{"product_id":"9781593080358","title":"Jude the Obscure (Barnes \u0026 Noble Classics Series)","description":"\u003ci\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/i\u003e, by \u003cb\u003eThomas Hardy\u003c\/b\u003e, is part of the \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBiographies of the authors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFootnotes and endnotes \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSelective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComments by other famous authors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStudy questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBibliographies for further reading \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndices \u0026amp; Glossaries, when appropriate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003eAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics \u003c\/i\u003epulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003eVirginia Woolf called him “the greatest tragic writer among English novelists,” but \u003cb\u003eThomas Hardy\u003c\/b\u003e was so distressed by the shocked outrage that greeted \u003ci\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/i\u003e in 1895 that he decided to quit writing novels. For in telling the story of Jude Fawley, whose many attempts to rise above his class are crushed by society or the forces of nature, Hardy had attacked Victorian society’s most cherished institutions—marriage, social class, religion, and higher education. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003eA poor villager, Jude Fawley longs to study at the elite University of Christminster, but his ambitions are thwarted by class prejudice—and an earthy country girl who tricks him into marriage by pretending to be pregnant. Entrapped in a loveless marriage, he becomes a stonemason and falls in love with his cousin—the intellectual, free-spirited Sue Bridehead, who is also unhappy in marriage. Sue leaves her husband to live with Jude and eventually bears his children out of wedlock. Their poverty and the weight of society’s disapproval begin to take their toll on the couple, forcing them into a shattering downward spiral that ends in one of the most shocking scenes in all of literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp style=\"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt\"\u003eA stunning masterpiece, \u003ci\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/i\u003e is Hardy’s bleakest and most personal novel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAmy M. King\u003c\/b\u003e is an Assistant Professor of Literature at the California Institute of Technology, and the author of \u003ci\u003eBloom: The Botanical Vernacular in the English Novel\u003c\/i\u003e, forthcoming from Oxford University Press. She is also the author of articles on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literature and culture, and has taught widely in the English novel at Haverford College and Caltech. King received her doctorate in 1998 from Harvard University in English and American Literature and Language. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47053247381744,"sku":"9781593080358","price":8.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781593080358_p0.jpg?v=1763809178","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781593080358","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}