MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of Main Characters in the Novels Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2012

Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk Jitka Hofmannová

Declaration I declare that I have written the bachelor thesis by myself, and that I have used only the sources listed in bibliography.

I agree that the thesis is stored in the library of the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University, and that it is available for academic purposes.

Brno, April 2012 …...... Jitka Hofmannová

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk for his useful help during writing this thesis, his kind support, patience and valuable advice.

Bibliography HOFMANNOVÁ, Jitka. Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of main characters in the novels: Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature. 2012. 48 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk.

Bibliografický záznam HOFMANNOVÁ, Jitka. Non-Conformist Hero in Thomas Hardy's Novels Comparison of main characters in the novels: Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury. 2012. 48 l. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Jaroslav Izavčuk.

Annotation The bachelor thesis approaches the theme of non-conformity in two selected literary works of the author of critical realism Thomas Hardy. The thesis attempts to demonstrate that Thomas Hardy himself was not a conventional author and that this fact was not only prompted by his inborn nature but also by people who surrounded him and by the environment in which he grew up. The thesis also focuses on the question of how Thomas Hardy was influenced by these people, and how he portrayed them, as well as himself, into his literary characters, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles in particular. The thesis continues to deal with the theme of nonconformity in Hardy's characters, Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, with their subsequent comparison, and with the determination of their common and different traits.

Anotace Práce pojímá téma nekonformity ve dvou vybraných literárních dílech autora kritického realismu Thomase Hardyho. Snaží se ukázat, že Thomas Hardy sám nebyl konvenčním

autorem a že tahle skutečnost byla dána nejen jeho vrozenou povahou, ale také lidmi, kterými se obklopoval a prostředím, ve kterém vyrůstal. Práce také uvádí, jak byl těmito lidmi Thomas Hardy ovlivněn a jak je posléze promítl, stejně jako sebe, do charakterů svých literárních postav, zejména do Neblahého Judy a Tess z D'Urbervillů. Dále se práce zabývá pohledem na nekonformitu Hardyho hrdinů, Neblahého Judy a Tess z D'Urbervillů, a jejich následným srovnáním a nalezením jejich společných a rozdílných znaků.

Key Words Analysis, difference, character, comparison, conformism, contrast, convention, hero, non-conformist hero, non-conformity, social class, society, similarity, trait.

Klíčová slova Analýza, hrdina, charakter, charakterový rys, konformismus, kontrast, konvence, nekonformita, nonkonformní hrdina, odlišnost, podobnost, sociální třída, společnost, srovnání.

Contents

INTRODUCTION ...... - 7 -

1 NON-CONFORMITY AND INSPIRATION ...... - 9 -

1.1 TENTATIVE DEFINITION OF THE NON-CONFORMIST HERO ...... - 9 -

1.2 NON-CONFORMIST HARDY ...... - 10 -

1.3 HARDY'S LIVING INSPIRATIONS ...... - 12 - 1.3.1 Female Muses ...... - 13 - 1.3.2 Male Muses ...... - 18 - 1.3.3 The Picture of Thomas Hardy in Jude Fawley ...... - 20 -

2 CHARACTER ANALYSIS ...... - 22 -

2.1 JUDE THE INCORRIGIBLE VISIONARY ...... - 22 - 2.1.1 Christminster the Avalon ...... - 23 - 2.1.2 Dreamer's Blows of Disillusion ...... - 25 -

2.2 CASTAWAY WITH A ROOK ON HIS SHOULDER ...... - 27 -

2.3 PROGRESSIVE COUPLE ...... - 31 -

2.4 TESS THE "PROUD" INDIVIDUALIST ...... - 33 -

2.5 TRIO FATAL ...... - 37 - 2.5.1 Discussion on Tess as Femme Fatale ...... - 39 -

2.6 JUDE AND TESS WALKING HAND IN HAND? ...... - 41 -

CONCLUSION ...... - 45 -

WORKS CITED ...... - 47 -

Introduction

Thomas Hardy was an author of critical realism in the 19th century England. As a poet and a novelist, he represents a discussed figure in the British literature. A plenty of literary studies have been published about Thomas Hardy. The studies centre not only on the literary critique of his work but also on his life which is generally considered to be shrouded in the cloak of vagueness. It is believed that Thomas Hardy wrote his discredited autobiography called The Early Life and Later years of Thomas Hardy which was initially intended to be considered and read as a biography written by his second wife Florence Emily Dugdale. A variety of biographies share sometimes different views on some of the events in Hardy's life. They try to confirm or disprove, or rather clarify their veracity in order to render the public veracious insight. For the purpose of elaborating the chapters Non-Conformist Hardy and Hardy's Living Inspirations, I have chosen Robert Gittings' biographies, as main sources, on the account of numerous references made by other biographers to his Young Thomas Hardy and The Older Thomas Hardy.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are Hardy's significant and extensively discussed novels which endured a great deal of criticism owned to having brought forward controversial issues since their release. Not surprisingly, after the scorching criticism of Tess, Hardy said that “if this sort of thing continues, no more novel-writing for me” (Hardy in Millgate 296). Jude received even greater amount of criticism, so as a result, Hardy eventually returned back to writing poetry. The thesis demonstrates Tess's and Jude's non-conformity, perhaps, the reason why they were accepted with such ambiguity and contradiction.

I became intrigued with the resemblance of young Thomas to young Jude while reading about the life of Thomas Hardy. Hardy's constant denial of this fact prompted me to examine this connection; furthermore, to briefly introduce people in his surroundings, and summarize their influence on Hardy's writing. Thomas Hardy, as a person, also captured my attention. For this reason, I present his personality from peculiar side.

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Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are novels often submitted for a deep and thorough analysis. After the exploration of accessible literature, my decision was to analyse the non-conformity of Tess and Jude primarily from my point of view; therefore, I have worked mostly with the primary sources. The sub-chapter Discussion on Tess as Femme Fatale is the only exception.

The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part called Non-Conformity and Inspiration begins with the tentative contextual definition of the term non-conformist hero where my intention is to highlight the various interpretations and multiple usage of this term. The following chapter deals with Hardy's personality which I dare to define as non-conformist on the account of the previous analysis of this term. Succeeding chapters are dedicated to Hardy's muses who influenced him in his writing of novels and poems. The reason of elaborating the chapter The Picture of Thomas Hardy in Jude Fawley is to demonstrate a close link between Hardy and his fictional character, Jude Fawley.

The second part called Character Analysis centres on the inquiry into Tess's and Jude's personalities showing their character traits through individual incidents occurred in the novels. The last chapter examines in what way Tess and Jude are connected, and in what way they differ from each other.

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1 Non-Conformity and Inspiration

The part Non-Conformity and Inspiration deals with defining the term non-conformity and with its application. Further on, it focuses on the non-conformity of Thomas Hardy and his portrayal of his family and friends into his literary characters. The closing chapter of this part is dedicated to Hardy's resemblance to Jude Fawley.

1.1 Tentative Definition of the Non-Conformist Hero1

The term non-conformist is explained in the Free Online Dictionary as someone “who does not conform to, or refuses to be bound by, accepted beliefs, customs, or practices”.2 On the other hand, the term hero is explained as “the principal male character in a novel, poem or dramatic presentation”; thus hero does not necessarily have to refer to a man endowed with special qualities or abilities which allow him tower over ordinary people. The definition of the non-conformist given above may seem incomplete. One does not conform to the accepted beliefs, customs, or practices of what? The suggested response to the question, the missing element in the definition, is a particular society. Consequently, the accurate simple definition of a non-conformist hero is the following: Non-conformist hero is a central character in a work of literature that does not conform to the ideals of the society. On the contrary, the conformist hero is a fictional character who acts and thinks according to generally accepted rules of the society.

According to William Wiegand, “the non-conformist hero is constantly threatened by external forces which seek to inhibit and to destroy him” (Wiegand in Patchen 7-8), and he says that it is some oppressive segment of society or the whole society who is the hero's enemy (Wiegand in Patchen 7). Patchen even adds that the typical non- conformist hero's aim is to transform the society. As a consequence, the hero rebels to achieve his goal (7). These viewpoints on the non-conformist hero focus attention on the close connection between the hero and society, and discuss their relationship.

1 The question concerning gender is not the concern here; therefore, the choice of terms hero/heroine will not be discussed.

2 See “nonconformist.” The Free Dictionary, 1 Apr 2012. Web. 3 Apr 2012.

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Nonetheless, such a close relationship is not always present, even if it is rare. The hero can be non-conformist from the point of view of his convictions, beliefs, or a different way of life, so that he is unconcerned in the attempt to seek to reform society, or go willingly against the popular beliefs to make himself visible. He could be regarded by others only as a passive and harmless individual who differs from the majority. He does not necessarily have to be a fighter or a radical putting forward his novatory ideas to change the beaten tracks.

Although there appears to exist a very thick line between the definition of a non- conformist hero and anti-hero, one ought not to confuse these two terms. Anti-heroes “typically distrust conventional values, and are unable to commit themselves to any ideals. They generally feel helpless in a world over which they have no control” (1).3 Even though non-conformist heroes seem to distrust conventional values as well, they certainly have their own ideals to which they are loyal. Tess and Jude venerate the ideal of love which keeps them alive; moreover, Jude follows the ideal of obtaining a university degree. Nevertheless, they both feel helpless in a world, at one time or another, as their stories proceed. Jude even attempts to commit suicide while Tess “only” keeps this idea in her mind, deliberating that it would have been surely easier and more convenient to be dead than alive. The definition further says that anti-heroes are traditionally considered as villains, and that they often celebrate their positions as social outcasts, emphasizing that, in the end, they are usually perceived as failed heroes. Nevertheless, they also have enough heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of readers” (1).4 Quite the reverse, non-conformist heroes are not regarded as villains; moreover, Tess and Jude by no means enjoy their position on the margins of society.

1.2 Non-Conformist Hardy

“Morbid, brooding, an avid collector of oddity and irony” (Gittings The Older Thomas Hardy 12), Thomas Hardy, a naturalist, a poet, a sociologist and a topographer, grew up in a family with a dominant mother with whom he created a non-common bond, which, perhaps, laid the foundations to his peculiar character.

3 See“Antihero Definition.” AntiheroDefinitionWinter2004 (2004). PDF file.

4 Ibid. - 10 -

Jemima Hardy, born Jemima Hand, was Thomas Hardy's mother. She became the most influential woman of his entire life. Her physical appearance indicated that she was uncompromisingly strict. She was statuesque but not tall with brown hair encircling her sharp-featured face which was dominated by a roman nose and a strong chin. She looked much younger than she was. In her nature, she was strong and dominant, always keeping a tight rein on her son. She was also highly affectionate, greatly determined, and ambitious for her son's intellectual development. They shared the same passion for reading and education in general. Jemima Hardy encouraged her son to read the classics, and she took care of the choice of schools he attended, “so she was probably the driving force between his intellectual and moral growth” (Schoenfeld 50). Nevertheless, she became possessive over her son to an excessive degree, and he, in return, became her guardian. Gittings provides an example of a beginning of this rather unhealthy mother-son relationship when he reveals an incident of how a nine-year-old Thomas, on the way back home from a visit of his mother's sister in Hertfordshire, in London, was hiding all night in a wardrobe keeping vigil over her as she was sleeping, fearing that someone could intrude into the hotel room (Young Thomas Hardy 10). They remained attached to each other strongly throughout their entire lives. As a matter of fact, she became very protective of all of her children, Thomas, Mary, Henry and Kate. She would design mates for them; moreover, she preferred “to imagine the four siblings living as two couples: the elder pair Thomas and Mary, and the younger pair, Henry and Kate” (Pite 145).

Jemima Hardy became physically the type of a woman to whom Thomas Hardy was most attracted, and with whom he fell in love over and over again. Gittings speculates that she even shared with him her sexual philosophy (Young Thomas Hardy 175), and that, consequently, yet not unexpectedly, she developed into “a fortress against the vagaries of other women” (Young Thomas Hardy 175). Jemima never approved over Hardy's choice of marrying Emma. It could be assumed that because of this strong but rather unhealthy relationship, he developed sexually very late; and furthermore, equipped with some observable deviations. Inborn predispositions played, without any doubt, an important role as well. Gittings in his biography Young Thomas Hardy remarks upon Hardy's sexuality and his bizarre love life several times. It is worth mentioning when he speaks about Hardy's “curious psychological tendency ... always to prefer a remote relationship to a close one … [which] may be allied to his dislike, from

- 11 - boyhood, of anyone touching him” (26), his emotional susceptibility, about the fear and nervousness of physical contact (27), and, at last, about his “mental precocity [which] forced him into the company of his elders, with what often must have been bewildering results” (27). Later on, Gittings calls attention to Hardy's “pathological habit of falling in love with every woman he encountered, particularly if there was something striking about the surrounding circumstance” (98-99). Hardy was also attracted to the world of hangings, convicts, murders and prisons (23). Gittings speaks about his “perverse morbidity … something near abnormality” (35) on the occasion of Hardy's attendance at the public execution of Martha Brown while standing too close to the gallows, for he could see her features. It is probable that this event had strong sexual overtones for him (32-35).

Undoubtedly, Jemima Hardy undoubtedly belongs to the chapter Hardy's living inspirations. Gittings states that Thomas Hardy depicted a part of his mother and a part of himself into Mrs. Yeobright and Clym Yeobright in the novel The Return of the Native (The Older Thomas Hardy 9). Mrs. Yeobright “takes a keen interest in the lives and the marriage plans of both her son and niece even though she does not approve of their choice of mates ... and voices her disapproval” (Schoenfeld 50). Gittings also says that the poem The Wrongers in The Dynasts was probably written about her at her death-bed (The Older Thomas Hardy 118).

1.3 Hardy's Living Inspirations

To whatever poem or a story, poets or fiction writers bestow their gift of writing, they usually draw inspiration, whether intentionally or not, from the experience of their own life, from personal emotions, or from the life of people they are surrounded by, or the people they just happen to be conscious of. The sensible observation is, in their case, a necessary device.

For some of them, the long-lived inspiration, the omnipresent element which can be easily recognized in their work or hidden and then subsequently discerned while making effort to read the text critically, could be only one or two persons.

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Thomas Hardy was a poet as well as a fiction writer who was born in Dorset which is the county situated in South West England. The Dorset life became his main source of inspiration and the principal setting of his novels. It is a question to whom they partially owe their character traits and appearances. Nevertheless, it appears that they bear more or less a likeness to the members of Hardy's family and his closest friends.

Thomas Hardy had always been overly sensitive to the thought of any resemblance of his characters to his relatives or any resemblance to himself; furthermore, he was the author “abnormally sensitive about any reference to his private life” (Gittings Young Thomas Hardy 1). Yet it is important to say that, in a few cases, he admitted a slight resemblance, which was an argument somewhat self-contradictory because, most of the time, only a mention of such a theory easily offended him. Robert Gittings states in his biography Young Thomas Hardy, when discussing Hardy's novel The Hand of Ethelberta, that “when Ethelberta's socially unmentionable relatives appear, they turn out to be a fascinating amalgam of Hardy's own” (207). In The Older Thomas Hardy Gittings also points out that, sometimes, it was sufficient for Hardy to change the name of a real person only by the alternation of one or two letters as with the character of Jim Starks in the Return of the Native, taken probably from James Sparks, Hardy's uncle (9), or with the character of Grammer Kaytes in Under the Greenwood Tree, taken from his next door neighbour Rachel Keats at Bockhampton (“Young Thomas Hardy” 166), which both stand as perfect examples of an intended connection between real persons and his characters.

As was mentioned above, it is likely that some people in Hardy's life were more influential on his writing than others, and they thus could have played a more prominent role in his imagination while creating his characters. The examination of these roles will be provided in more detail in the next two following sections.

1.3.1 Female Muses

Mary Hardy Mary Hardy was Hardy's younger sister. She was calm and intelligent, and her nature was very reserved and restrained. The brother-sister relationship was a strong one. It is believed that he almost regarded her as his second self. Gittings says that Hardy's view

- 13 - of their relationship was close to a “spiritual marriage” (The Older Thomas Hardy 168), and that in the poem Conjecture Hardy spoke of her “as a third wife” (The Older Thomas Hardy 168), which could then hypothetically explain the fact that Mary was not present when Hardy married his first wife Emma Lavinia Gifford.

Gittings even compares their relationship to the one of William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. He points out that “like Dorothy Wordsworth, she felt she could not bring herself actually to witness the ceremony” (Young Thomas Hardy 197).

Mary, before becoming a headmistress of the Bell Street junior girls' school, attended the Salisbury training college, which was the college of Sue Bridehead, the character in Jude the Obscure.

Julia Augusta Martin Julia Augusta Martin played a considerable role in Thomas Hardy's childhood. She was a lady of the manor. She came from a higher social class, and the village school in Stinsford, which Hardy attended, was under her patronage. She was obsessively fond of young Thomas, and the emotional attachment between these two became unusually strong. That is why she quickly became the emotional rival of Jemima. It is the reason why Jemima took her son from the proximity of Julia, and enrolled him in a school in Dorchester. The relationship between Thomas Hardy and Julia Augusta Martin was so powerful, as Gittings points out, that it elicited “the origin of a constant theme in most of Hardy's early novels [which appeared to be] the sexual attraction reaching across class barriers” (Young Thomas Hardy 11). Hardy afterwards said that his feelings for Mrs. Martin were almost “that of a lover” (Young Thomas Hardy 11), and later, when he was in his eighties, he even began to think about her again and write love passages about her.

Tryphena Sparks Tryphena Sparks was Thomas Hardy's cousin. She was the youngest and the most talented child of James and Maria Sparks. She was an intelligent and a clever girl; therefore, from the very beginning, her parents encouraged her to pursue the career of a teacher, which was “one legitimate way for a working-class girl to break through social and economic barriers” (Young Thomas Hardy 56); and thus, elevate herself in the

- 14 - society. After graduation from Stockwell Normal College in London, she obtained the position as a headmistress at Plymouth Day School, which was a remarkable career success for such a young woman. During the period at Stockwell College, Tryphena and Thomas were supposed to have a romance. Some biographers support the idea that Hardy even proposed to her, and that she was wearing a ring for some time. Hardy drew upon this experience in his novel Jude the Obscure where the cousins, Jude and Sue, are in a relationship. Tryphena would be then partly portrayed as Sue. There exists evidence that the fact could be close to the truth because in the preface to the first edition of Jude the Obscure, Hardy himself states that the outline plan was created in 1890, according to the notes from 1887, and that some of the episodes were provoked by a death of a woman the previous year. The woman in question could be Tryphena because she died on March 17th 1890 (xxxiii).

It was not unexpected that he would become attracted to her and eventually fall in love with her because she waited in a row as the third reproduction of his mother. That is to say that Tryphena had two older sisters, Rebecca and Martha, who also had an ill- defined love affair with Hardy. Rebecca was about eleven years older than Hardy. To everyone's surprise, as young Hardy made several violent approaches towards her, he was forbidden to enter the house of his aunt's. Some years later Hardy fell in love with Martha Sparks. At one time, he even wanted to marry her. The difference in age between Rebecca and Tryphena was twenty-one years. Gittings remarks that the pattern of falling in love with three generations of women is to be found in the novel The Well- Beloved where the hero Pierston follows the same pattern (Young Thomas Hardy 114).

Another character, Gittings says, a schoolmistress Fancy Day in the novel Under the Greenwood Tree, resembles Tryphena both in a character and appearance (Young Thomas Hardy 154).

In the novel Far from the Madding Crowd, Gittings maintains that “Batsheba came from Hardy through Tryphena, when she was teaching at Coryates, from her stories at Weymouth about the landowner of Waddon, half a mile from her school, Catherine Hawkins” (Young Thomas Hardy 174).

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The character of Phillotson from Jude the Obscure could be based, as Gittings suggests, on “the bachelor Mr. Holmes, schoolmaster of Athelhampton, under whom Tryphena Sparks had worked, a Berkshire man from a village near Fawley” (Young Thomas Hardy 218).

Tryphena was also the inspiration for Hardy's poem Thoughts of Phena, at News of Her Death (Harvey 40).

H.A. (H. Lond) Thomas Hardy referred in his bible to a girl, not closely described though, with initials H.A. He also wrote letters about her to his sister Mary. It is highly probable that these two girls knew each other. They were both schoolmistresses, and they came from the same class. Gittings says that, under the influence of this girl, Hardy lost his faith, which is a similar circumstance of what happened to Jude in Jude the Obscure. Jude, as well as Hardy, lost his faith through a girl (Young Thomas Hardy 93).

Mrs. Florence Henniker Mrs. Florence Henniker was a novelist and a short-story writer. The friendship between her and Hardy lasted almost thirty years. Florence was an emancipated beautiful woman possessing similar features as his mother. It is thought that Hardy fell in love with her, at one point or the other, and that they remained good friends until her death. He helped her with her work, and together they wrote; for example, a narrative The Spectre of the Real. It is presumed that the late Sue is partly based on her. As well as Sue, she was an orthodox church goer (Young Thomas Hardy 219). Gittings also maintains that Hardy called Sue Bridehead Susan Florence Mary Bridehead (The Older Thomas Hardy 73). Hardy also wrote a number of poems about her; for instance, At an Inn, A Thunderstorm in Town or A Broken Appointment, and she appears also in the novel Wessex Heights (Harvey 38).

Emma Lavinia Gifford Emma Gifford was Hardy's first wife. These two personalities were highly different in nature, which, in the first place, incurred frequent arguments and jealousies in the later stage of their marriage. Emma bore hardly any resemblance to his mother. She was a fair-haired flamboyant girl with fine features when they first met on the North Cornwall

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Coast. Gittings comments on the influence she had on Hardy saying that he sees “no doubt at all that wilfulness and lack of restraint gave … [Emma] a dash and charm that captivated Hardy from the moment they met “ (Young Thomas Hardy 127).

Hardy allowed himself to be inspired by Emma to create a heroine named Elfride Swancourt in the novel A Pair of Blue Eyes. Gittings mentions that, according to Some Personal Recollections of Thomas Hardy by Susan M. Ellis, “Hardy confessed [that Elfride was] based in character and physical detail on Emma” (Ellis in Young Thomas

Hardy 165).

After her death, he wrote several poems about their first meeting and their marriage; for instance, the poems which the Associate Professor at Kingston College in London, Brocchan Carey, publishes on his website dedicated to literature, A Dream or No, At Castle Boterel or When I Set Out for Lyonnesse.5

Elizabeth Swetman Hand Elizabeth Swetman Hand was Hardy's grandmother. She was a struggling poor widow disowned by her father and left with seven children. Her daughter Jemima Hardy was the fifth one. He wrote the poems Autumn in King's Hintock Park and Her Late Husband about her (The Older Thomas Hardy 107).

Mary Head Hardy Mary Had Hardy was Hardy's grandmother on his father's side. Her parents both died very early. The childhood of an orphaned girl was not at all a happy one. She was brought up by her uncle Henry Head. When she turned eleven, his wife as well as her two cousins died (Young Thomas Hardy 215). Then she led a life shrouded in mystery and speculation. Michael Millgate confirms that she could be the Mary Hardy who gave birth to an illegitimate daughter in Reading in 1796 because it is known that some woman of that name lived there for some amount of time (22). Gittings is a supporter of this theory, and he even develops it further, comparing Mary Head to Tess, saying that “Mary Head, like Tess, had been seduced and had borne a child … [and that she] had not been executed, but had lived under the fear of execution for nearly three months”

5 See Carey, B. Thomas and Emma: Poems by Thomas Hardy about his first wife, Emma Gifford. Web Brycchan Carey's Website, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. - 17 -

(The Older Thomas Hardy 57). Millgate says that Mary Head appeared in the poem One we knew as a grandmother talking of the past to Hardy himself and his sister Mary who also became a model for Swithin St. Cleeve's grandmother, Mrs Martin, in the novel Two on a Tower (23).

Elizabeth Martha Brown and Rachel Hurst Elizabeth Martha Brown and Rachel Hurst contributed in some way to Hardy's literary work. Elizabeth Martha Brown, as Tess, killed her husband, and was publicly hanged. Rachel Hurst was partly imprinted into the character of Arabella in Jude the Obscure. Gittings maintains that Arabella has Rachel to thank for “her rich colour and vanity, and frailty, and artificial dimple-making” (Young Thomas Hardy 26).

1.3.2 Male Muses

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy Sr. was, as Gittings deftly formulates, “a handsome and well-formed man [who] had a reputation for getting village girls into trouble” (Young Thomas Hardy 7). He was a successful master-mason who loved music. Unfortunately, Thomas Hardy Jr. thought he was a too good-natured man, which prevented him from earning more money and employing more people in his business. Gittings adds that as Angel Clare in Jude the Obscure, he was surely not marrying Jemima Hand for money (Young Thomas Hardy 8).

Horatio Mosley Moule Horatio Mosley Moule was one of Hardy's closest friends and his mentor. He was born as the fourth of eight sons into a clerical family, precisely, into “a dynasty of local heroes“ (Young Thomas Hardy 37), as Gittings says while comparing his family to a family of Angel Clare.

He was highly intelligent and intellectual, but he suffered from long-term depressions and, perhaps, from a lack of self-esteem which, in the end, resulted in drinking and suicide. At the age of nineteenth, he entered Trinity College in Oxford. Three years later, he left the college without a degree and, the same year, he matriculated at Queens College in Cambridge. However, he was not awarded his BA until thirteen years later. He was said to be a brilliant teacher. He became an assistant master at Marlborough - 18 -

Grammar school for three years. Then he worked as a critic reviewing novels for the Saturday Review.6

Horace played a significant role in Hardy's life. Subsequently, it is no surprise that his death affected him deeply. Gittings poignantly remarks on Hardy's future heroes who are tossed from one side to another by a fickleness of fate (Young Thomas Hardy 184). He says that “no hero of Hardy's novel ever receives anything like the optimistic comment … [that] the tragedy … is that not only do they suffer humiliation and various forms of defeat during life; nothing alleviates in any way that suffering at the end“ (Young Thomas Hardy 184).

The character of Jude Fawley, and his tragic fate in particular, suggests resemblance to Horace Moule and to his unfortunate later life. Some incidents from Horace's life are nearly identical with what happened to Jude. Rumours say that Horace had got pregnant a woman from Fordington, who was shipped off to Australia where the child was after hanged. Arabella expected a baby with Jude without him knowing and she left to Australia as well. Several years later, she sent her son back to Jude, and the son later killed two Sue's children and committed suicide by hanging. Another similarity could be found in a situation when a drunken Jude recites the Nicene Creed in Latin to a pub audience, which is what happened to Horace Moule (Young Thomas Hardy 218).

Gittings goes further and speculates that “the kind curate who, gives Jude fresh hope after this scene, may be taken from Moule's curate brother Frederick, who rescued him in such dilemmas” (Young Thomas Hardy 218). Another brother, Charles, is according to Gittings, partly portrayed in Angel Clare (The Older Thomas Hardy 208).

John Antell John Antell was Hardy's uncle. He worked as a cobbler, and he mastered self-taught Latin. Later on, he succeeded in opening the Latin school in Puddletown. He also became a model for Jude Fawley. They were nearly alike in appearance. His early death was similar to Jude's tragic end. After a drunken bout, he ended up in a ditch where he lied all night long, and then, as a consequence, he died of this exposure (Young Thomas

6 See Thomas Hardy and Horace Moule (Horatio Mosley Moule) (1832-1873). Web Thomas Hardy and Horace Moule, 14 Jul. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. - 19 -

Hardy 15). John Antell's father, a literate maltster, is believed to be a portrait of a maltster in the novel Far from the Madding Crowd, says John Antell, his great great grandson.7

1.3.3 The Picture of Thomas Hardy in Jude Fawley

Paul Turner states in his biography The Life of Thomas, quoting the The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy written by Hardy himself, that “Jude was not, as 'some paragraphists knowingly informed the public', 'an honest autobiography', but Hardy was stretching the truth when he said that 'no book he had ever written contained less of his own life'” (144).

After having read Jude the Obscure and biographies dedicated to the life of Thomas Hardy, a striking similarity could be observed in the character of a young reflective Jude and young Hardy.

As a boy, Hardy was very emotional. He was an over sensitive boy and a loner, not at ease with being the centre of attention. They both shared the unflagging “reverence for learning” (Gittings Young Thomas Hardy 4), which was encouraged, in the case of Hardy, by his mother. Gittings states that his “passion for solitary reading was noted by other pupils at both his schools, … [that Hardy] was seen by neighbours at Stinsford, on his three mile walk into Dorchester, as a solemn small boy, odd looking, and with a big head, carrying a full satchel of books” (Young Thomas Hardy 21). Jude is described in the novel with the same unimpressive tone by a village girl saying on his account, “Lord! he's nobody, though you med think so. He used to drive old Drusilla Fawley's bread-cart out at Marygreen, till he 'prenticed himself at Alfredston. Since then he's been very stuck up, and always reading. He wants to be a scholar, they say” (Hardy 39). Later on, they shared the same habit of reading their Latin and Greek texts in the spare time between their labours. Moreover, Hardy was architect's apprentice, and his work was at “Gothic architecture all day” (Gittings Young Thomas Hardy 42). Hardy preferred the French Gothic architecture in particular. Apart from the reverence of reading, Jude also shared the passion for music with Hardy. He even “joined the choir as a bass voice“ (Hardy 201) in a village church. In like manner, their fondness for

7 See Antell, John. The Thomas Hardy connection to the Antell family of Puddletown. Web Age UK Dorchester, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. - 20 - animals is remarkable. While citing Thomas Hardy at the same time, Turner poignantly formulates at the same time that Hardy had always felt the “magic thread of fellowfeeling” with animals that made Jude the useless as a rook-scarer or pigsticker unable to kill a worm“ (144). As far as the issue of non-fulfilment of their educational aspirations is concerned, it is generally believed that “Hardy ... actually applied for candidacy for the Christian ministry, and was rejected on the ground of his humble origins” (Gittings Young Thomas Hardy 46). Jude was rejected from entering the university in Christminster as well. Both were told advice to stick to their trade and do not make further efforts to succeed in a different field then that in which they had already been experienced.

No one can argue now that any important person in someone's life could not to be found in the literary output of the author. Even though Thomas Hardy was in a habit of denying any resemblance, his family became a fount of inspiration for his novels and poems. The most powerful inspiration happened to be a recently dead woman who caused a puissant flood of art to pour out of Hardy's literary mind. When Hardy wrote in his autobiography about his family, relatives, and ancestors, he would rather describe in detail and glory a remote branch of the family tree containing some distinguished personalities who achieved success in life than to introduce his nearest relatives in an honest manner. Gittings calls this approach “Hardy's own d'Urbervilles complex” (The Older Thomas Hardy 183).

The question concerning the discovery of the inspiration to create a character of Tess is a contradictory one but worth mentioning. Gittings says, citing also James Steven-Cox's Materials for the Study of the Life, Times and Works of Thomas Hardy, that “the Antell family said that Tess in her life, adventures, and final death was “practically what happened to a relative” (Young Thomas Hardy 215). Gittings quotes Arthur Compton Rickett's I look back: Memories of Fifty Years Hardy saying that Hardy created Tess “from three women, a Weymouth waitress, from whom he took Tess's physique and appearance, and her character from two Dorchester girls 18” (Young Thomas Hardy 215).

It is possible that Thomas Hardy could have deliberately concealed his model for Tess on the account of being ashamed of his background.

- 21 -

2 Character Analysis

The part Character Analysis focuses individually on character analysis of Jude Fawley and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. The last chapter summarizes the resemblence and difference between these two protagonists.

2.1 Jude the Incorrigible Visionary

Right from the opening pages of Jude the Obscure, Hardy presents Jude as an extremely sensitive and perceptive boy who does step out of the line of unromantically looking nearby standing “regular day scholars” (4). Hardy does not leave his readers in the dark and gives them an inkling of a tough life which Jude is predestined to live. Jude is a young man of a thoughtful and meditative disposition “who has felt the pricks of life somewhat before his time” (5). This means that he will have a hard time to move with the times, and undeniably suffer in the society into which he was born. As a consequence, the reader is expecting tragic and sad events straight away from the beginning. These events herald a unique view of Jude into the well. This particular view presents itself only from his current standing position. Jude sees a “long circular perspective ending in a shining disk of quivering water at a distance of a hundred feet down” (5). One assumes that at the bottom of the well, one would see a black hole and not a sparkling plate. Jude chooses the vision of a sparkling plate, and Hardy obliquely indicates that the way to seize the plate would be thorny one. Despite the fact that the story thus seems tragic, Hardy leaves in a reader a piece of hope that Jude could after all await a better fate than that one which is predestined to him.

Jude wishes to achieve education which was unofficially intended not for members of his social class. He is significantly influenced by a schoolmaster named Phillotson who becomes his role model for his educational ambitions.

An eleven-year-old Jude takes the leaving of his favourite teacher very hard while Phillotson decides to pursue his own dream to become a scholar in Christminster. Jude has become emotionally dependent on him. This event marks him greatly. It seems that Jude adopts the dream of his idol. From this moment on, studying at the university in Christminster is his only goal, the unceasing desire and driving force which appears to - 22 - be useful in some phases of his life but which is finally, if one takes into account the real circumstances, rather a pulling off force dragging him down into his inner imaginative world. If Jude, with his vision and with his ambitions, was born a few decades later and somewhere else, he could have achieved the deserved success.

Jude is also easily recognizable thanks to his thoughtfulness, determination, and a complete strangeness which prompts a different look at the world he is living in. His imagination with which he creates his own world to escape the real one becomes his shelter. The real world fails to understand him, and it would take a lot of effort and a lot of inner strength for him to be able to navigate himself correctly in it, that is to say, to join the line, integrate, and finally succeed. Hardy underlines his strangeness with the unusually frequent use of the adjective obscure, while two times Hardy uses the noun obscurity, which appears overall sixteen times in the book mainly in the description of places: “obscure tavern” (353), “obscure home” (80), “obscure chamber” (96), “obscure street” (95), “obscure alleys” (79), and “obscure fields” (292).

Hardy makes clear that Jude Fawley somehow fits into his “obscure” world, and that every society has its “odd individuals”, and that it is perfectly natural and normal to have those, yet, on the other hand, it is also ironic that these people do not fit in, and they suffer.

2.1.1 Christminster the Avalon

From the geographical and historical perspective, the interesting fact in both Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure is the people's consideration of spatial dimensions. How “relatively” small was the world for those people who lived there for most of their lives.

Jude treats Christminster as a magical place where all the knowledge and wisdom of the world is collected. For most of his life, he firmly hopes and blindly believes that this city would once take him into his arms. It is his highly developed fantasy and his intellectual illusion. This dreamlike Christminster is holding him in check for a lifetime. He worships this town of “light and lore” (31) which he also sees as “the centre of the universe” (337). Nowadays, in terms of spaciousness, communication availability, and

- 23 - migratory movements Jude's clinging to Christminster may appear incomprehensible just as there would not exists any other “enlightened” centre of education.

For the first time, Jude sees Christminster after strenuous praying. However, he is not sure whether his prayers would be effective enough to help to come true the desired wish. He recalls a few stories where the prayers have helped, but one story in particular is niggling at the back of his mind. The story tells about a man who “ tried the same experiment [of praying], and the money did not come; but he found afterwards that the breeches he knelt in were made by a wicked Jew“ (16). The name Jude is of Hebrew origin and it was not highly popular among the Christians for a long time because it became associated with the disciple Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ.8 This fact could signify that the connection of Jude and Christminster is the unlucky one from the very beginning. Jude's prayers are heard. Nevertheless, to see Christminster from a distance is just a small part of Jude's dream. All of a sudden, the fog-shrouded Christminster unfolds its mists, and Jude for the first time sees its roofs and towers. This event is described in the book so vividly that readers adopt Jude's contagious enthusiasm, and this whole event may evoke the analogy with the legendary Isle of Avalon. Hardy says that “the thinning mist dissolved altogether from the northern horizon, as it had already done elsewhere, and about a quarter of an hour before the time of sunset the westward clouds parted, the sun's position being partially uncovered, and the beams streaming out in visible lines between two bars of slaty cloud“ (17). Avalon is a place where the mythic figure King Arthur heals his wounds from the battle-field, and where he later dies, as well as Jude, who comes repeatedly to Christminster with the hope of healing his consciousness, his wounds of the merciless destiny, and with the hope of drawing back strength. Hardy's comment “as it had already done elsewhere” (17) leads the reader away from misleading Jude's vision, and clearly shows how Jude's mind is fixed only on one goal and, the rest, the surrounding reality, is marginalized.

The name Avalon is probably derived from the word aval which means in Breton and Cornish apple.9 This fact could also signal that Christminster for Jude represents a temptation, a lure, to which human nature could not possibly resist. The Isle of Avalon

8 See Joseph, Jude. Web WhitePages, 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

9 See Avalon - Etymology. Web The Chronicles of Avalon, 24 Jul. 2008 . Web. 5 Mar. 2012.

- 24 - is also connected with Annwn which in Welsh mythology means the underground nether world – the region of magical creatures and the dead.10 It becomes a common practice that Jude sees and speaks with ghosts and phantoms of the city.

This city is a magical lure for Jude around which is built Jude's inner imaginative world into which runs and hides. He sees in it its ancient beauty, and he ardently hopes for a better world. It is his secret sanctuary.

2.1.2 Dreamer's Blows of Disillusion

Hardy often calls Jude a dreamer, thinker, and an idealist with his fantasy, visions, and imaginings. Such people do not have a simple life. It can only be compared to children going down the slide. While the small enthusiasts are getting on a slide, they are in anticipation of something great but, all of a sudden, with a snap of a finger, they hit the “uninteresting” ground. Sometimes the impact could be devastating and tragic. Dazed children pick themselves up again and again in spite of another possible falling and suffering because staying on the ground is not interesting enough.

Sue says to Jude, “You are Joseph the dreamer of dreams, dear Jude. And a tragic Don Quixote. And sometimes you are St. Stephen, who, while they were stoning him, could see Heaven opened. Oh, my poor friend and comrade, you'll suffer yet!“ (215). And Jude really suffered and will suffer, as Sue predicts. Paul Turner comments in his critical biography of Thomas Hardy on Joseph's sufferings. He says that his misery resembled Jude's when his brothers left him in a dried pit. Despite this fact he helped them, just as Jude did Arabella at one point (146). “But Joseph's dreams were realized: Jude's were not” (146), Turner adds.

Jude's first disappointment comes when a questionable physician Vilbert, after a mutual agreement, forgets to bring Jude the promised grammar books of Greek and Latin. But he does not forget to add that Jude's determination to learn these two languages is a mere “lofty desire” (Hardy Jude the Obscure 23). Eager Jude lives in a complete euphoria for fourteen days. He “ran about and smiled outwardly at his inward thoughts

10 See Rise, Brian Edward. Annwn. Web Encyclopedia Mythica, 2 July 2006 . Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

- 25 -

... as if a supernatural lamp were held inside their transparent natures, giving rise to the flattering fancy that heaven lies about them then.“ (24). Nevertheless, Dr. Vilbert forgets about his promise and Jude suffers a major blow. This event could be considered as his first betrayal of trust in people. His disappointment touches the reader markedly because the boy runs literally from a “dry misery” (25) to the “interval of blankness” (25). But Jude pulls himself together, and works up the courage to write Phillotson for his old grammar books. When Jude first opens the grammars, there comes another surprise followed by the real awakening to reality. He naively imagined that to learn Latin and Greek would be much easier. At this point, he becomes aware of his naivety. He conceives now that “the charm he had supposed in store for him was really a labour like that of Israel in Egypt” (26). Nonetheless, he falls into depression. He is frustrated, and takes it too tragically. For him, the world collapses. He says that “he wished he had never seen a book, that he might never see another, that he had never been born” (27) and, at the same time, the admiration and respect for scholars in Christminster increases immensely.

Even later in life, after the disappointment at the failure to get among their ranks, he fails to view them any less estimably than at the age of eleven. He perceives them as “forms passing across the field … [of his] vision like inaccessible planets across an object glass“ (346).

As mentioned above, Jude's Avalon conceals several disappointments. After his arrival into the city, Jude takes a walk in the late hour of night, and the city veiled by night corresponds with his imaginings. But the dawn offers Jude the real view of the city, and initiates another dawn, but this time it is dawn in his mind. He now sees famous colleges in their true light, as the ancient relics which need to be restored. Even though he sees them in what they really are, he wishes to put them into the state which corresponds with the picture in his head. He plans to accomplish this by exercising his craft. Jude is a stone-mason. “The condition of several moved him as he would have been moved by maimed sentient beings. They were wounded, broken, sloughing off their outer shape in the deadly struggle against years, weather, and man“ (84).

City's second disappointment is associated with the long-awaited meeting with Phillotson. Jude is nervous about this meeting. When he learns that Phillotson is “only a

- 26 - schoolmaster still“ (102) and no parson, he suddenly looses his illusions and he suffers a sudden loss of “the halo which had surrounded the school-master's figure“ (102). Awakening from the fact that his idol did not succeed in achieving his dream, and that neither he will probably succeed, he puts the magical city in question. After several days, his fears come real and he sustains a heavy blow, which he desperately needs, when a letter comes from a master of college announcing that it would be much better for him to stick to his trade and to give up the thought of a university degree. However, ironically, though Jude is aware at one point that his plans are only a vain hope, and that “his destiny lay ... among the manual toilers in the shabby purlieu“ (119), his profession offers no great future prospects as well. The profession of a stone-mason has already been on the way to decline in the industrial era of Great Britain. Jude secludes himself from admitting that “medievalism was as dead as a fern-leaf in a lump of coal; that other developments were shaping in the world around him, in which Gothic architecture and its associations had no place” (85).

Even nowadays, there exist plenty of people who devote all their strength to pursue hopeless dreams and unachievable goals. As a result, it is difficult for them to find another similarly oriented goal, for their lives could come to fulfilment. One can compare Jude to an athlete for whom the sport is everything in the world. The professional athlete begins to develop his skills as a talented child, and, all of a sudden, he could not continue in his profession, as he formerly wished, because of a serious injury. He loses his inner strength, and has a difficulty to make any efforts to do anything else.

2.2 Castaway with a Rook on his Shoulder

“They seemed, like himself, to be living in a world which did not want them“ (9). Hardy compares Jude to rooks. Jude works for the farmer Troutham in the field where his task is to scare these birds so as to they would not destroy crops. But after a while, something breaks in Jude, and he starts to feed the birds instead. Suddenly, he begins to consider them friends. Most of the people would not sympathize with animals which cause harm.

- 27 -

In Europe, the ravens11 are generally associated with mortality, death, and war. The religious symbolism sees the raven as sinner and renegade. On the contrary, the raven brought Elijah bread and meat, and his generosity towards Christian saints Bernard and Cuthbert, to whom he offered food and advice, made him a symbol of divine loneliness.12 The raven representing a negative element could be found in Edgar Allan Poe in his poem The Raven or in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds based on The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier.

The Ravens, as well as Jude, are considered and treated as a nuisance. Jude is an unhappy choice of husband to Arabella. To tell the truth, they are the cause of destruction one to another. It is beyond his strength to make the marriage function. He is not able to satisfy her; moreover, he is not motivated enough to do so. Furthermore, Jude could be reckoned as a sort of a doom for Sue as well. Due to their mutual similarity, they are the cause of destruction to one to another as well. Jude's son, Little Father Time, kills Jude's and Sue's children, and then he commits suicide. Jude also ruins Phillotson when the schoolmaster loses indirectly through him his social position. Essentially, Jude himself is his own master of social and personal ruin.

“It would ha' been a blessing if Goddy-mighty had took thee too, wi' thy mother and father, poor useless boy!“ (7), says harshly Jude's aunt. She does not consider him sufficiently capable of keeping her company or helping her with household chores. She even suggests the idea why his favourite schoolmaster did not take him to Christminster to make a scholar of him. “The boy is crazy for books, that he is“ (8), she admits in appreciation at the same time (8).

Nevertheless, in those days, the rural society does not appreciate someone who holds interest in becoming a scholar. It is impractical, and nobody understands the purpose of it. “If can't skeer birds, what can ye do?“ (12), summarizes aunt Drussila this viewpoint.

11 According to A.R.X. - noetika - Sojka. Havrani v mytologii, snech i Bibly. Web Panna, 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. the rooks are generally mistaken for ravens, crows or jackdaws.

12 See A.R.X. - noetika - Sojka. Havrani v mytologii, snech i Bibly. Web Panna, 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2012 - 28 -

“There's a waste, all through you!“ (64), Arabella says to Jude. Another excellent example in the book, which clearly proves that Jude does not belong to the rural society that requiring a “handy husband” for a wife for the purpose of leading together a “full- fledged rural life”, is the incident with the pig killing described by Jude himself as the “unworkmanlike … deed“ (64). Jude is aware of this unfortunate reality. He even admits that he is “dissatisfied with himself as a man” (65). On the account his sensitivity, Jude can not kill the pig the way it should be done. Jude is manually skilled, yet his attitude does not permit him to rank among rural men. Arabella thus boldly calls him ignorant, not out of context it seems, because he is not aware of the killing procedure. She also calls him a “tender-hearted fool“ (63), and in a faraway letter addresses him “a slow old coach“ (71).

Hardy begins this Jude's phase of life with pigs and books when a part of pig's offal is thrown at him by Arabella while he is sitting under a tree reading his books. He ends it with pigs and books when during the pig killing, Arabella and Jude have an argument about Jude's books. Jude appears to esteem books more than his own wife. Hardy shows that these two different worlds could not function together in the case of Jude.

As to sustain the idea of being society's castaway, it appears that Jude tries to commit suicide after the unsuccessful marriage. He thinks as an outcast as he deliberates grievously. “What was he reserved for?“ (70). Unfortunately, it depends, though, on the viewpoint of the reader who sometimes would like to help him to put out of his misery by any means, his attempt to commit suicide fails. This leads to another thinking that he is even not capable of helping himself out of the world pointing out that he is not a “sufficiently dignified person for suicide“ (70). As a consequence, he comes to the conclusion that worse than ”self-extermination“ (70) would be to get drunk (70). Jude returns to drinking after that quite often. “So I have been drinking, and blaspheming … Oh, do anything with me, Sue--kill me--I don't care! Only don't hate me and despise me like all the rest of the world!” (126), he once says after having recited the Creed in Latin in a pub in front of university students and his friends from work. The second time, Jude eventually succeeds in committing suicide. Jude's own mother committed suicide as well and, as for Jude's son, Little Father Time, not only that he commits suicide; moreover, he murders his three half-siblings.

- 29 -

At last, Jude gives up everything. He lives in s complete resignation and he sets out on a suicidal journey to call upon Sue for the last time. Owing to this journey, he dies alone without anyone assisting at this death-bed in Christminster

When Jude first enters Christminster, he speaks during a night walk with the city's ghosts and phantoms. He esteems them, and he enjoys their company. “Jude found himself speaking out loud, holding conversations with them as it were, like an actor in a melodrama who apostrophizes the audience on the other side of the footlights; till he suddenly ceased with a start at his absurdity” (81). At the end, the peculiar Jude hallucinates. This time, he is not talking to himself, but he talks to them in public without any concern of someone regarding him as a fool. He says he does not believe in half of them now, and he hears how they laugh at him. Once they were on his side, Jude believes, but this time, he thinks of them as traitors who coldly renounce him (414). But it is rather his imaginative world that falls apart right before his eyes. He speaks to them in a mocking and desperate tone, and it appears that he requests some assistance or help. He exclaims, “Come along do! Phantoms!“ (414). In addition, he speaks to Arabella at this point, and says that he is not “neither a dweller among men nor ghosts“ (415).

It is evident that Jude not only that he is not at ease in the real world, but he does not belong to the spirit world either, nor even to his imaginative world any more. He is a real castaway.

Jude is society's castaway in the relationship with Sue as well. Later on, he becomes the head of a struggling family. Jude and Sue are cousins. For the first time, when they are seen together while taking only a friendly walk, Sue is immediately expelled from school. It seems as if they constantly run from fearing people's judgement from one place to another. “We couldn't possibly, don't you see. We are known here--I, at any rate, am well known“ (248-249), says Jude to Sue when he suggests leaving Melchester in order to find happiness in Aldbrickham. As a family, they leave for Christminster for the purpose of avoiding scandal. They always run from a smaller town to a bigger one so as to melt into the crowd. Additionally, in larger cities, nonconformist people could more easily hide because there is more of them, and nobody seems to pay much attention to peculiarities. In spite of not being married, Jude and Sue have children. They pretend that they are husband and wife for they could fit in but, taking into

- 30 - account their countenance and behaviour, people do not believe that Sue is Jude's wife. They leave Aldbrickham for Christminster after the work in a church where they renew the lettering of Ten Commandments. People see them working together, and they do not approve of a woman assisting a man. Sue says to Jude, “You a reprobate, and I--in my condition... O dear!“ (318). Here, Sue expresses exactly how society sees them.

How could anyone sympathize with a hero who tries to commit suicide, who is drinking, who does not fight enough to cope with his fate, and who finally gives up? One can definitely sympathize with him because every one of us accord, at one point or another, with the definition of the non-conformist hero. One knows that even the most shining stars in the universe die at last, and that they can be easily replaced by the “evil” (74) or “malignant stars” (320) influencing and controlling our fate.

2.3 Progressive Couple

Jude and Sue's partnership was not built on the traditional Victorian pillar, in other words, on matrimony. Jude and Sue live side by side for several years as companions,s and they even start a family. They both share the free way of thinking about the marriage and the family system, which was highly unusual and daring at that time. They attempt to resist the pressure of society, and they fight bravely; however, in the end, they are caught up by the prejudiced society. At one crucial moment, one of them, Sue, becomes succumbed by its opinions and beliefs.

In contrast with their advanced thinking and attitudes, it could be considered ironical that Jude and Sue are cousins. Evidently, this blood connection is not suitable for the unwritten rules of the society. Jude is conscious of this fact when he admits that “it was not well for cousins to fall in love even when circumstances seemed to favour the passion“ (91). Another factor not favouring their connection is Jude's and Sue's superstitious disposition. It is a wrong standpoint to believe that their family, where a permanent family bond means automatically some mischief, is accursed. Jude says that “in a family like his own where marriage usually meant a tragic sadness, marriage with a blood-relation would duplicate the adverse conditions, and a tragic sadness might be intensified to a tragic horror“ (91).

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At one moment, Sue expresses her point of view, and confirms that their thinking is not in agreement with the thinking of the society. She exactly says that their “views of the relations of man and woman are limited, as is proved by their expelling me from the school. Their philosophy only recognizes relations based on animal desire“ (174). Eventually, Jude and Sue tries to marry, but it is the superstition that prevents them from doing so.

Superstition, family relationship, and the pressure of the society represent three main factors that always collide with their otherwise modern views.

Another proof of their modern way of thinking is how they accept Jude's son, Little Father Time, who arrives rather unexpectedly from Australia to live with them. Jude does not have the slightest idea of his existence. Sue says without hesitation that she “should like so much for … [them] to have him as an adopted child!“ (288). Jude begins to reflect on the question of parentage by saying, “The beggarly question of parentage-- what is it, after all? What does it matter, when you come to think of it, whether a child is yours by blood or not? All the little ones of our time are collectively the children of us adults of the time, and entitled to our general care“ (288).

If one takes into consideration that “child adoption had no legal status in Britain ... until 1926, when the first Act was passed which regulated this in England and Wales”,13 their attitude is certainly worth mentioning for its modern standpoint. It further says that “until then, child adoption was an informal and generally secretive procedure which gave the adoptive parents no rights whatsoever”.14

Because of Jude's spirit of progressiveness, which Hardy supports with a comment underlying Jude's activity “in furthering equality of opportunity” by any humble means open to him (319), Jude becomes a member of the committee of Artisans Mutual Improvement Society. A few evenings after Jude's dismissal from the church repairs, he comes to their meeting where there is indirectly suggested that his behaviour is not in accord with the “common standard of conduct“ (320). As a result, Jude does not hesitate

13 See Grey, Daniel. “Review of A Child for Keeps: the History of Adoption in England, 1918-45”. Web Reviews in history. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.

14 Ibid. - 32 - a minute, and he immediately resigns. Nevertheless, he could have at least tried to defend himself. But Jude is not courageous enough to do so. This is the reason of losing his work. Consequently, Jude together with Sue try to figure out what he could do next. They consider the idea of Jude's possible return to baking business, but his comment on this possibility does not seem very optimistic. He says that “even a baker must be conventional, to get customers” (322) which signifies his disappointment in the society that does not accept any deviation.

Towards the end of Jude's life, Jude sees that it is the society that stands behind his academic failure; therefore, he hopes that students will have more chances to succeed when the universities become “less exclusive“ (421); thus more accessible to public (421).

2.4 Tess the "Proud" Individualist

Tess can certainly be considered as an individualist because she displays her individuality and independence throughout the story. Alec calls her by a wide range of names. When she refuses his taking her home, he calls her “Miss Independence” (70) , which is the name that suits her the most. She demonstrates her strong individuality not only in her behaviour but also in attitudes and actions. The person who is called individualist identifies primarily with self. Tess is very well aware of who she is, and how to use the pronoun self correctly, for she expresses herself several times by using this word. Tess is talking about her “very self” (234) when, all of a sudden, she is deceived by Angel after telling him her past, or she refers to her “real self” (220) after she realizes that Angel loves only the image of her and not her personality.

Nevertheless, Tess as an individualist avoids putting needs and interests first before those of the family in particular. A convenient example could be the fact that she leaves home to claim kin at Trantridge for the purpose of satisfying her mother's plan even if she rather goes and find work independently because she does not feel comfortable asking for help. Tess sacrifices herself for the sake of rescuing her family when she accepts Alec's offer to live with him in Sandbourne; thus to ensure her family a respectable living. This crucial decision is made when Tess is at the end of her strength and ideas how to improve their unbearable situation. This act could be called a real

- 33 - sacrifice because, on the account of Alec, she becomes a mere corpse without the spirit. Literally, she “spiritually ceased to recognize ... [her] body ... as hers” (383). Nonetheless, she hesitates a long time before accepting Alec's “helping hand”. She could have done it earlier, but she resisted while keeping herself alive with the thought that Angel might rescue her. As a result, this act was preceded by total desperation and exhaustion as well.

Nevertheless, her constant trying to be self-sufficient and to handle everything on her own is for the welfare of the family. It could be said that taking care of oneself guarantees the family's well-being. It is true that Tess always tries her best, but the position and reputation of the family in the village is already unfavourable. As a consequence, the position is unfavourable for Tess because she is a very reflective person who is sensitive to opinions of others. With this predisposition, she takes the full responsibility of her family's situation. No one, not certainly her family, is able to dissuade her form taking the blame of the consequences. After the incident at Trantridge, when Alec rapes her and she leaves him carrying his child, the family becomes the centre of attention. Nonetheless, the initial error comes directly from her mother and father. Tess is the eldest child in the family. The age gap between her and her numerous siblings is significant, so as a consequence, Tess represents a great authority for her siblings. She is nearly able to substitute their mother. The father is an old drunk, and the mother does not strictly refuse a drink either. Hardy says that Joan's “intelligence … [is] that of a happy child” (39) so it appears that Tess who is endowed with natural intelligence and handsomeness, and who has a higher level of education - Tess passed the Sixth Standard in the National School under a Revised Code which formed “the gap of two hundred years“ (25) between her and her mother, becomes involuntarily the leader of the family. Her opinion has weight. It is well-considered, and usually accepted. This could be manifested while Tess decides to deliver beehives to market with the help of her younger brother Abraham. Even her mother looks up to her. There is not so much of a noticeable distinction between the roles of the mother daughter. They seem to be even close to equal. Unfortunately, Tess occurs in a position which requires a responsibility, in a position which she does not seek but attracts unconsciously. In view of the fact that she is actually very immature in certain areas, her parents' attitude is improper, if one takes into consideration that they behave towards her as she is a mature and experienced adult. Tess is not prepared to what could possibly

- 34 - happen to her outside the walls of the house. By reproaching her mother she has not prepared her to the possibility of encountering such dangerous qualities in some men, she takes the right position. Tess also adds that, as the other girls, if not knowing it from their mothers, they, at least, know the novels. It seems that Tess has not been given a chance to read them. This incident also demonstrates Tess's intelligence and her broader horizons. At this point, she says that when they sent her to Trantridge, she was only sixteen years old. This fact also surprises readers because they also seem to consider Tess as being older than she really is. At first, even Alec regards her as being older. It is her body that deceives him. Nevertheless, after a few exchanged phrases, he immediately recognizes how inexperienced she is, and he takes advantage of her. But the others, especially her parents, are deceived by her behaviour in certain situations and her apparent determination. Hence, they overlook the fact that she, as a child, ought to have learned it from them. They never explicitly admit that it is their mistake. As a result, it seems that the parents unconsciously use Tess. On the contrary, Tess avoids resisting because she has an inborn difficulty to distinguish if she is wrongly treated when it comes to terms of love. After she separates from Angel, she is treated by him as a piece of cloth. Tess does not blame him, for she is blinded by the ultimate love for him. It is exactly the similar case as with the family. In this respect, Tess lives in her own world with its generated rules. This very strong and distinctive characteristics of Tess, which is rather of a poor quality, connected with her reflectiveness and calm nature causes the incapability of the rational review and evaluation of the situation.

The distinctive individualists who, in addition, are beautiful, naturally attract attention. In general, Tess is popular among her peers, and she has some true friends. Her nature does not allow her to ever look down on people, even if she has numerous opportunities to do so. Hardy describes Tess as a proud girl or woman. As the story proceeds, readers' attention is caught by numerous occurrences of this word. But it does not connote the negative meaning here. It is not an “arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness”,15 but it is rather her individuality which goes together with her unique approach to things and to people. It is a different perspective described in the book with the term “pride”. Tess is seen as a proud woman only by enviers. As an example could be used the incident how Tess returns to Trantridge with her supposed friends, and all of

15 See “pride.” www.thefreedictionary.com. The Free Dictionary, 1 Apr 2012. Web. 2 Apr 2012. - 35 - a sudden, one of the girls calls her a “hussy“ (72) accusing her of thinking that she is better than everybody else (72). These people do not want to accept her individuality, and embrace her otherness because it scares them, so as a result, they may call somebody proud. Tess with her nature could not possibly defend herself, as it would most of the other women do so. If they were equipped with such devices as Tess possessed, with the attractiveness, and with natural authority, they would raise respect immediately, and they would be able to twist anyone around their finger. By contrast, Tess allows the others to trample upon herself.

Individualists value the independence and self-reliance. Tess would rather go and find a work without any help than to go submissively to Trantridge to claim kin. Nevertheless, she does not have any choice, so as matters stand, she, at least, asks her parents to leave the decision whether she decides to ask for help or not on her. Tess also relies on her judgement and abilities when she decides, for example, to baptise her child. But her self-reliance is most evident when Angel leaves her, and she refuses to go to his parents to ask for a financial help. She prefers being hired to do the hardest work of the season for a woman in unsupportable conditions. She places a high value on this characteristic feature which signifies that she makes efforts to achieve success alone. This approach would be appreciated nowadays, but at that time, she does not even meet with understanding from anyone because of the prevailed general belief lecturing that a woman like Tess has no reason to achieve something alone. It was believed that only her beauty and current position could ensure her better living. In this direction, Tess goes upstream and against popular belief. She prefers working very hard. She considers a fall to use her strength to her own benefit. Alec knows her in this particular light. He responds to Tess's allegation that she has enough money to provide for herself as well as for her family, saying, “If you ask for it. But you won't, Tess; I know you; you'll never ask for it--you'll starve first!” (360).

In general, individualists tend to distance themselves psychologically and emotionally from other people. Tess is that sort of a person, but when it comes to love, she is able to connect with the other person on such an emotional level that she conceives the other person as her second self. As to conclude this theory, Tess, as the individualist, distances herself from others but from the persons she loves she fails to seclude herself because they become her other selves. Tess could have integrated into the society but

- 36 - her psychological tendency did not allow her to do so. The individualists are often associated with people in urban settings. As a result, Tess living in a rural area, she is an easily recognizable personality.

2.5 Trio Fatal

The story revolves around the “trio fatal” which consists of three main characters, Tess D'Urberville, Alec D'Urberville and Angel Clare. Tess, as a “femme fatale”, is surrounded by two men who are correspondingly fatal to her as she is fatal to them. The interconnection of three influential people with strong personalities, especially, when it comes to one woman and two men, indicates from the beginning of the story that it could not possibly have a positive benefit to any one of them. Tess is a girl who meets both these men in the same year of her life. She is only sixteen years old which is a very early age for such an encounter. The age is not the only disadvantage here, but there exists the above analysed unpreparedness from the side of her family; furthermore, sex is generally considered as taboo, and everything is tried by the experimental method of trial and error. This method is certainly not suitable for those times.

In their own way, every one of them is a mysterious person who draws attention. They are all seductive, and their charm enchants the opposite sex. These irresistible desires lead them into vulnerable, threatening, or fatal situations. The connection is fatal to both Tess and Alec. In the end, they both die. Angel finds himself in the compromising and dangerous situation where little is left to his death when he nearly dies in Brazil. Each of them possesses the ability to hypnotize and capture other persons with almost a supernatural power. For instance, Tess is called “Eve“ (360), a “temptress“ (360), or a “damned witch of Babylon“ (360) while Alec is considered a man endowed with “the most culpable passions” (171). Only Angel is the only one who is never called by such a name, which is a paradox because Angel could be considered the man whose character is worse than Alec's, or at least, equally wronged because of his leaving Tess. In the end, the hidden evil is always worse, causing more painful consequences, than the evil showing its dark sides visible at first sight. One can assume that, at first, Tess is also an indistinguishable character to Angel while on the contrary, Alec recognizes right from the start what Tess represents for him and what is her nature. By contrast, Tess and Angel think too highly of each-other as some elevated human beings. Tess regards

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Angel as “an intelligence rather than as a man“ (131). Angel calls her “Artemis“ (136) or “Demeter“ (136). At crucial moment, the character faults of Tess and Angel, unfortunately, prevent them from using these names to denote their meaning deservedly.

To understand this triangle, it is important to briefly describe individual vertices and their mutual relations, which are those of between Tess and Angel, and Tess and Alec in particular. Angel and Alec also know about each other, yet they never confront.

Tess experiences an idealistic and superficial relationship with Angel. Angel repeatedly calls her noble Greek names, for he loves only the fixed and thoroughly invented idea of her. This approach to Tess is evident to be considered as a selfish one because he deliberately distances himself from accepting true states of things, and he maintains his perfect image of Tess. It is probable that Tess intuitively guesses this Angel's attribute, otherwise, she would tell him the truth sooner, before the wedding. But the faint-hearted Tess does not want to break this ideal image that Angel drew. On the other hand, it is necessary to admit that, to Tess's favour, that Tess loves her own image with all its imperfect strokes while regarding them as unimportant. Angel loves her as well, yet he is immature, and he thinks too highly of himself. When his perfect image becomes the tarnished one, the proud and obstinate child in him rises to the surface. All of a sudden, he loses his open-mindedness, and his middle-class prejudices seize control over him. ”Different societies, different manners“ (237), he emphasizes while talking to Tess. He is not capable of understanding true meaning of his sentiments towards Tess. His pride does not allow him to act rightly without precedent. This is confirmed by the incident how Angel walks in his sleep grieving over the death of Tess. When Angel decides to separate from Tess and to leave for Brazil, at that moment, Tess tries to fight to some extent but not sufficiently, and she takes the situation as her fate. As a consequence, the problem lies in the fact that Angel and Tess do not know each other properly, and yet they get married. Marriage plays a too important role in this case. It is a turning point in their relationship.

Needless to say, it is a pity that Tess did not fall in love with Alec. Alec is confident right from the start in what he would like to achieve. He pursues vigorously his goal; moreover, it seems that he sees through Tess's character better than Angel. As a consequence, at one point, he takes advantage of Tess, and he rapes her. The difference

- 38 - between Alec and Angel is that Alec acts according to his animal instincts. Sex precedes love. It is more convenient to say that, in his case, the love could be substituted for affection. Alec with his strong and unyielding character eventually succeeds. He manages to convince Tess to live with him. He celebrates this success until Tess murders him. The naive and immature Tess is not in love with Alec, but she shows too much fondness towards him several times. Afterwards, he explains Tess's behaviour to himself as permission to fulfil his sexual desire. At one time, he tries to forget about her, and he nearly succeeds. This happens when he decides to become a priest. This temporary religious conversion constitutes a link between Angel and Alec through Angel's father who influences Alec immensely. But the fate brings Tess into his way again, and he gives up his preaching career instantly. Then the game, where the argument strength and ability to convince the other one are the decisive powers, eventually begins. Alec harvests its fruit until Angel appears on the scene, which makes Tess to murder Alec. As a result, Angel becomes fatal adversary to Alec.

2.5.1 Discussion on Tess as Femme Fatale

Jennifer Hedgecock discusses in her literary work The Femme Fatale in Victorian Literature the question whether Tess D'Urberville could be categorized as “femme fatale” (175). Hedgecock has a difficulty to see Tess entirely as femme fatale, as opposed to, for example, Rebecca Scott, who supports her opinion maintaining that Tess is a femme fatale. Hedgecock defines femme fatale as a woman who is “vibrant and courageous ... intoxicating, and very different from her female counterparts such as the idealized domestic woman or the shunned and ill-used fallen woman” (XV).

While Tess is a late nineteenth-century heroine, she is autonomous, and carries similar qualities that one recognizes in this discussion of the mid-century femme fatale (16-17). Consequently, there even exists a distinction between the mid-century femme fatale, who is “complex, like Tess” (17), and the late nineteenth century femme fatale, who is portrayed in popular fiction as the archetype of dangerous woman (17). The complexity of Tess means that her only aim is to be independent and self-sufficient, which is to not be certainly achieved by “plotting the destruction of her enemies” (17). Though, at long last, Tess murders Alec D'Urberville. This crime could be hardly considered as the intended one. Whether it could be regarded as self-defence, it is the question, but it is

- 39 - certain to be a crime of passion. Hedgecock maintains that Tess's motives differ from those of femme fatale, even though she manifests some predatory actions. Tess secludes herself from being defined as ambitious or driven by force (17). Tess does not wish to use Alec in a predatory way. Her decision to live with him comes entirely from the pure intention to help her mother and siblings. Tess knows that, after securing the financial help, she will live in total resignation.

Femme fatale yearns for a higher position on a socio-economic scale (186) and she usually uses marriage to elevate herself in society. On the contrary, Tess lacks interest in this yearning and she lacks interest in the status of marriage as such as well.

Femme fatale “surreptitiously conceals her past” (17), Tess does the same, but she fails to bear it any longer. That is why she discloses her past to Angel so as to they could live together in love and truth. To be a domestic woman would not cause her any problems, for Tess longs to live a normal life.

Femme fatale “does not surrender to a socio-economic hardship” (64). She “uses the inner contradictions inherent in this world-view to exploit the society's vulnerabilities” (186). Tess, on the other hand, struggles insurmountably to be self-sufficient when she intentionally shows readiness to take the hardest season jobs.

Similarly to Tess, the femme fatale “subverts the reigning Victorian polarities- between the good women and bad women, purity and impurity, victim and murderess, and virgin and prostitute” (176). They both live in a world reigned by patriarchal codes. Tess is denounced by conventional society for refusing to openly accept its codes, as opposed to the femme fatale, who prefers to imitate social rules in order to succeed in her quest to lead a better life. Nevertheless, in the end, the femme fatale, as Tess, is eventually exposed (185-186).

As a result, Tess possesses some characteristics of the femme fatale of the mid- nineteenth century. Nonetheless, as demonstrated above, she should not be considered as femme fatale entirely in its full sense. Tess could be accordingly regarded as a non- conformist femme fatale.

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2.6 Jude and Tess Walking Hand in Hand?

After the analysis of Jude's and Tess's characters, it could be now briefly summarized in what way our non-conformist heroes are nearly alike and in what way they differ. By analysing Tess's and Jude's characters properly, taking into account their internal thoughts as well as external actions, it appears clear that they share more in common than not.

Jude and Tess have a strong will to follow their ideals. This is one of the personal admirable qualities that would normally lead to success in most cases. However, the social climate, however, has not sufficiently ripened to enable them to profit from their endeavours. Nevertheless, it is true that this happens in every society. Naive idealists can always crash into the corrupt reality. Tess and Jude have in common the same qualities of the ideal of love; however, they differ in the matter of education and the importance of certain knowledge. While Tess, as a dairymaid, is not at all ambitious in getting the university degree, Jude is utterly obsessed with the thought of achieving success in this field. Angel asks Tess, if she would like to take up any course of study, and he suggests history. But Tess refuses peremptorily stating that he could not teach her anything she is would like to know (107). On the other hand, Jude wishes to study ancient languages and history. Jude's clinging to the past, comprising as well his reverence for Gothic architecture, is Jude's distinctive characteristics.

After the first reading of Tess's story, the subtext seems to deal with the difficult and even helpless position of women in the society. The whole novel demonstrates that women do not have a chance in the society. By contrast, women in the story of Jude are portrayed in the different light possessing more power and having more options in their life. For example, there is Arabella, a woman who left her husband to commence a completely new life in Australia where she gets married without divorcing Jude. After several years, she even decides to send her son back to Jude without any reproach or without any worries of dealing with legal consequences. Consequently, Tess might be compared not only to Jude but to Arabella as well. All of a sudden, Tess in the shade of Arabella could be regarded as a weak woman incapable of adapting herself to sometimes unfavourable life with its obstacles. Arabella is a cunning and sly woman who excel at making use of any coincidental situation for her own benefit. This

- 41 - behaviour can never possibly occur to Tess as an option to simplify her life. It is the same case with Jude. Similarly, his weakness is shown on the example of Jude's comparison to Dr. Vilbert who forgets to bring him the books of grammar while demanding orders for his medicine without any concern taking into account any indication of his selfish behaviour. Arabella and Dr. Vilbert are, as fictional characters, the perfect examples cut out of ordinary life where lies and hypocrisy are regarded as normal means of survival. The main source of difficulty dwells in the fact that Jude and Tess are nonconformist heroes. Their ideals are connected with the inability to use any form of lie, deceit, or betrayal.

Jude and Tess are both practical and intelligent people capable of asserting themselves in the society, yet their inner idealistic convictions and excessive sensitivity absorb them in their world. Therefore, they are regarded as outsiders by the society. People living in close proximity see them as fools, or they have pity. Loneliness and isolation are terms not unfamiliar to Jude and Tess. They do not crave after being alone, but they are not afraid of it either. They are self-sufficient people. It seems that they could be happy with their own company, if they are not in love with someone at present. In that case, they need to be with the loved person all the time, without exception, in order to survive. To support this statement, Hardy describes Jude's fascination with the following words: “Knowing not a human being here, Jude began to be impressed with the isolation of his own personality, as with a self-spectre, the sensation being that of one who walked but could not make himself seen or heard” (79-80). Another common feature is their sensitiveness and a tendency to fall into depression, which leads them to make suicide attempts or at least, to think about it.

Blows of disillusion and fate knock them to the ground, and they find themselves at the end of their strength with no energy to go any further. Jude and Tess come to terms with the fate, and as a result, they resign seeing no prospect of improvement. They head towards extinction, and they find solution and peace in death. Jude's health rapidly deteriorates after Sue leaves him. One day, he voluntarily sets off a journey to see her for the last time. After the exposure to bad weather, he dies several days later. Likewise, after killing Alec, although Tess tries to escape the law with Angel, she calmly expects a punishment for committing murder. Naturally, in those times, the punishment meant death.

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Worth mentioning is Jude's and Tess's strong affection for animals. They sympathize and even compare themselves to birds in particular. Jude, as a child, manifests tenderness for rooks, as was mention above. Similarly, one morning, after spending night outdoors and only covered by leaves, miserable Tess finds suffering birds, and she decides to kill them out of mercy while expressing her present sentiments, “"Poor darlings--to suppose myself the most miserable being on earth in the sight o' such misery as yours!"” (Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles 283). Another link between Jude and Tess leads to their mutual passion for music. There exist nearly identical and extensively described incident in both novels showing how Jude and Tess are exceedingly moved by a certain hymn, Jude with The Foot on the Cross hymn and Tess with the Langdon hymn. They both reflect upon the composer, and they wonder what impulses made him to compose the hymn. The difference is that Jude's composer is alive; therefore, he decides to look for the composer and ask him directly about his work. In the end, after meeting the man, Jude becomes disillusioned on the account of the man's personality. By contrast, Tess can only guess, for the composer is deceased. This striking common feature of the inclination for music appears when they are both on the way of recovery from major blows in their personal lives. Tess thinks “without exactly wording the thought, how strange and god-like was a composer's power, who from the grave could lead through sequences of emotion, which he alone had felt at first, a girl like her who had never heard of his name, and never would have a clue to his personality” (89-90). In the same way, Jude falls “to musing on its composer, and the reasons why he composed it. What a man of sympathies he must be! ... how he would like to know that man! If there were any person in the world to choose as a confidant, this composer would be the one, for he must have suffered, and throbbed, and yearned” (Hardy Jude the Obscure 202). These passions are not only shared by Jude and Tess but, in like manner, by Thomas Hardy himself.

It seems that Jude and Tess, who are born with impulsive nature and deep sense of compassion, could not survive without being loved and having someone to love. As soon as they find such a person, they found themselves in the captivity of love. It could be stated that they are capable of submitting everything to the loved one, and they see the other person, all of a sudden, completely idealized. Likewise, Jude sees Sue standing “like a vision before him--her look bodeful and anxious as in a dream” (194), and Angel

- 43 - represents for Tess a man lacking of “all human forms … [resembling to] mild-eyed, God-like creature” (Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles 92). They, thus ignore all of their personal faults.

Another way in which Jude is similar to Tess is that both of their partners leave them on the account of their fear from the prejudiced society, and they fail to make every possible effort to persuade them to stick to their previous supposed fixed modern beliefs. Regardless of knowing that they are in a position to fight for their loved ones with all accessible means, they allow Sue and Angel to depart too easily. Jude and Tess thoroughly respect their choices. In the end, Sue and Angel return back to Jude and Tess. The difference is that Angel returns physically and mentally to Tess realizing his mistake while Sue returns to Jude just mentally which causes Jude to commit suicide.

Even though the naive Jude and Tess are both seduced at the begenning, Jude succumbs to bodily pleasures, and he stays with Arabella without loving her; on the other hand, Tess without truly loving Alec could not possibly withstand such a man in her presence, not to mention, she would willingly live with him. This contrast is not so explicitly supported while there exist other factors which are important to mention. First, it is the essential difference between the man and woman, second, it is important to take into account social position of men and women and, most importantly, Tess is physically violated by Alec, Jude is not.

Every era has its own Tesses and Judes, and every era conceals difficulties for people who are born with beliefs and thoughts that would be “normal” somewhere else or in any other time in the future. Their lives would proceed in diverse directions, and would have different prospects. In any case, these people herald that something is wrong in the society, and their numbers in that particular period increase. Shortly afterwards, logically, the new era in the history dawns. As a consequence, all of this leads to the fact that the world is changing.

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Conclusion

On the foundation of the analysis of Thomas Hardy's characters, Jude Fawley and Tess of D'Urbervilles, I have reached to the conclusion that both his heroes could be reckoned as non-conformist from the point of view of their personalities as well as from the outside view of the society.

Hardy rendered life to two heroes, one man and one woman, who were born in times that were unfavourable to their unique way of thinking and natures. Hardy introduced their specific character traits through exposing Tess and Jude to various sorts of situations in which they demonstrate the inability to adapt themselves to the rules of the society, their despair, struggling, and final resignation. On the other hand, both Jude and Tess are successful in manifesting their strong sides. Tess demonstrates female emancipation and draws attention to society's solid standards. In the same way, Jude's desire to become a student indirectly shows that something in these solid standards, in the education system and social class division this time, is wrong. They are often to be found at the crossroads where they are forced to make choices which do not usually meet with understanding from the surrounding reality; therefore, they are punished. Jude and Tess could be considered as precursors of a new world era where changes are necessary to be made. The flaws of the society fall heavily on their fragile shoulders.

Having been taken into account Jemima Hardy's overprotective and over-affectionate attitude towards young Thomas naturally followed by his subordination towards her ideals and wishes, resulted, I suppose, in the development of his fairly perverse deviations which prompted me to call Thomas Hardy a non-conformist as well.

As regards the issue of creating the character of Jude Fawley, it could be summarized that Hardy indeed put into Jude a part of himself, especially young Jude's reflective character resembles, in some way or the other, to Hardy's. Further on, it could be stated that the later Jude and some of the events which surrounded him were partly inspired by Hardy's friend Horace Moule and Hardy's uncle John Antell.

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The division of the chapters in the part Character Analysis of the bachelor thesis has initiated to elaborate the chapter dealing with Jude's and Tess's comparison proving that they are non-conformist heroes. To put it generally and comprehensively, first, they have been analysed from the point of view of their inborn qualities which made them protrude, second, from the standpoint of the society, and at last, from their position and behaviour among the loved ones.

Thomas Hardy once said after he had received first critical reviews of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, “'How strange' … 'that one may write a book without knowing what one puts into it – or rather the reader reads into it!“ (Hardy in Millgate 295). After all, it is the strength of reader's unique imagination and interpretation, leading to an opinion that does not have to necessarily correspond with author's intention, which should have the value the literary world.

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Works Cited

Primary sources Hardy, Thomas. Jude the Obscure. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 1985. Print. Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Cambridge, New York and Melbourne: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.

Secondary sources Gittings, Robert. Young Thomas Hardy. London: Heinemann, 1975. Print. Gittings, Robert. The Older Hardy. London: Heinemann, 1978. Print. Harvey, Geoffrey. The Complete Critical Guide to Thomas Hardy. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. Print. Hedgecock, Jennifer. The Femme Fatale in Victorian Literature: The Danger and the Sexual Threat. New York: Cambria, 2008. Print. Inghamm, Patricia. Authors in Context. Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print. Millgate, Michael. Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print. Pite, Ralph. Thomas Hardy: The Guarded Life. United Kingdom: Picador. 2006, Print. Schoenfeld, Lois Bethe. Dysfunctional Families in the Wessex Novels of Thomas Hardy. Lanham: UP of America, 2005. Print. Turner, John. The Life of Thomas Hardy. A Critical Biography. Oxford and Malden: Blackwell, 1998. Print.

Internet sources Antell, John. The Thomas Hardy connection to the Antell family of Puddletown. Web Age UK Dorchester, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. Carey, B. Thomas and Emma: Poems by Thomas Hardy about his first wife, Emma Gifford. Web Brycchan Carey's Website, 29 Feb. 2012 . Web. 8 Mar. 2012. Elaine. Co to byl Avalon a jakou má souvislost s králem Artušem?. Web Ráj knih Meg Cabot, 3 Nov. 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. Grey, Daniel. “Review of A Child for Keeps: the History of Adoption in England, 1918- 45”. Web Reviews in history. Web. 9 Mar. 2012.

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Keating, Clare, and Katie Hickey. Thomas Hardy: A Literary Guide to Wessex. Web A Literary Guide to Southwest England, 27 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Mar. 2012. Patchen, Kenneth. “Children … and Ourselves. Discussion of a Generation: V.” A New Frontier XI.12 (1958): 7-8. PDF file. Rise, Brian Edward. Annwn. Web Encyclopedia Mythica, 2 July 2006 . Web. 8 Mar. 2012.

A.R.X. - noetika - Sojka. Havrani v mytologii, snech i Bibly. Web Panna, 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. “Antihero Definition.” AntiheroDefinitionWinter2004 (2004). PDF file. Avalon - Etymology. Web The Chronicles of Avalon, 24 Jul. 2008 . Web. 5 Mar. 2012. Individualist or Collectivist. Web 1.3.4 – Individualist or Collectivist, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012. Joseph, Jude. Web WhitePages, 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. “nonconformist.” The Free Dictionary, 1 Apr 2012. Web. 3 Apr. 2012. “pride.” The Free Dictionary, 1 Apr 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2012. Thomas Hardy and Horace Moule (Horatio Mosley Moule) (1832-1873). Web Thomas Hardy and Horace Moule, 14 Jul. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2011.

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