Jude the Obscure

In 1895 Hardy&#146;s final novel the great tale of <b>Jude the Obscure</b><i></i> sent shock waves of indignation rolling across Victorian England. Hardy had dared to write frankly about sexuality and to indict the institutions of marriage education and religion. But he had in fact created a deeply moral work. The stonemason Jude Fawley is a dreamer; his is a tragedy of unfulfilled aims. With his tantalizing cousin Sue Bridehead the last and most extraordinary of Hardy&#146;s heroines Jude takes on the world&#151;and discovers tragically its brutal indifference.<br><br>The most powerful expression of Hardy&#146;s philosophy and a profound exploration of man&#146;s essential loneliness <b>Jude the Obscure</b> is a great and beautiful book. &#147;His style touches sublimity.&#148; &#151;T. S. Eliot