Jude The Obscure

Jude The Obscure was burned publicly by The Bishop of Wakefield when it was first published in 1895. No wonder. Its themes revolve around sex, education, religion, incest and marriage - difficult subjects in an era of suppression. Jude Fawley dreams of becoming a scholar at Christminster (apparently modelled on Oxford.). He teaches himself Greek and Latin while working in his aunt's bakery, but his lofty ambitions are not realised. Jude is instead manipulated into marrying Arabella Donn, a superficial girl who abandons him. When Jude eventually moves to Christminster he meets Sue Brideshead, his cousin, and falls deeply in love. Sue eventually marries a schoolteacher, however, but the relationship us an unhappy one and Sue becomes disgusted not just with her husband but apparently with sex itself.