Hardy, Thomas. <br/><br/>
Jude the obscure 
by Thomas Hardy. 
 - England  Penguin Books  c1994. 
 - 490 p. 
<br/><br/> Jude Fawley, a stone-mason, has already suffered. His academic ambitions were thwarted by his poverty and class: trapped into a loveless marriage, he is now alone but not free.  He comes to love his cousin Sue who, seemingly emancipated, is herself miserably married. Sue's words to Jude are prophetic, for although together they defy conventional morality to seize a chance of happiness, they are ultimately defeated by both circumstance and the flaws within their own nature. <br/>Thomas Hardy's last novel is focused on the themes of sex and marriage.  The tragedy of Jude's struggle for happiness is intensified by the lack of opportunity for the ordinary man to improve his lot, despite the changes and developments of Victorian society. 
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<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>9780140620603 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Didactic fiction.<br/>Love stories.
<br/><br/><label>Dewey Class. No.: </label>D H222 1994