intentionally. In doing so, he intends to convey
the theme of the quest in Jude.
Samson, Job, Jesus and other tragic heroes and the disciples' stories in the
Bible have moved numerous readers for hundreds of years. The Bible has influenced
numerous poets and writers in western countries. In fact, the popularity of
Hardy's Jude the Obscure and other novels has a close connection with his use
of biblical archetypes. Readers could feel the beauty of tragedy and recognize
the main characters immediately if they have a good knowledge of the Bible.
Therefore, many critics label Hardy a pessimist, but he himself denies it. Actually,
unlike many other Victorian novelists, Hardy dislikes to present a false picture
of peaceful prosperity. He does not evade the crucial contradiction in his novels.
Instead, he faces social problems directly and wants to call people's attention
to them.
Christianity does not appear as a central concern of any of the main characters
before Tess and Jude, and it looms larger in Jude than in any other Hardy's
previous novels. Hardy's knowledge of the Bible is remarkable. In fact, Jude
illustrates well Hardy's emotional need and intellectual confusion in matters
of religion. Indeed, Jude can be regarded as a Pilgrim's Progress rewritten
by a skeptic
Introduction
A century has passed, since Hardy's Jude the Obscure was first published in
1895. As the last novel of Hardy, it still causes disputes. Some critics , such
as William R. Rutland, and Lord David Cecil, regard the book a relative failure
because of its violation of probability, its morbidity, or its philosophical
pretentiousness. Other critics, such as Lance St.John Butler, Arthur Macdowall,
and Albert Guerard, acclaim the book as possibly Hardy's best, his "Swan
Song", and the first modern novel1 . The author of this paper agrees with
the latter opinion.
With the development of modern literary criticism, different critics interpret
Jude the Obscure and Hardy's other novels from various perspectives. In the
case of Jude, besides the above-mentioned comments, some critics read it from
the angle of Marxism and related views; some interpret it in terms of structuralism
or psychological criticism; some using feminist approaches. In China, Prof.
Zhang Zhongzai, and Prof. Nie Zhenzhao have published their own books on Hardy's
novels respectively. However, a neglected aspect is that few people have studied
symbolism in Jude. In fact, the use of symbolism in Jude and in Hardy's other
novels is quite deliberate and intentional. Symbolism in Jude and Hardy's other
novels differs from that of those symbolists' in Symbolism Movement. Symbolism
in Symbolist Movement refers to the representative of the author's attitude
towards the reality around him. While Hardy's symbolism is permeated with the
spirit of realism and the symbolic images in his works come from those universal
archetypal patterns in world literature. Whenever we talk about Hardy's attitude
towards Christianity, one stereotyped idea will creep over us: Hardy is a pious
believer in his early age and he abandons his Christian beliefs later on because
of the development of science and the appearance of Darwin's theory. Unfortunately,
that is not always the case. On the other hand, archetypal approaches offer
some unusual opportunities for enhancement of literary appreciation and understanding.
We know that application of this approach may take us deep into the historical
and aesthetic realms of literary study ---from the beginning of mankind's oldest
rituals and beliefs to our own individual hearts.
Northrop Frye, as one of the most readable and stimulating critics of our century,
his Ana
