# Jude the Obscure

**Author:** Thomas Hardy
**Grade range:** Grades 11–12
**Age range:** 16–17
**First published:** 1895
**Page count:** 451
**Genre:** Historical Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780333413067`
**ISBN-10:** `0333413067`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/jude-the-obscure
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Hardy's last work of fiction, Jude the Obscure is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individuals who are trapped by forces beyond their control. Jude Fawley, a poor villager, wants to enter the divinity school at Christminster. Sidetracked by Arabella Donn, an earthy country girl who pretends to be pregnant by him, Jude marries her and is then deserted. He earns a living as a stonemason at Christminster; there he falls in love with his independent-minded cousin, Sue Bridehead.

## Themes

- social life and customs
- death
- pine
- unmarried couples

## Where this book is assigned

### Cambridge AS & A-Level English Literature (9695)

- **required** · 11th grade — [source: Prescribed set text for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English (9695), Paper 4 Section A (Pre-1900), for examination in 2027. Transcribed from the official Cambridge International syllabus (721410-2027-2028-syllabus.pdf). Set texts rota](https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-literature-in-english-9695/)
- **required** · 12th grade — [source: Prescribed set text for Cambridge International AS & A Level Literature in English (9695), Paper 4 Section A (Pre-1900), for examination in 2027. Transcribed from the official Cambridge International syllabus (721410-2027-2028-syllabus.pdf). Set texts rota](https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/programmes-and-qualifications/cambridge-international-as-and-a-level-literature-in-english-9695/)

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