A Reading Of Jude The Obscure With Sartre's Existentialism

Jude the Obscure is Thomas Hardy's last novel, for which Hardy gets much criticism, because the common readers in the Victorian Age were used to reading the stories with good or bad characters justly rewarded. However, in this novel, Jude, a hard-working man of sympathy, receives a tragic ending—his dream failed, his lover left and he died lonely. In this book Hardy discusses man's existence, freedom, choice, responsibility and life value, foreseeing social contradictions of western society. The Second World War exploded dozens of years later because of various social contradictions. As a result, traditional rules and customs were greatly shaken. Sartre put forward his theory of existentialism on time, advocating that people shake off old customs and pursue life value by actions in difficulties. This thesis intends to do a study on the protagonist Jude of Jude the Obscure with the main theory of Sartre's existentialism, exposing Jude's difficulties and exploring the significance of Jude's existence.This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction to Sartre's existentialism. In this chapter, the key notions like "existence precedes essence," "freedom," "I and the Other," "being-in-itself" and "being-for-itself" are discussed. Chapter 2 focuses on Jude's various difficulties. Even though "I" and "the Other" are indispensable, there are always conflicts between "I" and "the Other," because everyone strives to keep his own subjectivity in society. In the love between Jude and Arabella as well as Sue, Jude tastes fully disappointment, loneliness and misery. What's worse, social prejudice forms a great "the Other" to resist him entering university.Chapter 3 is centered on Jude's "being-for-itself." To Sartre, there are two kinds of existence: "being-in-itself" and "being-for-itself." He highly praises the latter one, which means that man will never stop negating and surpassing himself. Being not satisfied with his present condition, Jude studies hard in order to become a member of university; he acts bravely in order to stay with his lover. With far-sight, Jude even tries to change social abuses. Facing various difficulties, Jude may feel miserable, but he has never lost hope. Such heroic spirit is also advocated by Sartre.Chapter 4 explores the significance of Jude's existence. "Existence precedes essence" means that man firstly exists, and then creates himself by action. When brought into the small village, Jude appears as a "nothingness" that has many possibilities in the future. As a little boy, Jude embaces big dreams. In the process of pursuing them, Jude gains rich knowledge, and creates himself as an upright, brave and responsible man. Moreover, he is concerned about the future of human beings. Jude also wins Sue's love in a certain extent. Thus Jude has already realized his life value and existential significance in the process of action.