Jude the Obscure (1896)

by Thomas Hardy

For other versions of this work, see Jude the Obscure (versions).

[See page 393
"'i ought not to be born, ought i?'"

JUDE THE OBSCURE

 

BY
THOMAS HARDY
AUTHOR OF
“TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES” “LIFE'S LITTLE IRONIES”
“FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD” ETC.

 

“The letter killeth”

 

ILLUSTRATED

 

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
FRANKLIN SQUARE
1896

 

Copyright, 1895, by Harper & Brothers.

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All rights reserved.

PREFACE

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The history of this novel (whose birth in its present shape has been much retarded by the necessities of periodical publication) is briefly as follows. The scheme was jotted down in 1890, from notes made in 1887 and onward, some of the circumstances being suggested by the death of a woman in the former year. The scenes were revisited in October, 1892; the narrative was written in outline in 1892 and the spring of 1893, and at full length, as it now appears, from August, 1893, onward into the next year; the whole, with the exception of a few chapters, being in the hands of the publisher by the end of 1894. It was begun as a serial story in Harper's Magazine at the end of November, 1894, and was continued in monthly parts.

But, as in the case of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, the magazine version was, for various reasons, abridged and modified in some degree, the present edition being the first in which the whole appears as originally written. And in the difficulty of coming to an early decision in the matter of a title, the tale was issued under a provisional name—two such titles having, in fact, been successively adopted. The present and final title, deemed on the whole the best, was one of the earliest thought of.

For a novel addressed by a man to men and women of full age, which attempts to deal unaffectedly with the fret and fever, derision and disaster, that may press in the wake of the strongest passion known to humanity, and to point, without a mincing of words, the tragedy of unfulfilled aims, I am not aware that there is anything in the handling to which exception can be taken.

Like former productions of this pen, Jude the Obscure is simply an endeavor to give shape and coherence to a series of seemings, or personal impressions, the question of their consistency or their discordance, of their permanence or their transitoriness, being regarded as not of the first moment.

T. H.

August, 1895.

 

CONTENTS

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PART I

PAGE

At Marygreen, I–XI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

1

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

3

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

7

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

15

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

24

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

30

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

36

Chapter VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

44

Chapter VIII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

54

Chapter IX ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

61

Chapter X ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

69

Chapter XI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

76

PART II

At Christminster, I–VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

85

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

87

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

95

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

104

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

111

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

121

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

128

Chapter VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

139

PART III

At Melchester, I–X ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

149

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

151

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

160

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

164

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

171

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

181

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

187

Chapter VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

199

Chapter VIII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

207

Chapter IX ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

217

Chapter X ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

227

PART IV

At Shaston, I–VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

233

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

235

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

245

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

256

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

268

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

280

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

291

PART V

At Aldbrickham and Elsewhere, I–VIII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

301

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

303

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

309

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

320

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

331

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

341

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

352

Chapter VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

365

Chapter VIII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

372

PART VI

At Christminster again, I–XI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

381

Chapter I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

383

Chapter II ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

395

Chapter III ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

407

Chapter IV ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

423

Chapter V ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

432

Chapter VI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

442

Chapter VII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

450

Chapter VIII ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

459

Chapter IX ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

467

Chapter X ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

476

Chapter XI ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

480

ILLUSTRATIONS

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1. "'I OUGHT NOT TO BE BORN, OUGHT I?'" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   Frontispiece

2. "THREE YOUNG WOMEN WERE KNEELING" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   Facing page  38

3. "'SEE HOW HE'S SERVED ME!' SHE CRIED" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   78

4. "A KNOCK BROUGHT HIM TO THE DOOR" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   116

5. "JUDE STOOD UP AND BEGAN RHETORICALLY" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   142

6. "SHE LOOKED INTO HIS EYES WITH HER OWN TEARFUL ONES" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   206

7. "'JUDE!' SAID A VOICE, TIMIDLY" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   254

8. "THERE ON THE GRAVEL LAY A WHITE HEAP" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   268

9. "HER ADVENT SEEMED GHOSTLY" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

   296

10. "A SMALL, SLOW VOICE ROSE FROM THE SHADE OF THE FIRESIDE" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    334

11. "SUE CONTINUED TO TEAR THE LINEN INTO STRIPS" ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    436

12. JUDE AT THE MILE-STONE ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

    466