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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
Minimal physical violence; one event involving children is among the most harrowing in Victorian fiction
Language
Barely any
Period language; mild by modern standards
Sexual Content
Some
Extramarital relationships and unconventional cohabitation; period-frank but not graphic
Substance Use
Some
Alcohol use; some self-destructive behavior
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Extreme tragedy accumulating to a catastrophic ending; a child character commits murder-suicide in a scene of almost unbearable psychological weight; pervasive hopelessness
What this book is about
Jude Fawley, an intelligent stonemason in rural Wessex, dreams of attending Christminster (Hardy's Oxford) as a student and clergyman. He is trapped by an impulsive marriage to the coarse Arabella, falls in love with his brilliant cousin Sue Bridehead, and watches as every hope is extinguished by a society that will not bend for those born in the wrong class. Hardy's final novel was so savagely attacked by Victorian critics that he never wrote another. It remains among the most devastating and brilliantly constructed tragedies in the English language.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Devastating tragedy throughout
Child murder-suicide scene near the climax
Extreme psychological bleakness
Not suitable for sensitive readers
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