Inextricable Predicament: A Feminist Interpretation Of Jude The Obscure

Jude the Obscure is Thomas Hardy's last novel and his most controversial one. After its publication, Jude the Obscure received such severe criticism that Hardy quitted novel writing for poetry. Early critics were especially hostile, criticizing Hardy for his flouting of traditional moral standards. Actually, Hardy and the novel have always been controversial among feminist critics due to his ambivalent attitude toward women. This thesis will interpret Jude the Obscure from a feminist perspective, intended to examine Hardy's view of womanhood and the root cause of Hardy's ambivalent attitude toward women.Chapter One surveys women's issues in the Victorian Era and Hardy's concern with women's movements. The chapter aims at defining the background of the study.Chapter Two analyzes female oppression by patriarchal ideology in Jude the Obscure, especially with regard to the heroine, Sue. As a New Woman, Sue pursues independence and freedom, but under the control of prevailing gender assumptions, Sue suffers from the bondage of marriage and society. To gain a hold on her identity, Sue has to play on her feminine qualities, and this eventually leads to her split self. Patriarchal attitudes within Sue and towards Sue bring about her oppressed sexual consciousness. These finally result in her mental breakdown. She is persecuted until she becomes a martyr of social conventions. The urgency to reform the status quo is brought to light by Hardy's revelation of the powerful penetration of patriarchal morality into women's minds and his revelation of women's frustrations caused by it.Chapter Three focuses on the protests against patriarchy from three aspects: Hardy's extraordinary characterization, which breaks the gender role stereotypes; female characters pursuing independence, freedom and self-identity; and even male characters sympathizing with women's sufferings. In Jude the Obscure, Hardy does more than depicting women's oppression. He takes action to change the status quo, mainly through Sue's struggle for spiritual equality and her pursuits for free love, even though she finally fails.Chapter Four explores the root cause of the failure and Hardy's ambivalent view of womanhood. Due to the morality essentially stemming from patriarchy, Hardy and his heroine can never escape their predicament: Hardy holds sympathetic insight into the plight of women, and hopes to change the inequality between the sexes and overthrow the control of patriarchy. However, he can't overcome his own thought that is rooted in patriarchy, watching women from a male perspective and emphasizing unconsciously feminine traits and morality. Patriarchal ideology contributes to his presentation of his heroine's failure. Therefore, it is doubtful that the need of writing is an adequate reason for Hardy's presentation of his heroine's failure.In conclusion, Hardy's view of womanhood is both conventional and unconventional. On the one hand, Hardy has a sympathetic concern with women. He reveals female oppression and acknowledges their aspirations, which show his sharp feminist consciousness. On the other hand, with his morality essentially stemming from patriarchal ideology, Hardy fails to lead his heroine out of her predicaments. His own inability to break free of patriarchal ideology constitutes his most restrictive limitation in his view of womanhood. The contradictory coexistence of Hardy's sharp feminist consciousness and his morality stemming from patriarchy is the root cause of his ambivalent attitude toward women. Last but not least, his breaking of gender role stereotypes foresees Virginia Woolf's androgynous thoughts. In this sense, Hardy was ahead of his time.