On The Reflection Of Modernity In Jude The Obscure

Thomas Hardy is a great writer and poet in English literature history. Most of hisnovels were published in19thcentury and Jude the Obscure was Hardy’s last novel.Because this novel contains anti-traditional theme, this novel as well as Hardy himselfwere fiercely attacked.Hardy’s tragic novels impressed deeply on readers and critics. Many critics regardHardy as a realistic and pessimistic writer, so they pay much attention to Hardy’s“pessimism” and “fatalism”. In fact, Hardy’s achievement not only lies in “pessimism”but also modernity in his novels. To some extent, Hardy could be seen as the pioneer ofmodern writers. The modernity is reflected in his novels, and his last novel Jude theObscure deserves more attention. Hardy didn’t think he was a pessimistic writer and hewrote tragic stories to find some way to avoid tragic life. Modernity is a double-sword,and Anthony Giddens once figured out in his famous works The Consequences ofModernity that modernity was social life or organizational pattern which generated fromEurope in17thcentury. Modernity had experienced many huge changes for three or fourcenturies, and its darkness was very evident in20thcentury.Hardy didn’t mean to negate it but to criticize or reflect on it through this novel. Infact, Britain indeed experienced many “modern problems” in19thcentury. Theseproblems contain wealth gap, unemployment and alienation and so on. Social problemsare obvious and explicit. They are of decline of traditional agriculture, growing wealthgap and unemployment problem as well as breakdown of traditional morality.The impact of Modernity on human beings is more internal. Most people couldn’tget rid of alienation, loneliness. They struggled in hopelessness. Interpersonalrelationship became nonchalant. Jude hardly ever set up a harmonious and amicablerelationship with his neighbors and workmates. Modern life made people indifferent.Their inner world was closed to others. Therefore, Jude’s aunt just saw him as a burden.And neighbors offered nothing but coldness. The love was also changed much. ForArabella’s part, love was living guarantee, and for Sue, though she believed in true love,her alienation forced her to submit to morbid society. Hardy disclosed many problems because of modernity, and the writer of this thesistries to discuss these problems and Hardy’s reflection on modernity, so as to illuminateHardy’s creative intention.