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"The Children who built Victorian England"

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LET'S TALK ABOUT HARDY'S "EXTREME NATURALISM"...

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LET'S TALK ABOUT HARDY'S "EXTREME NATURALISM"...

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Jude the obscure, one of Thomas Hardy's most famous book NOVELS, is the perfect representation of the social, cultural and historical context of the Victorian age.

Jude Fawley is a boy from a poor village, who works as a stonemason and studies in his free time. He hopes to become a student at the University of Christminster. After his disastrous marriage to Arabella Donn, he decides to move to Christminster where he falls in love with Sue Bridehead, who bears him a second son and a daughter. Everything seems perfect, the only problem is that they are cousins. They refuse the institution of marriage and decide to live together even if everyone in town disapproves their scandalous relationship. Christminister will never be the city of dreams as Jude had hoped: they will live in poverty and their oldest child will kill his brothers and himself.

Every characters in the story represents something significant of that period, and their poverty is the simble SYMBOL/EMBLEM of THE difficulty of being alive in a context of loneliness and frustration.

AS FAR AS THE SETTING IS CONCERNED, WE CAN SAY THAT it is really important because IT is characterised by the industrialisation, the colonisation and the  HUGE differences between SOCIAL classes.

FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE STYLE, HARDY'S narrator is omniscient but sometimes Thomas Hardy presents actions through the eyes of on hypothetical observer.

Thomas Hardy perfectly describes a world of suffering, loneliness and frustration; a world in which hopes vanish into thin air.

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"Jude the Obscure" is a novel written by Thomas Hardy, one of the greatest English poets  novelists of the 20th  end of the 19th  Century. This is an extremely modern work that PAINTS a picture of the Victorian rural society.

It talks NARRATES about the struggle of the poor and disadvantaged Jude to make his way in a bourgeois world full of prejudices, where women were oppressed by a Patriarchal society and influenced by the established church; nonetheless the themes that the author address through the book are endless: the role of Nature as a co-protagonist who’s indifferent to man’s destiny, christianity, that WHICH in his the author's  opinion is no longer capable to fulfill the needs of the modern man, the difficulty of being alive and many more.

All this THESE topics are touched by the author through an omniscient narrator that gives some comments and introduces his opinion and view of life and a cinematic technique that helps the reader to pay attention FOCUS and reflect on details that often convey Hardy's message.

To sum up, this is an overwhelming novel often rough to read that really makes people reflect on different aspects of life.

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"Jude the Obscure", written by Thomas Hardy in 1985 1895, is a novel which deals with some important issues, for example: the poverty, the loneless and the shallowness of the Church as obstacles to achieve personal aims.

The plot is well written with many details, in order to captivate the attention of the reader. The novel has some autobiographic links with the real life of the author, indeed the main character, Jude, seems to be the novelist, because he didn't go to university as Hardy. Moreover the story is fluid and the style of writing makes the (tale) NARRATION extremely intriguing.

Firstly, after the failure of the first marriage , Jude falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead, with whom he has two children. They decide to live together, without (marrying themselves) GETTING MARRIED. Besides they together bring up their children and also the son , called "Little Time Father", whom the protagonist has with the previous wife.

(Secondly) AFTER A WHILE, their life starts to be complicated, because of the economic(al) problems, the job loss, the illegal marriage and the betrayal of the religion. (Since) AS A CONSEQUENCE, Little Father Time decides to kill the two children and himself. Furthermore he writes a piece of paper with the sentence: "Done because we are too menny".

The writer shows (some) THE AWFUL injustices of the VICTORIAN society like the divorce, the (laury) POOR education of the members of the poorest classes and the (close) NARROW way of thinking of people.

I strongly (suggest the) RECOMMEND reading this NOVEL (tragedy) because it offers a rough overview of the atrocities of the society of the XIX century.

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"Jude the obscure" or "Jude the obscene"?

Hardy's last novel, written in 1895, scandaliSed THE Victorian public opinion with (his) ITS pessimism and immorality in a way that the author never wrote another novel - although he lived until 1928.

The character of Jude Fawley is a poor boy with the ambition to become a student at the University of Christminster. He works as a stonemason and studies in his free time.
After the end of his FIRST marriage with Arabella, from which his first son was born, he moved to Christminster where he met his cousin Sue with whom he had other two children. Sadly, it seems that Jude is doomed to a life of poverty AND bleakness.
There is a (scene) MOMENT in the novel in which Father Time, the son of his marriage with Arabella, pulls a murder-suicide, taking with him the other two children of Jude and Sue. This is certainly of one the most disturbing, death-embracing (figures) MOMENTS in THE WORLD Literature: it shows Hardy's vision of human nature, a purely tragic process upon which men have no power.
It's a (pretty) devastating novel: poor Tomas Hardy was crucified for daring to explore the ideas of sex, marriage and relationships in contrast with the moralistic and hypocritical aspects of Victorian society. Hardy (hasn't) DOESN'T HAVE a positive view of marriage: indeed the message the reader can't help INFERRING  is that love has no place in it.
With this novel Hardy proves himself to be one of the greatest creators of complex characters with emotionally devastating problems.

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"JUDE THE OBSCURE", the tragic story of a poor but ambitious man

"Jude the Obscure" is a novel by Thomas Hardy, which was published in 1895; it's Hardy's last completed fiction, which is concerned in particular with issues of class, education, religion, morality and marriage during the Victorian Age.

The novel's main character is Jude, a young man of humble origins but with ambitious plans. At first, he's tricked into marriage by an opportunistic woman, but subsequently he falls in love with his cousin Sue; therefore they decide to live together, to have children but not to get married. This choice will ensure their social exclusion and the tragedy of their children.
One of the main themes is religion, which is seen in a negative way by the author, also through symbols in the book, like the name "Jude", which is an allusion to Judas, the traitor of Jesus. Religion makes people hypocrites because it forces them to reject their natural urges and to violate natural morality.
Furthermore, the brutality of the class system haunts Jude, who, despite being an ambitious, intelligent and hard-working PERSON, cannot escape from the restrictions of his class.
Moreover, Sue doesn't wish to get married because she understands the obligations of marriage, which are worse for a woman than for a man.
Hardy develops also the theme of the difficulty of being alive, because his characters are sorrounded by a set of circumstances which modify the individual existence.

In conclusion, I personally recommend (the) reading (of) this EXTREMELY THOUGHT-PROVOKING NOVEL, because the plot is truly intriguing, captivating and full of twists and turns; furthermore, Hardy makes us more aware of the moralistic and hypocritical aspects of the Victorian society, during a period rich with changes, but unfortunately also with problems.

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A TRAGIC EPISODE
Jude the obscure is a novel written by Thomas Hardy. The story (talks about) DESCRIBES/NARRATES THE LIFE EXPERIENCES OF a boy from a poor village who (has the dream) DREAMS of becoming a student at the university of Christminster. After the end of his first marriage, JUDE falls in love with his cousin Sue. So, they decide to live  together but they refuse the institution of marriage. As a result, their relationship is disapproved of  by everyone. In addition, Jude loses his job and they don’t find a lodging.

The main characters are Jude Fawley, the hero of the story and Sue Bridehead, Jude’s cousin, while the minor characters are Little Father Time, Jude and Arabella’s son and aunt Drusilia, Jude’s great-aunt.

In addition, the most important themes are: marriage, education, social class and religion.

Indeed, marriage involves making a commitment that many people are unequipped to fulfill. More generically, beside his points about education, Hardy also criticiSes the rigidity of social class DIVISION. Jude is limited in his career options because as a working-class man, he cannot hope to be promoted beyond a certain level. Finally, religion is NOTcapable of fulfilling the needs of modern MEN+.

The novel is written in formal English and sometimes he uses pompous terms and it also contains many dialogues.

To conclude, I would highly recommend this NOVEL because it’s rich in suspense and it’s EXTREMELY TOUCHING AND THOUGHT-provoking.

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The NOVEL “Jude the Obscure” written by Thomas Hardy IN 1895 represents one of the most original and poignant works of art in the history of Literature.

Unusual and arresting, the book touches many important themes in life such as love, education, marriage, parenthood, poverty and last but not least, death.

The NOVEL follows Jude Fawley’s life, a modern English boy with the ambition to become a student at Christminster. Like every normal teenager he wants education and he will do his best to achieve that. Fallen in love firstly with Arabella and then with his cousin Sue, Jude will also understand the importance of true love in life.

Nevertheless, Hardy’s protagonists are constantly looking for love which is (the most of the time) repressed and pushed in the direction of death. It’s precisely this last word the main point in this story. Death is always behind the corner in life and also in Thomas Hardy’s books.

Moreover, this work stands out thanks to the intensity of some moments such as the the part in which Hardy talks about the lost of Jude’s children.

Disturbing and page-turner, the book catches our attention by using the most efficient technique in writing: the so-called suspense.

The novel CONVEYS anxiety and fear mixed with mystery and crime. All THESE ingredients together give birth to this unique and worth reading work of art.

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THE MISERABLE AND UNLUCKY JUDE

"Jude the Obscure" is a very realistic and captivating novel written by Thomas Hardy in 1895.

It is about the heartbreaking and disturbing story of Jude, one of the most miserable and unlucky MEN of the NINETEENTH Century's English literature. This is due to the fact that he comes from a poor family and he HAS BEEN obliged to work since he WAS very young. In addition, he is also unfortunate in love. Indeed, he will marry two times TWICE: the first time his marriage ends up disastrously and the second one is a little happier, but it is with his cousin! However, the two miserable young PEOPLE are joyful together and they give birth to a little girl and a little boy. As a result of their relationship, they are judged by everyone and the situation becomes more difficult when Jude loses his job. At the end,  they will also lose their children for an obscure and heartbreaking reason.

In my opinion, the plot is easy to follow and the vocabulary is simple. Moreover, the author is omniscient and in some parts he introduces his opinion and his point of view. That makes the novel very gripping to read.

I think that AS FAR AS THE CHARACTERS ARE CONCERNED; they are NOT ALL round, BUT THEY ARE ALWAYS well described. Indeed, the reader is going to know GETS KNOW them AS IF they were friends and he oder she TENDS TO EMPATHISE AND identify himself or herself WITH them.

The story is set in underdeveloped countries at the end of the nineteen century. I truly believe that the setting is important for the message that Hardy wants to convey. He wants to make things change because he is aware that something is going on and he thinks that we should start from changing the mentality of the society, who is only capable to judge and gave the impression that a person could not improve and change his/HER natural condition. Owing to that, he sets his novel in these deeply miserable places and he gives voice to the most unusual and poor people.

The most important themes are: the difficulty to live in a such AN unfair and unpredictable world, which is connected to the theme of suicide, the indifference of n
Nature against  TOWARDS man’s destiny and the failure in communication, which frequently leads to tragedy.

In conclusion, I strongly recommend this novel because it is touching, thought-provoking and unpredictable.

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Jude the Obscure

I recently had the chance to read an extract from the second chapter of “Jude the Obscure”, the last novel written by Thomas Hardy and published in 1895 . The aim of the author was to (criticise) ANALYSE AND WRITE ABOUT the social conventions of the Victorian Age. As a consequence, the reaction the public had was unfavorable due to its pessimism and immorality.

To summarise the events, it’s appropriate to start from the main character: Jude Fawley. He is a poor boy from a village in southern England with lofty ambitions. The university of Christminister is his goal to achieve. He works for it, indeed, he studies and at the same time works as a stonemason. After the end of his first marriage with Arabella the boy moved to his beloved city which symbolizes his new life he wanted to start after his past life full of limitations due to the economic conditions. However, he encountered an obstacle and his dream never happened. Soon after,hemet Sue Bridehead, his cousin, they fell in love and decided to live together without marriage. In the end,Jude lost his children, who were convinced that they were a burden for the family.That’s a shocking event that readers didn’t expect that makes the climax reached.

During the Victorian Age people were divided into three social classes: the upper, middle and working classes. The last I mentioned had less chance (for) TO GET A GOOD education. Moreover, poor people lived and worked in miserable conditions. Women and children were considered different from men, SOMETIMES THEY WERE TREATED LIKE RAW MATERIAL, and couldn’t behave like men.

There’s a lot to say about the structure and the syntax because there are lots of descriptions full of specific adjectives that let us imagine in some ways the scene the author presents .Terms are well chosen.The narrator knows everything and sometimes comments: indeed he’s omniscient.

The novel is captivating and could really be compared to some issues we still have nowadays or to the notable differences from Hardy’s era and ours: social classes, the institution of marriage, religion, education, children, misfortune, unhappy endingsfor instance.

To conclude, I would highly recommend this monumental novel because, ON ONE HAND, it lets the reader reflect on the conditions of the PEOPLE DURING THE VICTORIAN AGE and on the other hand, how things have changed and how we have started becoming todays’society.

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THE STORY OF A HARD LIFE

''Jude the Obscure'' is a so much A DEEPLY thought-provoking novel PUBLISHED by the English NOVELIST Thomas Hardy in 1895 . This poem  SHOCKING NOVEL was a great success at the time, even if THOUGH it criticised many themes ASPECTS OF THE SOCIETY by portraiting PORTRAYING the society ITSELF DURING the Victorian Age, thanks to Hardy'S astonishing ability of TO describe what he sees.

Firstly, there was such a huge differences in AMONG THE DIFFERENT SOCIAL classes, as we can see in the novel: when Jude hopeS to entry the JOIN/ACCESS Chrisminster University in order to become a scholar, but his poor studies were not enough in order to pass the exam, because he couldn't allow  AFFORD the right education.

Another very essential topic about RELATED TO THE Victorial VICTORIAN age that Hardy integrates in the story is the value and the importance of women and marriage, which always fall  OFTEN ENDS UP in disastrous troubles. Women had awful lifes LIVES, as they worked the whole day and WERE even underpaid.
Furthermore both Sue and Annabel had an irregular life while being in two different times Jude's wife. Within Sue they had to grow up two children and as a result they THE COUPLE had to bring home more food and obtain more money.

Hardy's portray PORTRAIT of the society OF HIS TIME was endly criticised by some people and not everybody agreed with him.
The book NOVEL was so renamed ''Jude the OBSCENE'' but this novel is STILL one of the greatest best-sellers ever done WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD LITERATURE.

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Hard life

In 1895 Thomas Hardy published A DEEPLY MOVING, QUITE SHOCKING novel called “Jude the Obscure”.

AS FAR AS THE PLOT IS CONCERNED, ONE WILL IMMEDIATELY NOTICE IT is linear: Jude Fawley is a poor boy, who studies and at the same time works as stonemason. He lives with Sue Bridehead but the couple is not married, and for this reason people define their relationship “scandalous”. Jude and Sue have three children, even if one, called Father Time, was born from Jude’s first marriage.
The MISERABLE family lives in an extremely difficult situation, which means they are poor, starving and frustrated.
WHAT HAPPENS THEN IS Therefore ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING: the eldest son decides to kill his two half-brothers, and then himself.

In this EXTREMELY THOUGHT-PROVOKING novel, Hardy PORTRAYS the difficulty of being alive, describing the SITUATION of a poor family during the Victorian Age. Using a peculiar STYLE, WITH lots of descriptions, he underlines the main themes: poverty, DESPERATION and failure of communication, which leads to tragedy. WHAT'S MORE, Hardy's STYLE IS CHARACTERISED BY SOME dialogues, that can perfectly help the reader to analyse the human psyche.

If you like touching and deeply moving stories, Jude the Obscure IS  A must-read:  I strongly recommend it, in order to make you understand the harrowing life of poor people during the Victorian Age and Hardy's philosophica outlook on life itself..

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“An UTTERLY disturbing novel: “Jude the Obscure"

“Jude the obscure” is a story of sufferance and death: it is a novel written by Thomas Hardy in 1895 and it is set in Southern England.

POOR Jude Fawley is an ambitious DREAMY YOUNG man who wants to study at the University of Christminster. One day he meets FASCINATING Arabella Donn, they get married and have a son called Father Time. Unfortunately, they separate. Jude moves to Christminster in order to fulfil his dream. He meets his LOVELY cousin Sue Bridehead: the couple lives together with Father Time and HAVE two MORE children. At the SHOCKING end, the oldest child kills the others and hangs himself.

IT CAN BE STATED THAT in this NOVEL the main theme of Hardy’s work IS EVIDENT: the difficulty of being alive. In fact, the author writes about the poor family'S terrible living conditions. He gives many details on the children’s death - which make the book disturbing and DEEPLY moving: when the MISERABLE parents FIND THE DEAD CHILDREN, the reader’s heart breaks in thousands pieces.

This HEARTBREAKING novel is very rich in descriptions: IT IS PROBABLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT Hardy studied architecture before becoming a writer AND THIS HAD AN IMPACT ON HIS LITERARY WORK. He DEPICTS/PORTRAYS settings and landscapes IN DETAIL. Moreover, he uses lots of adjectives which make the reader feel into the book.

If you are looking for an EXTREMELY REALISTIC, INSPIRING, AT TIMES DISTURBING AND HEARTBREAKING novel, I highly recommend “Jude the Obscure” because it lets you feel THE strongEST emotions ONE CAN POSSIBLY FEEL, SINCE IT DEALS WITH THE AWFUL LIFE CONDITIONS AND DEATH OF POOR DESPERATE CHILDREN....

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"Jude the Obscure": THE poignant story of a hopeful/HOPELESS man...
"Jude the Obscure" is one of the most known and (raw) HARSH novels of the 19th century.
Written by Thomas Hardy and published in 1895, the novel follows the heartbreaking story of a POOR DREAMY young man. Jude Fawley comes from a low social class FAMILY, INDEED, from which he TRIES all his life to escape TO improve his MISERABEL CONDITION - unluckily, without success, AS ALWAYS IN HARDY'S NOVEL!
AS FAR AS HARDY'S STYLE IS CONCERNED, ONE CAN SEE THAT through detailed descriptionS, Hardy gives us an extremely clear vision on how the Victorian society was, and how he perceived it.
In fact, he focuses on the figure of Fawley in order to show the reader how bad the lower classes' condition was at that time.
ONE COULD SAY THAT this way HARDY denounces THE evils of his time.
Finally, Hardy is not only accurate in describing places but he focuses also on analysing the character's emotions and feelings. Therefore, it is particularly easy for the reader to identify himself with the characters.
To conclude, I would highly recommend to read this book because it is one of the most poignant stories (that) I have ever read. Moreover, if you want to know more about the Victorian Age, this is a great (book) choice since Hardy portrays the society OF HIS TIME in AN UTTERLY REALISTIC, "EXTREMELY NATURALISTIC" way.

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JUDE THE OBSCURE: THE PORTRAIT OF A SOCIETY

One of the most dramatic  TRAGIC novels I have still have the drills if I think about is 'Jude The Obscure'. Written in 1895 by the fatalist writer Thomas Hardy, nowadays it still remains the perfect portrait of the LATE Victorian society, powerful but AWUFULLY deeply CLASSIST  cruent .

As revealed by the extract "Suicide", the plot is competely full of pain. The main character is Jude, a bright poor boy who follows his dream of becoming a student. However, his aim does not coincide with what his faith FATE had predicted earlier. As a consequence, he will slowly collapse, crushed by the strong impact of the society, until the suicide of his children will announce his defeat. This fatalist and deterministic view of life describes perfectly REVEAL the author's thoughts PERFECTLY.

Throughout a complex plot, Hardy illustrates the frustrating way of living in the LATE Victorian society. The high pressure of poverty, in addition to a deeply insatisfactionable UNSATISFACTORY loneliness, denies the possibility to fulfil low classes' hopes to succeed. Furthermore, life is totally guided by blind chance and fate. Consequently, the unique way to escape is suicide.

Due to his particular architecture studies, Hardy develops an accurate descriptive technique, adopting a scientific method to describe the settings.
On the top of that, he invites the reader to identify with the characters owing TO an omniscient narrator, so that the novel can be as objective as possible. In fact, he accompanies the reader through the scenes without any personal intrusion. As a result, the death-embracing figures are so real that it seems THE READERS GET THE IMPRESSION OF BEING WATCHING A FILM  to be in a movie . That is one of the main reasons why I strongly recommend this profound masterpiece.

To conclude, the author faces with the difficulty of finding a place in the universe, one of the biggest teenagers' problem. Also, it deals with actual topics, such as the power of THE ELITES IN OUR society on the lower classes, another reason why it should be read.

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"Jude the Obscure", Failure and disappoinement

Jude th Obscure, Hardy's last novel written in 1895, is an angry book where he expased gis EXPOSES HIS deepest  feelings; it raises feelings of failure and disappainement  DISAPPOINTMENT in life.

The story follows Jude Fawley from childhood, Jude is a boy from a poor village who aspires to study at the University of Christminster, in the area of Wessex, by which he meant the old Saxon kingdam of Alfred the Great.
He seduces Arabella, their marriage fails after a few months and Arabella leaves Jude. He moves to Christiminster where he meets his cousin Sue Bridehead, they fall in love and decide to live together. Jude and Sue refuse the marriage and, later, this becoms BECOMES problematic when the children come. It becomes a scandalaus SCNADOLUS relationship, they are beaten down by social constucts and far this reason he loses his job. At the end of the story Jude hears a shrick coming from THE children's room, he noticed three dead carpers CORPSES AND he found a piece of paper with a sentence written on it:"Done because we are too menny". The older boy killed himself and the other two brothers.
The story examines the humiliation of Jude'S failure, with a sequence of failed relationships with Arabella and with Sue, his true love.
He opens up important themes: the struggle of the poor, the difficulty of finding a job, an element of the story of considerable pertinence today.
I think this was an easy book to read, there are issues such as religion, marriage and divorce and they were discussed in a very modern way.

This novel is written in the third person point of view; the narration NARRATOR knows everything about everybody, but he has the ability to make objective.

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Jude the Obscure

“Jude the Obscure” is a novel written by Thomas Hardy at the end of the 19th century in order to describe the society of that period.

It is THE disturbing heartbreaking story of a poor family that has to overcome many problems caused by poverty. Thanks to his main characters, Hardy is able to PORTRAY the poor, miserable conditions in which people lived in England during the Victorian age. The action takes place in Wessex, a location invented by Hardy that could be everywhere in the world in order to underline how common are the problems of Jude’s family.

The story is really touching and unpredictable: many twist and turns happen and the end of the novel is UTTERLY thought-provoking. The plot deals with pain, sorrow and THE suffering OF SOME MISERABLE HUMAN BEINGS, and it is SOMETHING RATHER unusual for today'S READERS.

The author uses a lot of descriptions so the readers are able to visualise perfectly the things that Hardy describes in the NOVEL.
In addition TO THAT, THE AUTHOR

PORTRAYS THE characters' personality and appearance carefully too.

The novel is narrated in the third person by a single external narrator who is omniscient and unobtrusive. The author uses a lot of interactions between characters so there are dialogues that HELP build the FICTIONAL WORLD UP.

IN CONCLUSION, I strongly recommend this HEART-BREAKING, DEEPY MOVING NOVEL because it is well written and absolutely interesting: it FOCUSES on Jude’s family’s story, but at the same time IT deals with the miserable, compassionate LIFE condition that WERE QUITE COMMON TOWARDS THE END OF the 19th Century.

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Hardy's "JUDE THE OBSCURE"

" Jude the obscure" was a truly innovative novel on IN the Victorian Age, when Thomas Hardy wrote it; maybe too innovative for the public, who was completely scandalized and accused the author of being TOO extremely pessimistic. Nevertheless, today we have to consider the book realistic: it portraits PORTRAYS the life and the society at that time, showing us the stark reality of the unlucky low classes of Britain.

You will follow the harrowing vicissitudes of Jude Fawley, the main character of the novel, and of his struggling family, surrounded, as the majority of the British population, by poverty and devastating suffrance.

Moreover, the  Nature is another fundamental theme, presented as a co-protagonist with the characters: first of all, it is not a benevolent nature, but rather it is indifferent to man's destiny and thinks only to preserve itself. In this way, we became BECOME/ARE MADE aware of the Victorian Age HARDY'S DETERMINISTIC belief that people could not change their fate: if a person was born poor, she is destined to die poor, even if sche had tried to modify her conditions.

Hardy presents events through the eyes of an omniscient narrator, who unconsciously brings us back to Victorian Age, giving us the opportunity to come face to face with the past.

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Book review: Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure has probably become one of the most notorious novels in literary history.
Indeed, since its publication in 1895, the (book) NOVEL has become the manifesto of a profoundly raw naturalism, revolved around the HARSH portrayal of Victorian society.
Thomas Hardy decides to narrate the life of a miserable man who desperately tries to improve his life but fails constantly.
The plot is expertly woven and gives a deeply harrowing depiction of Victorian society, highlighting the desolating condition of lower classes, crashed by the rising power of the bourgeoisie.
The main character, Jude Fawley, a man irreparably scarred by his own past, becomes the incarnation of Hardy's deterministic view and of a strict class system that does not allow anyone to improve their birth-given condition.
The unquestionable rawness of the novel is further amplified by Hardy's somewhat cinematic writing technique. Indeed, the author meticulously presents each environment throughout the novel, focusing not only on the description of the character's surroundings but also on the emotional state they go trough in said milieu .
As a result, the readers are able to identify themselves with the main characters, ensuring a poignant reading experience that will not likely be forgotten.
To conclude, I would define Hardy's work thought-provoking and deeply moving and one of literature rawest but most sensational masterpieces that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime.

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Middle class men might live, on average, to 45. The average lives of workmen and labourers spanned just half that time. Children were lucky to survive their fifth birthdays. (The current life expectancy is around 80, and rising.)

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Middle class men might live, on average, to 45. The average lives of workmen and labourers spanned just half that time. Children were lucky to survive their fifth birthdays. (The current life expectancy is around 80, and rising.)

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Health and hygiene in the 19th century

In a time when diseases like smallpox, cholera and TB were insatiable and continued to relapse in epidemical waves, Liza Picard explores how medical pioneers and health innovations shaped the landscape of medicine in the 19th century.

The Victorian Britain website is currently under review.

How long could you expect to live?

Middle class men might live, on average, to 45. The average lives of workmen and labourers spanned just half that time. Children were lucky to survive their fifth birthdays. (The current life expectancy is around 80, and rising.)

The miasma or 'bad air' theory

It was believed that bad smells caused disease. It was obvious; in poor districts, the air was foul and the death rate high. In the prosperous suburbs, no smells - therefore no disease.

Parliament was worried by the 'Great Stink' of 1858, when the Thames flowed with undiluted sewage, because the smell itself might kill the Members of Parliament in their debating chamber overlooking the river.

'Father Thames Introducing his Offspring to the Fair City of London' from Punch

Florence Nightingale believed in the miasma theory. The miracles she achieved in the Crimean War hospitals resulted from her insistence that bad smells must be eradicated by thorough cleaning.

Killer diseases

There were recurrent, terrible epidemics of cholera between 1832 and 1853. It took Dr John Snow years to persuade the establishment that cholera is a water-borne disease: nothing to do with bad smells.

Smallpox was endemic. From 1853 vaccination was compulsory. (Due to public opposition the law was repealed in 1909).

'Consumption' (tuberculosis) seemed to run in families. One after another, the girls would sicken, take to the sofa, and die. A light diet of jelly and port might comfort them, but their end was inescapable.

In the slums, prostitutes caught the sexually transmitted disease syphilis and infected their clients - who infected their wives. Again, there was no remedy, although mercury sometimes staved off the worst stages. From 1864 'known prostitutes' working near ports and garrisons, who were found to have STDs, could be forcibly detained and treated. Due to public objections the law was repealed after 10 years.

Few upper-class ladies breast-fed their children. The babies' immune systems would have benefited from their mother's milk. Victorian nurseries were plagued by childhood diseases - measles, mumps, diphtheria, scarlet fever, rubella - that are mostly, now, a nightmare of the past.

Victorian employers had no duty to safeguard the health of their employees. The floral wallpapers in prosperous parlours, and the brilliant leaves on fashionable hats, could kill the workers who had close contact with the arsenic in the green dye. (The French long suspected the British of poisoning Napoleon in his prison on St Helena, by decorating his bedroom with green-patterned wallpaper). There was arsenic everywhere in the home - in the bathroom, to remove superfluous hair, in the garden to kill rats, in the kitchen to kill flies. A desperate wife had the means to murder her husband easily to hand.

Contraception and childbirth

Victorian women might be almost continually pregnant, between marriage and menopause. Some contraceptive advice was available, and condoms could be bought, but only 'under the counter'. Coitus interruptus remained the principal method of family limitation.

Childbirth was risky and painful. There was a wide belief that labour pains were imposed by God because Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden. It took Dr Snow - the same man who discovered the source of cholera - to alleviate labour pains by administering chloroform. When Queen Victoria and the daughter of the Archbishop of Canterbury used it, anaesthesia had become respectable.

Mental illness

Treatment for mental illness or nervous disorders had changed little since medieval times. Those sufferers lower down the social scale were locked up in County Asylums. Private 'madhouses' were often profitable institutions. Women might be locked away there by their husbands if he disapproved of her behaviour. Such dramatic stories were the subjects of popular fiction such as The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Hospitals

The Victorian medical scene was not bad at all. In London, St Thomas's, a medieval foundation, had to move to make way for a railway line; its new site was beside the Thames, where the air was now pure, due to Bazalgette's magnificent new drainage system. Nevertheless Florence Nightingale insisted on open balconies and airy wards, to counteract any hospital-generated miasma, and her designs influenced hospital architecture for decades, in Britain and the Empire.

Many hospitals were founded to research into, and care for sufferers from, specific diseases such as tuberculosis. Their titles were grand - the Royal National Hospital for Chest Diseases, for example - but since they were privately funded they frequently ran out of money.

The middle classes deplored the reliance on quacks and quack medicines by the poor: the middle classes could afford proper medical care; the poor could not. Street vendors, ready to run if necessary, sold patent medicines on a 'no cure, no pay' basis. Fashionable charlatans could make a good living from their wares. John St. John Long claimed to cure consumption by liniment and medicated vapours. Even an appearance in the Old Bailey on a charge of manslaughter did not put him off for long. He could easily afford the fine, out of an income of £13,000. He died aged 36 - of consumption. A German charlatan, Dr Bossey, entertained vast crowds in Covent Garden but decamped when heckled by someone he believed to be a dissatisfied patient. In fact the heckler was a parrot.

The popular press was full of advertisements for dubious remedies. Kaye's Worsdell's Pills were 'the best medicine which can be taken under all circumstances, as they require no restraint of diet or confinement during their use, and their timely assistance cures all complaints': family size box 4s 6d. James Morison's Universal Pill was compounded of aloes and cream of tartar; he died worth half a million pounds.

For a more specific approach, try Dr James's Fever Powder, which contained antimony and ammonia in toxic amounts. Anderson's Scots Pills for indigestion caused piles and chronic constipation. Steel's Aromatic Lozenges promised to 'repair the evils brought on by debauchery' (a veiled reference to syphilis) but resulted only in a painful and dangerous inflammation.

Dr Collis Browne's Chlorodine was marketed as a remedy for indigestion, but came in useful for almost anything, unsurprisingly since it contained a hefty dose of morphia, as well as kaolin for stomach pains. Morrison's Pills resulted in numerous deaths - and a fortune for the maker. Several 'remedies' for babies' wind, such as Godfrey's Cordial, contained opium, which certainly quietened querulous infants, but overdoses could be fatal, especially when combined with gin.

Self medication

Chloroform was useful in an attack of toothache. Or the sufferer could try morphia, or laudanum, another derivative of opium. They could all be bought from chemists, no questions asked.

Advances in medicine

Florence Nightingale changed nurses into highly trained professionals. The other branches of the medical profession, too, established examining and disciplinary bodies providing recognized qualifications. There were huge advances in medical knowledge. The death rate from post-operative shock and 'hospital gangrene' fell dramatically, now that operations were performed on an anaesthetized patient, in an operating theatre disinfected with carbolic, by a surgeon who had washed his hands in carbolic.

Liza Picard researches and writes about the history of London. She spent many years working in the office of the Solicitor of the Inland Revenue and lived in Gray's Inn and Hackney, before retiring to live in Oxford.

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Health and hygiene in the 19th century | The British Library

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By using this site, you agree we can set and use cookies. For more details of these cookies and how to disable them, see our cookie policy. Health and hygiene in the 19th century In a time when diseases like smallpox, cholera and TB were insatiable and continued to relapse in epidemical waves, Liza Picard explores how medical pioneers and health innovations shaped the landscape of medicine in the 19th century.

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Jude the obscure- the review of a misjudged love story.

“Jude the obscure” is Hardy’s last fictional work but it is also one of the most beloved ones. This review’s aim is to present the most important things you need to know about the book and to encourage the reading of the fiction NOVEL.

The first reason why Hardy’s work is considered to be one of the greatest ones is that the plot is captivating and addictive. In fact, once you start reading the book, you just want to know how it goes on.

Furthermore, if you think that a PIECE OF fiction that was written more than a hundred years ago may not be very understandable to read, then you are wrong. The omniscient narrator will always let the flow of the story go on fluidly and every single detail of the story will be accurately explained.

Last but not least, the troubled and prohibited love story between Jane and his cousin is moving and still contemporary. Several plot twists will make you feel sometimes touched, others shocked, relieved or even amazed.

To conclude, I would absolutely recommend the reading of this PIECE OF WONDERFUL fiction to everyone, no matter the age.
The book is easily suitable both for teenagers and for adults. It is one of the books NOVELS a person needs to read in their lifetime because of its meaningful message.

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The Victorian period in Britain was one of huge industrial and technological change, shocking divisions between rich and poor, sensational crimes, spectacular entertainments for the masses, and grand attempts to combat squalor and disease.

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The Victorian period in Britain was one of huge industrial and technological change, shocking divisions between rich and poor, sensational crimes, spectacular entertainments for the masses, and grand attempts to combat squalor and disease.

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Discover historical sources and articles written by experts that reveal the everyday reality of living in Victorian Britain. The Victorian period in Britain was one of huge industrial and technological change, shocking divisions between rich and poor, sensational crimes, spectacular entertainments for the masses, and grand attempts to combat squalor and disease.

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JUDE THE OBSCURE, by THOMAS HARDY
...Hard times

Jude the Obscure is a novel written by Thomas Hardy in 1895, which narrates the story of a poor British man, Jude Fawley, whose main desire is to try to improve his situation in a time where succeeding in life isn’t easy. After the non-fulfillment of his dream of studying at the University of Christminster and a first ruinous marriage, Jude meets the love of his life, his cousin Sue. Unfortunately, things won’t get better for the two lovers: their scandalous relationship coupled with their disastrous economic position will lead  to a series of problems which will culminate in the death of their three children.

Jude the Obscure is a clear example of HARDY'S DETERMINISM AND FATALISM:  how being in a certain place, in a certain environment and surrounded by a set of circumnstances can partly determine the individual’s existence. Indeed, even children, who should be pure and carefree, can extend to commit foolish things, which seem to be basically unavoidable if they are forced to live and grow in a context of poverty, unhappiness and exploitation. Jude’s eldest son, Father Time, is the perfect example to explain one of the main themes Hardy develops in his novels: the difficulty of being alive coupled with a deterministic view of life. Indeed, in the grip of sorrow and resignation, Father Time decides to kill his siblings and then to commit suicide, because he knows that no other solution can be found to alleviate his family’s tragical condition.

I would recommend this deeply moving and profound novel because, even though it is set in the city of London during the Victorian age (XVIII century), I think that it could be perfectly suitable to describe and denounce some critical situations that involve the modern world, such as children condition in countries at war.

These issues are different perhaps from the problems that people had to face during the industrial revolution, but they’re just as worrying and distrubing, especially if we consider the fact that we are living in a time where everybody should be supposed to have some inalienable rights and yet there are a lot of people who are still suffering and many others who have no idea of how hard life can be in some parts of the world nowadays.

GIULIA PEIRANO 5^AL

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Let's see and learn about Victorian Britain!

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Let's see and learn about Victorian Britain!

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BBC Documentary 2015 - The Victorian era of British History (British Empire)

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BBC Documentary 2015 - The Victorian era of British History (British Empire) The Victorian era of British history (and that of the British Empire) was the period of

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“Jude the Obscure”, the last AND THE MOST SHOCKING NOVEL BY Thomas Hardy, was written at the end of 19th Century and tells the story of Jude, a poor boy who has great ambitions for his future. After the birth of his first son and the catastrophic end of his first marriage, he marries his cousin and they have two other children. Because of their harsh conditions of life and their poverty, children end up killing themselves.

Indeed, in this touching novel the author HIGHLIGHTS his pessimistic view of life, influenced by THE negative effects of industrialisation and urbanisation: he thought that men COULD do nothing against Fate and Nature. Therefore, their existence is totally predetermined and it’s destined to end tragically IN CASE THEY DECIDE TO GO AGAINST OR TRY TO CHANGE THEIR CONDITION.

ONE CAN IMMEDIATELY NOTICE THAT the aim of HARDY'S story is to portray the society: Hardy focuses on the very tough life of the poorer classes. With this extremely thought-provoking novel, THE AUTHOR points out the huge contradictions of THE Victorian Age, when most of the population was exploited, ON ONE HAND in particular children and women. On the other hand, middle classes benefited from this progress, becoming richer and more powerful.

In conclusion, WE CAN STATE THAT Hardy shows the price of progress, which was considered necessary at the time. Besides, POOR WORKING CLASSES are meant to live a miserable life and they can’t avoid death.