Hardy's Dialectic

Hardy mentions in the personal critique of his work that Jude the Obscure was intended to be full of contrasts. He says, "Sue and her heathen gods set against Jude's reading Greek testement; Christminster academical, Christminster in the slums; Jude the saint, Jude the sinner...etc." The presentation of contrasting symbolic natures within Hardy's characters and various settings in antithesis results in an irony of counterpoint.

Review the definition for irony and post on the following questions:

In what way are these contrasts ironic?
Also, other than the three above, are there any more contrasts you can find in the text?

Chance

A belief in determinism engenders a lack of chance in life. Things happen for a reason to those who believe in determinism. There are no coincidences or random occurrences.

In class we read Hardy’s poem, “Hap,” which personifies the idea of Chance. The character rails against god (line 1) and Fate (Casualty, line 11) who are making his life miserable. This message is similar to that of Job in the Bible, and Tess is Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

How is Jude similar to these other literary figures? Find some examples of “chance” or happenstance that occur in Jude the Obscure. Post them here for all to see.