Jude the Obscure

Jude the Obscure is a classic novel by Thomas Hardy. There's also a film adaptation starring Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet. This analysis of the moral of the story is based on the book because the movie ends in a weird spot which changes the theme.

It's about Jude Fawley who wants to be a scholar. He does not come from a rich family and he's a stonemason. This makes his dream a very distant one. He marries the daughter of a local pig farmer and it's from this point that his life seems to turn for the worse. She leaves him and he falls in love with his cousin Sue Bridehead. The issue of her being his cousin isn't what people had a problem with... it was the fact that both of them had been married before and chose not to marry each other. It's a story about society, ambitions and the crushing weight of expectations. Jude the Obscure is pretty much a miserable story from beginning to end but it's important, beautiful and well written. I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who hasn't read it.

The Moral of the Story:

Religion makes you miserable. [This one is a little subjective and is my interpretation more than a definite message]

No matter how much you want something, the world can still shoot you down.

Love is something worth fighting for.

Conforming to expectations may make things easier but you'll still be miserable.

When you find something good, don't let it go.