The Realist Imperative of Acceptance: Reconciling with Reality and Seeking Inner Peace in the Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
Abstract
Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895) traces the complex human desires, griefs, and the need to make peace with reality, thus showing a "realist imperative of acceptance" that is a core feature of the novel. To look at how Hardy visualizes the conflict between the ideal and the limitations which are unavoidable, this paper applies qualitative textual analysis of the novel, which is informed by existential realism, ethical criticism, and psychoanalytic theory. The method of close reading of the chapters is employed to show Jude's conflict with the limitations of society, his own wants, and the problem of right and wrong are Jude's ethical struggles in these chapters through which Hardy dramatizes character psychology and moral inquiry. The results suggest that Hardy’s storytelling goes beyond the scope of history or formalism, and thus, he offers a type of realism that has an ethical component and allows for existential consciousness. This composite approach keeps alive the novel’s timelessness, Hardy’s portrayal of human strength, the need for moral responsibility, and the giving up of the fight with reality, deeply woven into the ethical and psychological spheres of Hardy’s perspective, being seen. This study resonates with Victorian literary scholarship and presents a new model to map the territory of the relationships of literature, philosophy, and human experience.
Keywords
Jude the Obscure, Existential realism, Ethical criticism, Psychoanalytic theory, Acceptance of reality
Citations
IRE Journals:
Anjan Modak , Almustafa Jasim Lateef
"The Realist Imperative of Acceptance: Reconciling with Reality and Seeking Inner Peace in the Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals Volume 9 Issue 2 2025 Page 807-815
IEEE:
Anjan Modak , Almustafa Jasim Lateef
"The Realist Imperative of Acceptance: Reconciling with Reality and Seeking Inner Peace in the Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy" Iconic Research And Engineering Journals, 9(2)
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