「時」と「気高き反逆者たち」 : Jude the Obscure論

Throughout his career as a novelist Thomas Hardy consistently produced what can be called a 'sensation novel'. The method of a 'sensation novel' was conceived at the time of writing Desperate Remedies, his first published novel, which was a result of a suggestion from George Meredith. Hardy's novels are, however, not 'sensation novels' in a strict sense; his interest is not in the physical adventure but in the 'psychical' evolution of the people involved in unavoidable events. Jude the Obscure is seemingly a 'sensation novel'. However, as an 'chronicler' the author records more of the inner life of Jude Fawley than of the chain of sensational happenings. Jude, as an orphan child, aspires to go to Christminster to be a member of a learned society. His aspiration is to be barred by the advent of Arabella, a 'female animal', who allures and catches him inciting his sexual feelings. After the alienation from Arabella, Jude meets Sue, whom he regards as a truly spiritual creature. Jude's inner world sways between the physical desires and the spiritual fidelity. 'A deadly war waged between flesh and spirit', as Hardy puts it in the preface to Jude, is not simply a struggle between sexual and spiritual aspirations, but the reality and the dream. From the latter point of view, a problem of convention versus modernity arises in the relationship of Jude, Arabella and Sue; Arabella is somehow symbolic of 'past' and the established world, while Sue represents 'future', far away from the present time. Jude's frustrated dream and lonely death may be interpreted as defeat against 'time'. Through the conception of 'time', Jude's defeated struggle through his life can be seen as a struggle between the past and the future.

公開日:2010年1月24日で登録したコンテンツは、国立情報学研究所において電子化したものです。