...DEMOCRATIC AND POPULAR REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MENTOURI UNIVERSITY OF CONSTANTINE FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH The Conflict between the Ideal and the Social in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure A Dissertation Submitted in a Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Master Degree in British and American Studies Supervised by: Pr. Brahim Harouni Mr. Hamoudi Boughenout By: Mr. Boussaad Ihaddadene June 2010 Acknowledgement I would like to thank God for His guidance and help. I would also like to thank my supervisors Pr. Harouni and Mr. Boughenout for their help and discussion of my topic. I would like to thank all the teachers of the department of English of Mentoury University. I Dedication To the memory of my mother To my father, to my brothers and my sisters and to all my friends and classmates. II Abstract The purpose of my study is to show the conflict between idealism and society in Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure. In this novel, Hardy portrays the strife of the two individuals Jude and Sue to make their own ways in society by seeking to realise their ideals. He also reveals the difficulties met by the two idealists in front of society’s attempts to thwart their ideals and to force them to surrender to its norms. This study allows the reader to have a deep understanding of the origin of the conflict, the climax of the confrontation between the two opposing sides and...
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...‘The Body and Soul of Sue’. This highlights Hardy’s opinions of Tess and where she should stand in society. A line taken from one of Hardy’s other books entitled ‘Jude the Obscure’ states, “a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit”. From this, one could take that Hardy believed that what happened to her body is juxtaposed by the true nature of her soul. She did not want to be so-called raped, “and upon her eyelashes there lingered tears” and now her soul is fighting the negativity of the consequences. This quote also dictates the pathos that Tess felt when experiencing her fate. Her hamartia could be argued to be her naivety and innocence hence, she has to fight what has happened to her body to keep her soul pure. Another title Hardy was thinking about adopting for the novel was ‘Too Late Beloved”. Here, Hardy was utilising a phrase from Shelley’s love poem “Epipsychidion” which was said to be one of his favourite poems that influenced much of his work. This title could apply to the protagonist’s relationship with Angel, or to his strange return to her after his surprise travels to Brazil. When Angel returned from Brazil to ‘forgive’ and find Tess, she told him “too late" for them. “Epipsychidion”, where this title is said to derive from, is cited by Sue Bridehead in the one of Hardy’s later novels, Jude the Obscure. The poem shared the controversial doctrine, at the...
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...Learning From Mistakes People learn from the past. Either their own or from the people that lived before them. Readers can learn from the literature they read. In “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”, by Thomas Hardy, readers can learn from the actions of the characters. Written in 1891 the roles of women and men are different from what they are now. Readers can see the difference though many of the characters such as Tess Durbeyfield, Angel Clare, Alec D’Urberville, and Joan Durbeyfield. These can be shown through the characters in their relationships, thoughts, and actions. Your relationship with someone can say something about you. Once learning about their ancestry and the tragedy of the horse, Tess’s family decides to have her go visit part of their family in Trantridge. Upon her arrival she is greeted by Alec, the son of the mansion. Alec always got what he wanted and he wanted Tess. Since Tess refused his companionship Alec rapes her one night and Tess becomes pregnant. After the death of her infant, Sorrow, Tess finds new work at a dairy where she meets her new husband, Angel. On their wedding night Angel and Tess tell secrets that they have been holding in. Tess tells about Alec, and Angel decides to leave her. Tess’s past relationship changes her relationship now. This shows that who you are associated with can change how people think about you. Once Angel found out about Tess’s past he decides to go on with his apprenticeship without her. On the rode he runs into Izz...
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...The Power Within From the present day to thousands of years in the past, there has been controversy with women in society. They are stereotyped, judged and looked down upon in many places and times in the world. Whether it be their clothing, manner, beliefs or actions they have been scrutinized and analyzed far more than their male companions. Yet women have still stood tall and strong in the face of opposition. Nothing is more evident than in the novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Though each book is written in a different era and continent from each other, both authors have taken a profound look into the lives of women who, in submission of the society they live in, persevere and carry on their lives no matter what. Though Hardy’s Victorian countryside and Hosseini’s war ridden Afghanistan have very different plot lines, both novels develop the theme of inner strength of women through the protagonist’s characteristics, the conflicts in the plot and setting. In 1891 Hardy wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The novel received a public outcry and was criticized for its taboo topics and insight into a ruined woman’s private life. The passionate and intense Tess Durbeyfield, whom the novel is centralized around, faces more tragedy and injustice in her adolescent years than any women could bear and perseveres through out. Tess’s character, as well as the women around her, shows the true inner strength women possess...
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...Angel and Tess: A Romance Fit For the Books? Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Napolean and Josephine. Throughout society's entire existence, we have known almost innately that these couples belong together, and yet fate intervened to deal their relationship a tragic blow. Yet readers persist on viewing these couples as the most passionate of all times. What makes them so unique? What makes them so compatible? What makes everyone see them as half of a whole instead of two? These couples proved to society that they belonged together, no matter what circumstances they faced . They possessed True Love, the rare gift that makes a relationship last, amidst outer turmoil. In the novel, Tess of the D'Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy, another literary couple is portrayed. Tess Durbeyfield and Angel Clare appear to be in such an invincible love. The audience believes that they could have a happy life together as a unified couple, but, here too, fate intervenes and Tess is killed. However, the question remains in readers' minds: Would Tess and Angel’s relationship reached the level of perfection in these examples had Tess remained alive? Would their relationship have been successful? There are several factors that can define a successful relationship. In order for a relationship to be worthwhile, the relationship must possess mutual love, respect, and trust, characterized by similar backgrounds, harmonious personalities , and compatibility. Tess and Angel’s love could not have...
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...From the present day to thousands of years in the past, there has been controversy with women in society. They are stereotyped, judged and looked down upon in many places and times in the world. Whether it be their clothing, manner, beliefs or actions they have been scrutinized and analyzed far more than their male companions. Yet women have still stood tall and strong in the face of opposition. Nothing is more evident than in the novels Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Though each book is written in a different era and continent from each other, both authors have taken a profound look into the lives of women who, in submission of the society they live in, persevere and carry on their lives no matter what. Though Hardy’s Victorian countryside and Hosseini’s war ridden Afghanistan have very different plot lines, both novels develop the theme of inner strength of women through the protagonist’s characteristics, the conflicts in the plot and setting. In 1891 Hardy wrote Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The novel received a public outcry and was criticized for its taboo topics and insight into a ruined woman’s private life. The passionate and intense Tess Durbeyfield, whom the novel is centralized around, faces more tragedy and injustice in her adolescent years than any women could bear and perseveres through out. Tess’s character, as well as the women around her, shows the true inner strength women possess. From the early days...
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...Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 from a quite poor family: his humble origins will always be a source of shame for him, and that’s why he will always try to hide them. Moreover, his origins determinate his absolute pessimism about the chances of being fulfilled in this context and, in general, about humans’ destiny. He believes that every man has a sort of predestination to failure, without any help from society or love. As a matter of fact, the middle class is self-righteous, full of prejudices and pretender, money is owned only by a small part of the society, whereas all the other people starve to death. He tries to denounce this awful situation (despite the censure to which he is forced), and that’s why his novels are so provocative: as a matter of fact, in “Tess d’Ubervilles”, the main character is always described as pure, lovely and innocent, even if she’s an unmarried mother and kills Alec, her first husband. This murder, as a matter of fact, is caused only by circumstances and not by the will of doing violence on him. His pessimistic ideas are caused not only by the reality in which he lives, but also by scientific movements and the new geological discoveries: because of them, he rejects Christian doctrine and the Bible and starts to think man is insignificant. One other really important element is Hardy novels (which also determinates his tragic view of life) is Nature: it isn’t just the background of his novels, but a real character; it is a lively force always...
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...To what extend is Tess responsible for her own downfall? In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Tess, the protagonist can be seen as an intelligent, innocent and somewhat beautiful female that has hardships and injustices endlessly heaped upon her. From the early days in her life, her father John had begun to destroy her, which then led to Alex D'Urbervilles and eventually finished with Angel Clare. Each dominant male figure in her life seems to have contributed to her tragic downfall, which the reader encounters at the end of the novel. But others may argue that it is Tess’s own misdoings that lead on the tragedies. So is Tess to blame for becoming a ‘fallen woman’ or are those around her to be held responsible for her tragic life story? The three dominating male in this novel are arguably the most influential figures in Tess’s life. Her father, John Durbeyfield, is a shiftless man who takes drinking more seriously than work. He’s discovery of an apparent noble lineage, the D’Urbervilles, has forced Tess to go to this relation and claim kin out of her own will. Tess’s hesitation in written as a simile ‘Tess stood hesitating like a bather about to make his plunge’. The ‘plunge’ suggests heavy movements. Readers may relate this to Tess’s unwillingness to come here in the first place, thus she is forced to take the ‘plunge’, to take a risk. The 3rd person ‘his’ is used rather than the feminine ‘her’ even though Tess is a woman, portraying the Victorian society...
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...titled ‘Is Suicide a Sign of Civilisation?’ This article, as the shelfmark says, indicated that “the public was aware of [suicide]. Suicide was seen as a symptom of a sense of failure running through society, a loss of moral ‘tone’ and an increase in degeneracy.” It also continues to say that suicide could be seen as ‘eugenically beneficial.’ Referencing Olive Anderson (author of Suicide in Victorian and Edwardian England, published 1987), the British Library quotes that ‘medical writers and “advanced” thinkers’ were more likely to group suicide with a ‘loss of tone.’ To conclude, the shelfmark gives a relatable bit of history, referencing famous novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy and his work Jude the Obscure (published 1895.) Hardy apparently captured the ‘talk of the time’ when, in Jude the Obscure, he made ‘the local doctor’ comment on the suicide of the titular character’s children: “It is the beginning of the universal wish not to...
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...de Guzman, Francesco Maria C. Humanities I – TFD2 2012-41947 Prof. Morales The Dead Man Walking They hail me as one living, But don't they know That I have died of late years, Untombed although? I am but a shape that stands here, A pulseless mould, A pale past picture, screening Ashes gone cold. Not at a minute's warning, Not in a loud hour, For me ceased Time's enchantments In hall and bower. There was no tragic transit, No catch of breath, When silent seasons inched me On to this death ... -- A Troubadour-youth I rambled With Life for lyre, The beats of being raging In me like fire. But when I practised eyeing The goal of men, It iced me, and I perished A little then. When passed my friend, my kinsfolk, Through the Last Door, And left me standing bleakly, I died yet more; The Dead Man Walking They hail me as one living, But don't they know That I have died of late years, Untombed although? I am but a shape that stands here, A pulseless mould, A pale past picture, screening Ashes gone cold. Not at a minute's warning, Not in a loud hour, For me ceased Time's enchantments In hall and bower. There was no tragic transit, No catch of breath, When silent seasons inched me On to this death ... -- A Troubadour-youth I rambled With Life for lyre, The beats of being raging In me like fire. But when I practised eyeing The goal of men, It iced me, and I perished A little then. When passed my friend...
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...1. Sino ang nagligtas kay Florante sa kagubatan? Si Aladin ay isang morong na naglalakbay sa kagubatan kung saan nakatali si Florante. 2. Which author is famous for visiting public executions? Thomas Hardy is the author of “Jude the Obscure”. 3. While in Ghent, Belgium, who provided financial assistance to Jose Rizal in order to finish printing his second novel, “El Filibusterismo”? Rizal encountered financial difficulties while printing “El Filibusterismo”. Valentin Ventura came to his aid and thus he was able to finish printing his second novel. 4. Which is the most specific level of organism classification? Species refers to a group of closely related organisms and is the lowest level on the classification system. 5. This type of cells has components, including DNA, mingling freely in a single compartment. Prokaryotic cells are only found in bacteria and archaebacteria. 6. During his exile, who informed Rizal about the plans of Andres Bonifacio for an armed struggle against Spain? Dr. Pio Valenzuela was Bonifacio’s emissary to Rizal in Dapitan. 7. Malignant neoplasm is another term for _________. Cancer refers to diseases involving abnormal cell growth that has become progressively worse. 8. What is the opposite of economic recession? Recession is when an economy declines. And economic boom happens when the economy is thriving. 9. A __________ is an optical device that projects an image of its surrounding on a screen. This invention...
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...1. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger (plans of finishing to be exact) 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger — WISHLIST 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame —unfinished ulit. :( 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner – Khaled...
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...The Return of the Native" a tragedy of character and environment Hardy, Shakespeare of the English Novel Hardy has been called the Shakespeare of the English novel and the four great Hardian tragedies, Tess of the D'ubervilles, Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Return of the Native have been likened to the four great Shakespearean tragedies. But Hardy's conception of tragedy is radically different from that of Shakespeare. Hardy's Tragic Hero In a Shakespearean tragedy, as Bradley has pointed out, the tragic hero is a man of high rank and position. He may belong to the royal family or he may be some great general and warrior indispensable for the state. He is not only exalted socially but he has also some uncommon qualities of head and heart. He is in short a rare individual. When such a person falls from greatness and his high position is reversed, the result is "Kathartic'. His fall exciates the tragic emotion of terror and the readers are purged of the motion of self-pity. This was the traditional concept of Tragedy upto Hardy. But Hardy has how own concept, he is the innovator of a new form of tragedy, His tragic hero and heroines are no exalted personages. They are neither kings nor queens. They belong to the lowest ranks of society. Thus in the present novel, Clym is humble by birth, and he takes to furze-cutting as his profession, and Mrs. Yeobrighl is the wife of an humble farmer. But these humble people have exceptional qualities of head and heart...
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...Answer keys LEVEL 5 PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme The Mayor of Casterbridge Book key 1 2 a carriage, wagon b cottage, barn c donkey, bull d landlady, mayor, stepdaughter, magistrate e affection, relief, grief a False: When he is young, Michael Henchard sells his wife to a sailor. b False: Henchard stops drinking because of what he did when he was drunk. c True d False: Henchard can be kind but he has a dark, dangerous side to his character. e False: He achieved real success with Far from the Madding Crowd. f False: Some people found the story improbable and were shocked by it. g False: Hardy stopped writing novels because of the reaction to Jude the Obscure. h True i False: As an adult, Hardy did not believe in God. He believed in a blind force that rules the universe and has no interest in human lives. 3 a talk/speak b fair c rum d angry e wedding ring f sorry g wife and child h sailed for Canada 4–5 Open answers 6 a T b F c F d T e T f F g F 7 Possible answers: a … it is the last place where she saw Michael Henchard and she is looking for him. b … Newson has died and she does not want her daughter to grow up in poverty. c … he has sold them bad bread. d … her mother cannot afford the hotel where they want to stay. e … he has a useful invention, and he thinks there is more chance of developing it in America. f … he wants Farfrae to stay, and he tells...
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...Dear Senior: In less than a year, you will be preparing for your freshman year of college. By that time, you should be familiar with a wide range of English, American, and Global literatures. The list of masterworks on the back of this sheet offers a guide for what are considered seminal works in the English-language tradition. We will read and discuss several of the texts during next year’s Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition course. (I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO READ THEM ALL – DON’T BE SILLY!) Reading ahead and reading a work twice is always advisable. In any case, a broad background of reading will benefit you on the AP English Literature test, as well as in your college English classes. Summer Reading: Bulfinch, Thomas The Age of Fable: Stories of Gods and Heroes^^ Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature Like a Professor* Hamilton, Edith Mythology^^ Shakespeare, William MacBeth Optional: Cotterell, Arthur & Storm, Rachel The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Mythology# These books should all be available at your local library or bookstore (you may also order online). *If you do not already own a copy of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, you should get a copy. We will be referring to it throughout the year as we dissect and discuss literary works. ^^I have provided .PDF copies of these works through Edmodo. Please do NOT print copies of these works. #This book is a great resource to have for college, particularly if...
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