It is a wonderful novel, the last of Hardy’s works. It was a bit of a slow read, especially at the beginning, as I got used to the style, but the last quarter of the book it definitely picks up.

Jude is poor man in rural England, with lofty dreams of becoming a scholar and a priest. To this end, he buys books and studies in his free time, which is not much. He then falls in love and his whole trajectory is changed. Twice.

Arabella is a local girl who wants to get married and climb socially, and as she knows of Jude’s aspirations and commitment to his plan, decides he’s her best chance. Sue is his cousin, also somewhat academically oriented and who loves to challenge conventions. She most emphatically does not want to get married. (This is where I’d write something like “shenanigans ensue”, but this is not that kind of book.)

Hardy explores many themes that were influencing and shaping Victorian society: is social mobility possible? Is the University -and the Church- for that matter really fulfilling its mission of accepting those most deserving, who want to learn and research, or have they become elitist and exclusionary? What are morality and ethics, who gets to define them, and what does a moral life actually look like? How does living according to your own values and principles, with dignity, affect oneself and others? Is it selfish to live out your convictions despite what that might do to others?

And of course, the evolving institution of marriage. There is so much discussion, textually, in dialogue between the characters, on what the purpose of marriage is, whether one should marry the person you love or is it something to be fully thought out. What are the advantages and disadvantages of marriage, for men as much as for women. Arabella and Sue, and Phillotson and Jude for that matter, re-present different points of view in these debates. There’s a case to be made for how Hardy includes what could maybe be considered feminist arguments on the condition of women in and around marriage, although I’m not entirely sure he actually thought well of women at all.

I didn’t find Arabella or Sue particularly sympathetic. I think I like Arabella slightly better, because at least you know she always acts in her own best interest. Richard Phillotson was my favorite character, followed closely by the widowed Mrs. Edlin, who doesn’t take sides but speaks her mind to all; she represents older mores and values that are being left behind, a somewhat more carefree way of engaging with life. Let’s remember this is a Victorian novel, written at a time when society became more rigidly conservative.

Finally, about Jude. I felt so much for him, even when he seemed incapable of leaving situations which were clearly not good for him. He had a good heart and followed it to the end, trying to always be guided by what is right, both by himself and others. He did not deserve all the misery that came his way, and some of it could have perhaps been avoided if he’d been more firm from the start.