Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

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Jude Fawley has aspirations of becoming an academic. As a boy, he teaches himself both Greek and Latin in his spare time, hoping to secure admission to university. But Arabella Donn, a local girl with whom Jude is infatuated, tricks him into a joyless marriage by pretending to be pregnant.

Thus starts the long toil of labor and love that Jude must endure in pursuit of his goals. With waning ambition as his only constant ally, Jude navigates heartbreak and scorn amidst Victorian English society.

Jude the Obscure is Thomas Hardy's last novel. At its publication, it received harsh criticism from conservative readers, but one cannot doubt its lasting impact as a commentary on the age in which Hardy lived.