Arquivo de Notes | Page 244 of 282

Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure is Thomas Hardy’s latest novel. Received in hostility by the critics, some say that the epithets from “dirty” to “immoral” justified Hardy living little more than thirty years without publishing a new novel. The fact is that Hardy abandoned the genre exactly after the publication of a masterpiece. As for the criticism, Swift has well defined: “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him”. And it is not possible today, far from the petty conveniences of Victorian society, not to classify the work as brilliant. Brilliant and inducer of the revolt: Jude the Obscure exposes the entrails of this repugnant organization called society. Jude, the protagonist, faces a freedom-limiting environment, oppressive against any manifestation of the individual. The masses, naturally, are presented as despicable, hostile to the diverse, incapable of accepting what does not replicate their mediocrity. Social organization based on conventions, almost always stupid, unnatural, and inductive of injustice; authoritarianism figuring as its essence and the very clear message: society is a filthy machine. It is difficult not to read the work and think that what is convenient is essentially unworthy. Jude, still young, aims at high culture, despite his very limited possibilities. For years he feeds a dream, when they see him, in the village where he lives, as a promising young man. Then they set him up. A girl seduces him, eager for ascension: she drags him into her own home, subjecting him to embarrassment assisted of her father. Jude is forced to judge that marriage is a requirement of honor and marries, even though he is unable to do so. Reality changes abruptly: Jude then sees his horizon crassly limited, with all his dreams blown away because of a compulsory need for money. Soon the marriage shows him its perverse face: his wife, dissatisfied, leaves him and changes country, but does not release him from the eternal commitment he made before the priest, forced by conventions. Then the narrative advances and Jude, falling in love with his cousin, feels in the flesh the curse of being born belonging to the human species. It is to read and feel the rebellion pulsing. Some depreciated the construction of Hardy’s characters, judging them hostages of a biological determinism; some said of several scenes “immoral”, “absurd” and many other things. But here is the truth: Hardy’s narrative convinces, the characters are alive and real, and Jude the Obscure‘s plot is conducted with an extreme skill. Time already seems to show how virtuous the conventions of Victorian society were. And it also seems to highlight this: Jude the Obscure is an immortal novel.

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The “Important” Constantly Changes Face

The years go by and the “important” constantly changes face. What is indispensable, in the past, becomes irrelevant. And life seems to operate a slow movement of reduction of reality as if attending to the essential. If the years grow larger, what once seemed abundant seems to be scarce. Possibilities, dreams, relationships… everything seems to slowly dissipate, showing perhaps what remains, or perhaps that reality is doomed to volatilization…

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It is the Comedians Who Best Caress Human Pain

More than any philanthropic entity, it is the comedians who best caress human pain. And the justification is simple: laughter is an effective, cheap, and inexhaustible remedy. Comedians, if good, teach us to laugh at the worst miseries, console us in the face of the terrible, deliver pleasure when it seems impossible. Comedians unveil the obvious: in life, absolutely everything is subject to a joke—and the best ones spring from exactly where it seems absurd to us to extract them. Moreover, they attack the viper that no philanthropic entity is capable of fighting: vanity. Therefore, it is sad to see them working almost always shot by stones, often destroyed by the mass of idiots incapable of seeing the dimension of their own ridicule. But this is nothing new: the great ones almost always end up the target of the imbeciles’ fury. For ahead, idols, benefactors of humanity! And your laughter will last when the hands that attack you have already turned, inert, to dust!

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The Role of Literary Critics in the Intellectual’s Formation

One of the fundamental and primary decisions in an intellectual’s trajectory is to decide which guides he will use to elaborate his route and help him apprehend what he will see along the way. Deprived of the support, the long journey presents him with almost insurmountable obstacles. For this reason, before traveling along it, it is necessary to study it, to define the best route, or the route that best fits his objectives. What does he want to see on the way? Here is another important question: the possibilities are immense… That’s why the role of literary critics is so important. They are the ones who walk alternative paths—often extremely unpleasant—and give the summary of their wanderings. Where is the light? Where the darkness? Without them, we find ourselves in closed woods, lost and helpless. But how do we choose our guides? Another very difficult question. The good guide must deliver security and arouse admiration. Then one must have more confidence in him than in oneself. Thus, a great critic must gather, besides a vast knowledge, very rare personal qualities, otherwise, he will be worse in his function. Like the artist, the critic must be observant, detailed, curious; he must intentionally seek what is different, take precisely the routes that appear to be the most frightening; he must be fair, receptive to the contradictory, willing to abandon each of his convictions; he must be able to see merits where they seem not to exist and, above all, he must be able to make the very difficult distinction between the best and the most pleasant. Only in this way will he be able to say, with a clear conscience and in fair words, which is the best route, or which routes lead to which places; otherwise he will be a disloyal conductor, a manipulator, and not infrequently he will show in his work the defects of his character. Thus, as walkers we must answer the question: “By whom do we wish to be influenced?”—and the answer, despite appearances, will also say much about us.

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