“When Desire Becomes a Curse: Hardy’s Prophetic Vision in Jude the Obscure"
Introduction This blog is written as part of an assignment given by Dr. Prof. Dilip Barad , whose guidance always pushes us to read literature with both a critical eye and a reflective mind. In this piece, I take up Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure , focusing on its powerful epigraphs“The letter killeth” and “Many have run out of their wits for women…” and the way Hardy uses them with irony to critique Victorian institutions of education, marriage, and religion. By connecting these ideas with the myth of Bhasmasur and modern existential questions, I explore how Hardy’s so-called “pessimistic” novel actually anticipates timeless struggles of meaning, desire, and human freedom. Blog Link :- Click Here Presentation Link :- Click Here The Letters That Kill, the Desires That Burn: Hardy’s Prophetic Vision in Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy begins Jude the Obscure with two striking biblical epigraphs—one from 2 Corinthians, “The letter killeth,” and another from Esdras, “Man...