English- essay

Sue Bridehead: Consequences of Victorian Society The beliefs of Thomas Hardy, author of Jude the Obscure, like those of his characters, were ostracized and then completely disregarded because his audience could not fathom any radical deviance from their structured lives. Hardy utilizes Sue Bridehead's contradictory character in order to support his perverse, negative view of a society that victimizes the people who choose to ignore socially acceptable standards and then forces them to conform. He contrasts the intentions and results of Sue’s actions -her hopes for self-actualization and her initial and final marriage to Phillotson- ultimately saying that death is the only escape from the confines of Victorian society. Hardy demonstrates the controlling society of nineteenth century England when Sue inevitably fails in her dream to become her own person. Jude calls Sue a “product of civilization” because she can never successfully achieve her desire to be an independent, modern woman (139). In essence, her fear of challenging traditional values overcomes her desire for mental and physical freedom. Hardy recapitulates Sue’s intellect many times in order to emphasize the evils of Victorian society where even a girl as smart as she cannot escape its chains. Basically, Sue cannot follow her own standards because she does not have the courage to completely defy society. Sue, like Hardy himself, disputes the necessity of marriage, even telling Jude, in response to learning of his marriage to Arabella, that “. . . I at least don’t regard marriage as a Sacrament” (166). She believes that marriage is only a contract of society that enslaves and binds a couple to endless unhappiness. When Sue admits to her engagement to Phillotson she becomes defensive knowing full well that she is denying the beliefs that she has preached of for so long. “I shall tell you!’ said she with the perverseness that was part of her. . . I have promised -that I will marry him”(134) The dictionary meanings of perverse -showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave unacceptably; contrary to that which is accepted or expected; sexually perverted- perfect for this statement, can define the entire novel. Sue is marrying Phillotson in order to release herself from the immense pressure to become married and to make amends for her lapse of character in regards to Jude. Hardy depicts the enormous power society holds over its subjects with the drastic actions of Sue who so unexpectedly becomes engaged to be married. Hardy believes that fulfillment of a societal role is inevitable, and he supports his belief with the actions of Sue. Free of her marriage for several years, Sue suddenly regrets her leaving Phillotson and returns to her marriage with him of her own freewill, despite the fact that she condones the act of marriage. “I don’t love him; I must, must, own it, in deepest remorse! But I shall try to learn to love him by obeying him”(360). Sue, for the longest time, is defying society as she lives illegitimately with Jude; however, she can not withstand the guilt of her own actions forever and, when beset by tragedy, finds it easier to return to her old life even though she loathes it . When she makes the decision to return to civilization, as it were, Jude sees that “It [seems] to be the one thing on earth which she was firm, and that her firmness in this had left her tottering in every other impulse and wish she possessed”(361). Essentially, Hardy is saying that because Sue returns to social standards she can finally follow through on a decision, something she had been unable to do previously. Finally, Hardy drives his point home when his last words synthesize his belief that society will ultimately force the individual to conform, despite the unhappiness caused by such an action. In conforming to society -leaving her unacceptable relationship with Jude and returning to Phillotson- Sue loses all chances of ever being happy. Arabella, Jude’s former wife, omnisciently states, as she stands over Jude’s body, that “She’s never found peace since she left his arms, and never will again till she is as he is now”(408). Sue selfishly leaves Jude in order to obtain freedom from the burden of being socially unacceptable, but even with this burden lifted she will never be happy with her decision. Hardy effectively ends his novel with the suggestion that, not only will society bend a person to its will, but the power of it is so strong that a person can only escape it in death. Hardy rejects Victorian society’s treatment of those who do not wish to follow its customs because he realizes from personal experience the pain that conformity can cause. In the age of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, “It was necessary to act under an acquired and artificial sense of the same, if you wished to enjoy an average share of comfort and honour; and to let loving-kindness take care of itself”(359). Victorian society was defined by its strict principle of conservative thoughts and actions; any deviants from the norm were unacceptable.