Jude the Obscure

Jude trudges home with the buckets and overhears his Great Aunt Drusilla gossiping about him. Drusilla has cared for Jude since his father’s death a year earlier, but believes Phillotson should have taken him to Christminster since Jude loves books so much. Jude’s cousin, Sue, shares the same inclination towards learning. Drusilla reflects on the family’s ill-fated marriages and tells Jude that he should never marry. Seeking respite from the domestic chatter, Jude heads to work in Mr. Troutham’s corn field. Although he has been tasked with scaring rooks away from the crops, Jude allows them to feed. His act of compassion is met with Mr. Troutham’s wrath, resulting in a brutal beating and subsequent dismissal from his job. When he returns to his aunt’s bakery, he asks her about Christminster, but she tells him that people like them have nothing to do with that place. While he is initially despondent, he helps his aunt, then asks a man in the village about Christminster. According to him, the best place to gain a view of the city is Mr. Troutham’s field—the same place where he had “disgraced himself” that morning.

Jude ascends to Marygreen’s highest point, an overgrown Roman road, where he catches sight of the weathered barn known as the “Brown House.” Jude approaches the workmen on the roof to ask about the location of Christminster. Though the overcast sky obscures the view, the workers kindly gesture in the right direction. Undeterred, Jude wanders until sunset, eventually returning to the Brown House. Taking advantage of the ladder left by the workers, Jude ascends to gain a better vantage point. As the mist gradually dissipates, Christminster emerges in the distance, a beacon of aspiration against the encroaching darkness.

From that moment on, Jude clandestinely visits the Brown House whenever time allows, using it as a vantage to gaze upon Christminster and indulge in fanciful daydreams. During one such excursion, Jude encounters two coal transporters. Though they are not from Christminster—and have, indeed, never visited it—their descriptions of the city as a bastion of learning and music further elevate its allure in Jude’s mind. Their words ignite a fervent desire within Jude to experience Christminster’s wonders firsthand.

On his journey home, Jude encounters Physician Vilbert, a wandering charlatan who peddles false remedies. Vilbert shares stories of Christminster, and Jude expresses his aspiration to study Greek and Latin. Jude strikes a deal with Vilbert: He will advertise Vilbert’s products in exchange for his old grammar books. Jude diligently fulfills his part, but Vilbert forgets the books and appears to have forgotten Jude altogether.

Disillusioned by Vilbert’s disregard, Jude hides a request for books in Phillotson’s piano shipment and receives two grammar books in return. Jude excitedly begins his studies but soon succumbs to the overwhelming difficulty of teaching himself. Crushed by self-doubt, Jude descends into despair and questions the purpose of his existence.

In subsequent years, Jude delivers bread from his great aunt’s bakery in a horse-drawn cart. He studies his Latin on the way, not always paying attention to the actions of his horse. One day, while passing the Brown House, a now-16-year-old Jude halts at the captivating sunset and recites a pagan hymn. He then resolves to prioritize Bible study and acquires a Greek New Testament to read on his delivery route. Jude apprentices himself to a stonemason in nearby Alfredston to learn a trade and earn money for the university at Christminster. Jude spends his weekdays in Alfredston and weekends in Marygreen for three years.

On his weekend walk from Alfredston to Marygreen, 19-year-old Jude brims with optimism about his move to Christminster. He reviews his achievements in learning and envisions a future where his savings secure him a college acceptance. He even dares to dream that he might rise among the ranks of Church leadership.

Suddenly, a pig’s penis hits Jude’s ear, interrupting his ecclesiastical reverie. The bit of flesh had been thrown by Arabella Donn, the pig farmer’s daughter, to get Jude’s attention. She and her friends tease him as they wash chitterlings in the nearby stream. Momentarily swayed from his scholarly pursuits, Jude arranges to meet Arabella again. Despite his intellectual reservations, thoughts of her charms dominate Jude’s mind.

The next day, Jude finds himself torn between his Greek studies and Arabella’s invitation. Convincing himself it would be impolite to decline, Jude sets off to Arabella’s. As they walk together, Jude and Arabella see a fire in the distance and investigate it, until the fading daylight leads them to take shelter at a tavern. Arabella impresses Jude with her brewing knowledge while they share a beer underneath a portrait of the biblical Samson and Delilah. On their walk back, Jude impulsively—and repeatedly—kisses Arabella.

Jude is surprised that Arabella’s family regards him as a proper suitor. Returning home, he begins to question the worthiness of his scholarly pursuits. The following day, Arabella confides to her friends her desire to marry Jude. Although it is not explicitly articulated, her friends advise her that the easiest way to get a man to marry you is to become pregnant.

As Jude and Arabella’s romance deepens, their encounters become more intimate. One weekend, they find themselves alone on a hilltop while chasing a stray pig. Arabella coaxes Jude to lie beside her, but his innocence blinds him to her advances. Undeterred, Arabella concocts a plan to ensnare Jude further. With her parents’ help, Arabella orchestrates a scenario where they are alone in her house, and, with calculated seduction, she entices him upstairs, leading to sexual intimacy.

Two months later, and increasingly dissatisfied with the slow progress of her relationship with Jude, Arabella meets Vilbert. The topic of their conversation is not revealed, but she comes away from the encounter “brighter” than before. That evening, Jude mentions leaving for Christminster, but Arabella reveals she is pregnant. Despite the fact that it will derail all his plans, Jude proposes marriage.

Jude’s disillusionment grows, compounded by townsfolk gossip, as the wedding approaches. The ceremony is mundane, and the gift from Jude’s great aunt—a cake and a morbid note—foreshadows marital discord. The couple settles into life in a modest cottage, where revelations about Arabella’s superficial deceptions and past professions emerge. Jude feels increasingly trapped, especially when Arabella reveals that she is not pregnant after all.

On the day appointed for slaughtering their pig, the butcher fails to show up. Jude reluctantly undertakes the task himself. Arabella is adamant that a slow death produces better quality meat, an attitude at odds with Jude’s desire not to prolong the creature’s suffering. He kills the pig quickly, much to Arabella’s frustration.

On the way to Alfredston, Jude overhears Arabella’s friends discussing her lie about the pregnancy. He confronts Arabella about her deception, but she, unfazed, defends her actions, claiming that faking the pregnancy was her prerogative. Her response deepens Jude’s disillusionment.

The tension between Jude and Arabella reaches a breaking point one Sunday morning. Arabella carelessly tosses aside Jude’s books. She storms out, accusing him of repeating his family’s history of marital strife. Jude confronts his aunt, who confirms the grim truth that his parents’ failed marriage culminated in his mother’s suicide. Devastated, Jude contemplates taking his own life by crashing through a frozen pond, but the ice holds firm. Seeking solace, he gets drunk at a tavern. On his returning home, he finds that Arabella has left, leaving a farewell note. A letter arrives days later with the news that Arabella is severing her ties with him and leaving for Australia. Jude resigns himself to fate and relinquishes to Arabella all his money and household goods.

He encounters a poignant reminder of lost love in a secondhand shop: the photograph he gave Arabella. This discovery solidifies his resolve. Walking alone, he revisits the Brown House, where he once dreamed of Christminster. Viewing a forgotten inscription, Jude finds renewed purpose: upon his apprenticeship’s end, he recommits to pursuing his education..