Jude the Obscure
This task is given by Barad Dilipsir
When Jude the Obscure (1895) was published as a single volume novel, Hardy added the biblical epithet ‘the letter killeth’ to the title page. In Jude and across his works, Hardy revels in moments in which literacy seems to undo itself. Hardy’s attempts to ‘kill the letter’ through non-standard engagements with orthography as part of a larger proto-modernist approach that destabilizes the fixity of meaning. There are several concerns linked to the growing primacy of literacy that appear time and again in Hardy’s novels, specifically: the alternative literacies of the lesser educated, semiotic multiplicities, and the transformative potential of spelling mistakes.Hardy’s treatment of these themes demonstrates a sustained effort to ‘kill the letter’ and challenge the assumption of progress made by the various educational reforms that had taken place in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
"Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life "
The biblical epithet, ‘the letter killeth’, that accompanies the title page of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895) is taken from the above verse of the Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians. In this verse St Paul draws an antagonistic opposition between letter and spirit in relation to sharing the New Testament: the implication is that the importance of the written text lies in the message conveyed – the reception of the Holy Spirit – as opposed to the material, printed word on the page. In the preceding verses, Paul undermines material text as he declares that Christ’s epistle is ‘written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart’.2 The epigraph was added as Hardy prepared the proofs from the serial version of the novel that was published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (December 1894–November 1895) for the first book edition that was published by Osgood, McIlvaine and Company in November 1895. It is commonly understood to be a wry proverbial nod to the fate of the novel’s eponymous.
Hardy’s treatment of these themes demonstrates a sustained effort to ‘kill the letter’ and disrupt the assumption of progress that had accompanied the various educational reforms that had taken place in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Engagement with non-standard literacies and orthographic variations have tended to be underexplored in Victorian Studies in comparison to the body of scholarship on formal experimentation in modernism and later literatures. Arguably, the nineteenth-century discourses on educational progress and the seeming commonality of illiteracy have distracted scholars from some of the subtle, complex interplays with non-standard literacies that feature in many canonical texts.
Reading literally, ‘the letter killeth’ becomes a comment on literacy and a condemnation of the supposed value of the limited forms of education offered to the poor. By returning the epithet to its biblical context, tensions between spiritual knowledge (in this case, knowledge of Christ) and written text emerge. There is a viscerality to knowing Christ in these verses: the evocative image of the ‘fleshy tables of the heart’ emphasizes the vitality of a ‘living’, embodied understanding of the Word thereby deadening the representation of written text as it appears in ‘ink’ or ‘stone’. The implication of this for Jude the Obscure is the suggestion that it is better not to wish for a formalized education that ‘killeth’. To use another Biblical aphorism, in Hardy ‘with much wisdom is much sorrow; as knowledge increases, grief increases’ as his rural characters tend to suffer once they are formally educated.
2.Is it possible to connect the meaning of the epigraph of 'Esdras' at the beginning of the first chapter of the novel and the myth of Bhasmasur?
#Exploring the Concept of "The Letter Killeth" and the Myth of Bhasmasur
The epigraph "The Letter Killeth" in Thomas Hardy's *Jude the Obscure* and the myth of Bhasmasur both highlight the dangers of rigidly adhering to rules or power without understanding their deeper implications.
#Biblical Reference and Theme
The phrase "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6) suggests that strict adherence to the written law can be destructive, whereas understanding and compassion bring life. In *Jude the Obscure*, this theme is reflected in characters' struggles against societal norms that stifle their personal desires and aspirations.
# Myth of Bhasmasur
The myth of Bhasmasur tells the story of a demon who was granted the power to turn anyone into ashes by touching their head. His misuse of this boon, driven by arrogance, led to his self-destruction when he was tricked into touching his own head by Vishnu in the form of Mohini.
# Connecting Themes
Both the epigraph and the myth underscore the importance of balancing rigid rules or power with wisdom and compassion to prevent self-destructive outcomes. Bhasmasur’s downfall due to his misuse of power mirrors the destructive consequences faced by the characters in "Jude the Obscure"due to societal constraints.
These narratives from different cultures and contexts teach us about the perils of ignoring the spirit of understanding and empathy in favor of strict, literal adherence to rules or power.
3. Structure of the Novel 'Jude the Obscure':
The novel is divided into six parts; each is centered on a particular town or village. At the beginning of each of the six parts is an epigraph or quotation, which is meant to throw light on the events that follow. They also have an interpretative function.
● Part I:
Part I is set in Marygreen where Jude is seen as a young boy with a passion for a university education. But as he grows up his studies are interrupted by a hasty and disastrous marriage to Arabella. The marriage breaks up and Arabella leaves for Australia.
● Part II
Part II is set in Christminster. Recovering from his first setback and a failed marriage, Jude makes his way to Christminster, where he works as a stone-mason while pursuing his studies. He meets his cousin Sue and is attracted to her, but he knows he is still legally bound to Arabella. He finds that entry into the university is impossible for one of his status.
● Part III
Part III is centered in Melchester. Jude gives up his ideas of attending the university and now aims to study for the church, hoping to enter a theological college. Sue goes to a teacher-training college, and Jude follows her there. Jude is deeply in love with Sue, but Sue gets engaged to Phillotson and marries him. Jude is dejected at Sue's marriage. Arabella returns from Australia.
● Part IV
Part IV is set in Shaston. Sue's and Phillotson's marriage is in trouble. She asks Phillotson for her freedom and goes back to Jude.
● Part V
Part V is staged in Aldbrickham. Sue finally agrees to live with Jude on intimate terms. They are both divorced now and are free to marry, but they do not. Little Father Time makes his appearance, and Sue looks after him. They are forced to leave, moving from one town to another, because of gossip and social disapproval.
● Part VI
Part VI is the return to Christminster. Little Father Time hangs himself and the two children in despair. Sue, overcome by grief and guilt, returns to Phillotson and remarries him. In utter despair Jude is trapped into remarrying Arabella. However, ill and desolate, he meets an early death.
It will be noticed that in the first two parts of the book the focus is on Jude, with his brave and persistent efforts to educate himself. Arabella is an obstacle at first, but she is taken care of. But with Part III, when Jude abandons his dream of entering Christminster, the focus now shifts to Sue. The plot revolves around her, and the Themes of love, marriage, sexual relationships and freedom replace the earlier theme of education.
The structure can also be interpreted as a reversal in beliefs for both Jude and Sue. Sue, at the beginning of the novel, is rational in temper and rather irreverent about traditional religion, but by the end of the book, she is plagued by guilt and remorse. She has reverted to conventional religion. Jude, who at the beginning was the traditionalist, holding conventional Christian views, has become skeptical and embittered by the end of the novel.
Author's style:
Hardy's style has often been described as rather heavy and ponderous with awkward rhythms and a tendency towards circumlocution. For instance, Jude and Sue's reaction to the arrival of Little Father Time (in Part V, Chapter 5) provides a good example of Hardy's style: "To be sure, with such pleasing anxious beings as they were, the boy's coming also brought with it much thought for the future, particularly as he seemed at present to be singularly deficient in all the usual hopes of childhood. But the pair tried to dismiss, for a while at least, a too strenuously forward view." In the same chapter they take Little Father Time to the Agricultural show, "Not regretful of themselves alone, they had taken care to bring Father Time to try every means of making him kindle and laugh like other boys, though he was to some extent a hindrance to the delightfully unreserved intercourse in their pilgrimages which they so much enjoyed." The language at times seems stilted and deliberately pompous.
In this novel Hardy consciously tries to avoid too much authorial comment, but as a result his protagonists tend to lecture each other at length. There are long, erudite speeches on marriage, divorce and religion (Part IV, Chapter 3). Many of the conversations between Jude and Sue, and sometimes Phillotson, lack a true conversational tone.
Hardy is far more successful at catching the conversational tones of rustic characters and country folk, such as Aunt Drusilla (Part II, Chapter 6), who gives the reader glimpses of Sue as a child. Some of his earlier chapters, too, of Jude trying to combine study with work while driving his baker's wagon combine realism with humor (Part I). The same can also be said of the account of Jude's entrapment by Arabella.
Hardy's style, despite its few faults, is quite distinctive. His very clumsiness and roughness give his writing a striking individuality and charm. Unfortunately, unlike his other novels, Jude the Obscure does not offer the reader many descriptions of the Wessex countryside. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles and in The Woodlanders Hardy reaches a peak of excellence in using landscape to create atmosphere and to recreate varied pictures of rural life.
My reference sources are:
https://academic.oup.com/jvc/article/27/3/493/6596112
https://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmJude67.asp
Thank you..
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