The novel traces the life of Jude Fawley from the time he is 11 years old until his death at 30. At 22, Jude is “forcible, meditative, and earnest rather than handsome […]. He was of dark complexion, with dark harmonizing eyes, and he wore a closely trimmed black beard […] with his great mass of black curly hair” (64). Raised by his great-aunt after his parents’ deaths, Jude struggles to become more than his humble origins dictate. Although he longs to become a scholar and clergyman, Jude works as a stonemason for most of his life.

Jude is unfailingly kind, which often leads to his downfall. He dislikes doing harm any creature, even when it is for his benefit. Jude is an excellent father, taking an interest in his children and helping Sue with them. He is incredibly conscientious of those who depend upon him. At the novel’s outset, Hardy illustrates Jude as an ambitious, optimistic, industrious, and idealistic young man, driven by his desire to study at the esteemed university in Christminster. By the time Jude reaches the age of 19, he is fluent in Greek and Latin, both learned through self-study.

However, Jude’s idealism gradually erodes through the harsh realities of his society, where rigid hierarchies and moral strictures stifle individual freedom and aspirations.