72 The Life.
He supposed that he was not a sufficiently dignified person for suicide.73 Jude.
Transitory Life
All this green grass and fresh leaf age perished yesterday ; after withering and falling, it is gone like a dream.74 The Life.
'I should like the flowers very, very much, if I didn't keep on thinking they'd be all withered in a few days/'75 Jude.
I have found about forty sorts common between both, but I am obliged to omit half of them for want of space.
Shortly after the publication of Jude some paragraphists knowingly assured the public that the book was an honest autobiography, but Hardy did not take the trouble to deny it till more than twenty years later. On Oct. 30, 1919, the following was written by the second Mrs. Hardy, at the request of the author, to an inquirer who was still suspicious :
To your inquiry if Jude the Obscure is autobiographical, I have to answer that there is not a scrap of personal detail in it, it having the least to do with hisown life of all his books.76
This letter flatly denies that Jude is autobiographical. But W.R. Rutland refutes the statement by saying :
This statement was very rash indeed. While it is, of course, true that the novel is not autobiography in the sense intended by its unmannerly critics in 1896, the events in it being purely fictitious, a large part of it reflects Hardy's own life as none of the other novelsdo.77
Citing some instances from Jude he further points out that they have much to do
with the author's life. And he adds :
Hardy wrote no autobiography; but there is more to be seen of his own inner life, by those with eyes to see, in Jude the Obscure than in any other novel.78
Hardy seems to have hated being regarded as the same man with Jude. This is
evident from the following account :
and he spoke briefly and depreciatingly of "that fictitious person. If there ever was such a person....""
