Jude the Obscure
by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure: Style 1 key example

Style
Explanation and Analysis:

Hardy's style in Jude the Obscure is somber, intellectual, interrogative and—although there are some sparkling moments of wit—mostly quite serious. This author's writing is characteristically dense, poetic, and lyrical, but in this tragic novel it also becomes intensely philosophical. His realistic, detailed descriptions are intertwined with forceful and frequent reflections on human nature. These happen through the narrator and focus on the nature of marriage, the role of religion in Hardy's contemporary culture, and the limited lives that Victorian society allowed people to lead. Hardy's diction—in service of all of these things—is often academic, with long, involved sentences full of allusions and biblical references.