...

"I have understanding as well as you. I am not inferior to you:"

I was rightly excited about Jude's gung-ho optimism at the beginning of Part II. Jude's redeeming qualities were in full swing, and he once again became that "forcible, meditative, and earnest" young man that I was initially drawn to from the start (71). It seemed he was on the right path after his separation from Arabella-- he saved up any money that he could, and as soon as his apprenticeship was over, he took off to Christminster in the hopes of educational success and ordination. Making up for his stint of neglect, Jude "had read and learnt almost all that could be read and learnt by one in his position of the worthies," and was on the seemingly straight-arrow path to reaching his goals.

Dun, dun, dun! Then there was Sue. My previous ranting about Hardies portrayal of women may have been a bit premature. While Arabella was a nasty specimen of femininity, Sue seemed to have many positive attributes. I was less disappointed with Jude when he neglected his studying when his mind wandered to his sweet cousin. He was a working man, faithfully fulfilling his duty as a stone-mason, and unlike his delivery job in the past, he could not make use of the daytime to cram in a few Latin lessons. So he fancied himself with Sue, quietly yet innocuously stalking her.

While his preoccupation with Sue may trouble some, I feel that this section was not so much focused on the downfalls of women and losing site of your identity because of them, but rather on the seemingly helpless situation Jude was now in.

From his arrival at Christminster there were references scattered here and there about the true condition of Christminster and how academic success and scholarly pursuits, though revered by Jude, were empty and arrogant pursuits. While Jude gazed longingly at the corroded buildings which housed great men of knowledge, he realizes that "Only a wall divided him from those happy young contemporaries of his with whom he shared a common mental life;" and though it seemed "Only a wall," it was more than that (80). It was money. Jude was not privileged at birth, and so his Christminster pursuit was lofty and doomed from the start by his hometown villagers. "For Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence; but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. (81)" Though at times it was hard for someone as intelligent and as unfortunate to reconcile this ironic sort of circumstances, Jude remained hopeful, a hope that would persist as long as he had Sue to fawn over. Jude's eventual distractions from his studies were more a consequence of his own fault and lack of concentration than on the calculating ways of a woman. Though he "found himself quite unable to concentrate his mind on the page" due to his infatuation, as soon as this girl, completely unaware of Jude's lust for her, shows affectations towards Mr. Philliston, Jude falls into a deep despair (102). His depression lends him to pessimism and cynicism, and he feels that he had come to Christminster unprepared, following a lark. He compared his journey to "an iridescent soap-bubble;" "the whole scheme had burst up," and this pessimistic realization was like awaking "from his dream. (109)"

Unlike with Arabella, whose departure re-inspires Jude to pull himself together, Sue's lack of companionship is what he blames for his state of mind. "Without her it was inevitable that the reaction from the long strain to which he had subjected himself should affect him disastrously. (110)" Like with Arabella, he took himself on a night of heavy drinking. Like with Arabella, when he arrived to his cottage, a letter was awaiting him. Instead of a letter of release from Arabella, opening up all his doors once again, it was a letter of condemnation from a Master of a school, slamming a door frankly in his face. He concludes that his dream was a pretense: that the true Christminster was "These struggling men and women before him. (111)" "The floating population of students and teachers, who did know both in a way, were not Christminster in a local sense at all. (111)" This line made me think of the cultural center that is Austin, Texas. While the allure of higher education may make the town seem prestigious and give it a haughty air to it, it's the people that make up Austin, the workers, that artists, the people actually living in the reality of Austin that create the actual city.

Jude realizes he must come to terms with his decision. His optimism gone, he confesses that he has "been a fool," but claims that he doesn't "regret the collapse of [his] University hopes. (119)" Throwing off the idea of "social success," Jude claims that all he needs is "hope to support [him]. (119)" I'm afraid that waiting for the reassurance may actually be a downfall of his drive and character.