MAE604_Early British Fiction

Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure 295 place that will have him, this air of respectability remains. It must be this which Sue cannot stand about him, the respectability plus the legal right to make love to her. Sue’s opinion of him does not make him any less decent. He is like Jude in many ways: he is goodhearted and honorable; he allows instinct to overrule reason; he is too accommodating for his own good; he is intelligent. Like Jude, he is ill-equipped to get what he wants in life and soon resigns himself to mediocrity. However, unlike Jude, he no longer is dazzled by ideals, perhaps because he is older. Maybe too late, he learns to act on the basis of calculation, estimating that Sue’s return will be worth the benefits it may bring. Phillotson, in short, is a man whom it is easy neither to like nor to dislike; he goes largely unnoticed. 10.15 Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) A. Descriptive Type Questions 1. Compare Jude’s relationship with Arabella to his relationship with Sue. 2. What does the novel say about education and accessibility? Is Jude right to dream of becoming a scholar? Why? 3. Hardy frequently interrupts the narrative to describe the location where the action takes place. What is the significance of these lush descriptions? 4. Compare and contrast Jude’s and Sue’s attitudes toward Christianity. 5. Analyze Jude’s relationship with alcohol. How does it tie into the novel’s broader themes? 6. Discuss Hardy’s treatment of setting in the novel. 7. Trains appear very frequently in Jude the Obscure. Why might this be significant? 8. Discuss Hardy’s use of foreshadowing in Jude the Obscure. 9. How does Hardy portray women in this novel? 10. Analyze Arabella’s character. How does she change over the course of the novel? CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

296 Early British Fiction B. Multiple Choice/Objective Type Questions 1. Jude Fawley, the novel’s protagonist, longs to become a ___________, but circumstances force him instead to become a ___________. (a) Scholar, stonemason (b) Lawyer, merchant (c) Doctor, butcher (d) Painter, gravedigger 2. How does Arabella trap Jude into marrying her the first time? (a) She steals his money (b) She feigns pregnancy (c) She threatens his life (d) She gets him drunk 3. How are Jude and Sue related? (a) They are siblings (b) They are cousins (c) He is her uncle (d) She is his aunt 4. Why does Arabella grant Jude a divorce? (a) She feels sorry for Jude and Sue (b) She wants to marry another man (c) She discovers that Jude has been unfaithful (d) She wants to cut all ties in England and move to Australia 5. What happens to Jude’s three oldest children? (a) They are sent to an orphanage (b) They run away (c) They die of plague (d) They commit suicide Answers: 1. (a), 2. (b), 3. (b), 4. (b), 5. (d) 10.16 References Websites: 1. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/j/jude-the-obscure/critical-essays/symbolism-and- irony-in-jude-the-obscure CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Thomas Hardy: Jude the Obscure 297 2. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jude/ 3. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/jude/ Books: 1. “Chapter 2”, Jude the Obscure, Online-literature.com. 26 January 2007, Retrieved 12 August 2012. 2. Jude the Obscure, Books.google.co.uk, p. 738, Retrieved 12 August 2012. 3. Hardy, Florence Emily (2007), The Life of Thomas Hardy, London: Wordsworth Editions, p. 282. 4. Hardy, Florence Emily (2007), The Life of Thomas Hardy, London: Wordsworth Editions, p. 29. 5. Claire Tomalin, Thomas Hardy: The Time-torn Man (Penguin, 2007), pp. 30,36. 6. Tomalin, Claire (2007), Thomas Hardy, New York: Penguin. 7. Jude the Obscure, Part I, Section 10. 8. Jude the Obscure, Part IV, Section 2. 9. “Copy of Jude the Obscure Symbolism: Rabbit Trap”, prezi.com, 27 March 2014, Retrieved 11 July 2014. 10. Pinion, F.B. (1968), A Hardy Companion, London: Macmillan, p. 52. 11. “Book Description of Jude the Obscure, Edited by Cedric Watts (1999)”, Broadviewpress.com, Retrieved 12 August 2012.  CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)