Unconscious Sue? Selfishness and Manipulation in Jude the Obscure

Author: Knauer, Elizabeth

Source: The Hardy Review, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2009 , pp. 41-51(11)

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Abstract:

For decades, Sue Bridehead has been analyzed as a New Woman, a victim of oppressive Victorian society, or an innocent female unaware of her damaging behavior. By excusing her on the grounds of unconsciousness, scholars have created a complex, caring heroine at odds with the one presented by Hardy. A fresh and direct approach to the text, which considers important (but not central) social and political issues in their proper places, shatters the victimization myth that has long surrounded Sue and forces a reevaluation of readers' sympathies with that controversial heroine. Hardy's Sue is not only aware of her actions but deliberately manipulates situations to promote her agenda, and her agenda is not to advance New Woman ideals. Her supposed complexity is simplified when she is considered in light of this persistent selfishness: her distinctness from the New Woman, her employment of self-protecting 'principles,' and her unsuccessful relationships can be explained by greed.

Keywords: FEMINISM; JUDE THE OBSCURE; VICTORIAN FEMALE 'WEAKNESS'; SELFISHNESS; IDEALS AND PRINCIPLES; NEW WOMAN

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/193489109X417761

Publication date: 2009-03-01

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