An Existential Analysis Of The Protagonist In Jude The Obscure

Existentialism is a philosophical thoughts developed from the end of the 19^th century. It explores the predicament of human existence: the meaninglessness and purposelessness of life, the alienation and anxiety of human being in the absurd world. Meanwhile, it attaches importance to the quest for authentic being in the absurd world. As the most influential representative of existentialism, Sartre discusses comprehensively these existential thoughts in his works.Thomas Hardy presents us the predicament of human existence in his last novel, Jude the Obscure. It is a story of a lonely individual's futile struggles in the absurd world. Jude, a poor orphan, strives to seek self and meaningful life in the absurd world. He determines to go to university and keeps fighting for it for a whole life but is rejected in the end; he persistently pursues true love only to get endless suffering.This thesis makes an attempt to analyze the protagonist in Jude the Obscure by employing Sartre's existentialism. And it consists of four parts. Chapter 1 makes a brief introduction to Sartre's existentialism and explores Hardy's existentialist tendency. Chapter 2 deals with Sartre's existential thought embodied by the protagonist: alienation of man. And for it, the chapter interprets Jude's alienation in the world from two aspects: his solitude and rootlessness. Chapter 3 deals with Sartre's existential thought embodied by the protagonist: anxiety of man. Living in an irrational and absurd world, man can never escape the sense of anxiety. Jude's anxiety in the world can be reflected from his disillusionment in career and frustration in love. Chapter 4 focuses on Sartre's existential thought embodied by the protagonist: searching for authentic being. Section 1 deals with Jude's self-deception. Section 2 deals with Jude's ultimate authentic being.On the basis of the above analysis, we can see from the protagonist the predicament of existence which is discussed in Sartre's existentialism. The novel reflects Hardy's concern about the existence of human being. Hence, to read Jude the Obscure from a perspective of existentialism can certainly help us to get more comprehensive and profound understanding of this novel and leads us to understand man's existence situation of the late Victorian Age. And it also reminds us to ponder over modern man's existence condition.