Current Search: Netherlands -- History -- 1714-1795 -- Sources -- Early works to 1800 (x) » Jude the obscure. (x)
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Title
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"Our fellows in mortality": kindness to animals in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
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Creator
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Brockway, Jessica L., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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In Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy depicts characters who are especially sensitive to the suffering of all living creatures and thus engages his novel in the topic of animal rights. In this project I examine the human-animal relationships in Hardy's novel in terms of the ideas of two different philosophers: Peter Singer and Cora Diamond. I argue that, while Singer at first seems to provide a useful model for understanding these relationships in Jude, Diamond's account of these relationships is...
Show moreIn Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy depicts characters who are especially sensitive to the suffering of all living creatures and thus engages his novel in the topic of animal rights. In this project I examine the human-animal relationships in Hardy's novel in terms of the ideas of two different philosophers: Peter Singer and Cora Diamond. I argue that, while Singer at first seems to provide a useful model for understanding these relationships in Jude, Diamond's account of these relationships is ultimately a more helpful tool for understanding Hardy's ideas about animals. Diamond helps us see that Hardy believes people should help all living creatures in pain, no matter the cost to themselves, not because they recognize their suffering, but because they recognize a shared commonality with all sentient creatures.
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Date Issued
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2010
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3334248
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Animal rights (Philosophy), Human-animal relationships in literature, Symbolism in literature, Animals and civilization
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Format
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Document (PDF)
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Title
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The " living presence" and the "ideal character": sex, fantasy, and photographs in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.
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Creator
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Taylor, Margaret, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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Abstract/Description
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In my thesis I will argue that the source of the major conflict in Jude the Obscure - the traumatic relationship between Sue and Jude - is Jude's viewing of his cousin's photograph early in the novel. Because of his tendency to idealize the individuals around him, Jude projects a desired image onto a photograph of Sue before meeting her in real life. This projection takes on an aspect of reality for Jude which he can not escape, despite Sue's efforts to disillusion him and introduce him to...
Show moreIn my thesis I will argue that the source of the major conflict in Jude the Obscure - the traumatic relationship between Sue and Jude - is Jude's viewing of his cousin's photograph early in the novel. Because of his tendency to idealize the individuals around him, Jude projects a desired image onto a photograph of Sue before meeting her in real life. This projection takes on an aspect of reality for Jude which he can not escape, despite Sue's efforts to disillusion him and introduce him to her actual self. Since his projection starkly contrasts to Sue's actual being, not only does Jude believe that the two are compatible when they are not, but he believes that Sue's attempts to disillusion him are in fact deceitful. Thus the initial impetus of the photograph eventually leads to their conflicted relationship and the tragedy of the novel overall.
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Date Issued
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2009
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210004
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Subject Headings
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Criticism and interpretation, Symbolism in literature, Imagination in literature, Despair in literature
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Format
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Document (PDF)
