Jude the Obscure

An Apple Books Classics edition.

Thomas Hardy confronts the brutal unfairness of his time and place in this rich tale of aspiration, scandal, and the darkest depths of human tragedy.

Working-class Jude Fawley’s only desire is to attend university and become a theological scholar. But even while studying Greek and Latin at night after long days working as a stonemason, he feels like he’s only slipping further from his goal.

As Jude becomes entangled with women—whose paths in life are even more limited—it begins to seem like transcending social barriers isn’t just difficult, but an impossible dream. Hardy prompted outrage in his day for daring to question institutions like marriage, the class system, and the church, all simply by depicting the characters in Jude the Obscure as suffering not only as a result of their own failings, but those of their society.