![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The novel is characterised by a pessimist outlook on life fuelled by evolution theory and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The interlacing of multiple dimensions of time (consciousness) forms the major topical and structural feature that is reflected in character psychology, narrative structure, focalisation patterns, leitmotifs and carefully wrought repetitions with differences that often appear as variations and inversions and reveal Hardy’s insight into the iterability of the signifier. Taking the cue from Thomas Mann, Hardy’s last novel is then analysed as a Zeitroman. Hardy’s sparse theoretical remarks on the writing of fiction will be taken into account to contextualise questions of realism and naturalism. The essay presents Hardy’s Jude the Obscure as a paradigmatic text of English literature in transition from Victorianism to literary modernism. ![]()
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