Although critics have turned increasingly to \"poetic\" techniques in Hardy's prose, the imagery in Jude the Obscure continues to invite close attention. Norman Holland sees Jude as more allegorical than realistic. In his view. Hardy uses symbols and images to deny the relevance of Christianity to the modern world and to criticize the Christian ideal of self sacrifice. McDowell gives his discussion a less allegorical focus and endeavors to relate various images to the actual lives of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead in society. Alastair Smart, on the other hand, explores the influence that art and artists had on Hardy's pictorial imagery. Whereas these and other critics have discussed symbolism and imagery in Hardy's novels, there appears to be no detailed analysis of the dark-light imagery in Jude the Obscure. It is the aim of this study, then, to explore this imagery in relation to the total structure by 1) describing briefly the nature of that structure, 2) establishing and classifying the dark-light images involved and 3) demonstrating their structural functions. For the purposes of this investigation, imagery may be understood as including figurative language.
","abstract_html":"<p>Although critics have turned increasingly to "poetic" techniques in Hardy's prose, the imagery in Jude the Obscure continues to invite close attention. Norman Holland sees Jude as more allegorical than realistic. In his view. Hardy uses symbols and images to deny the relevance of Christianity to the modern world and to criticize the Christian ideal of self sacrifice. McDowell gives his discussion a less allegorical focus and endeavors to relate various images to the actual lives of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead in society. Alastair Smart, on the other hand, explores the influence that art and artists had on Hardy's pictorial imagery. Whereas these and other critics have discussed symbolism and imagery in Hardy's novels, there appears to be no detailed analysis of the dark-light imagery in Jude the Obscure. It is the aim of this study, then, to explore this imagery in relation to the total structure by 1) describing briefly the nature of that structure, 2) establishing and classifying the dark-light images involved and 3) demonstrating their structural functions. For the purposes of this investigation, imagery may be understood as including figurative language.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Spellman, Clair Stephen"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1969,"date_issued":"1969-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1969-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:51Z","subjects":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/113","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Spellman, Clair Stephen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/113"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Although critics have turned increasingly to \"poetic\" techniques in Hardy's prose, the imagery in Jude the Obscure continues to invite close attention. Norman Holland sees Jude as more allegorical than realistic. In his view. Hardy uses symbols and images to deny the relevance of Christianity to the modern world and to criticize the Christian ideal of self sacrifice. McDowell gives his discussion a less allegorical focus and endeavors to relate various images to the actual lives of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead in society. Alastair Smart, on the other hand, explores the influence that art and artists had on Hardy's pictorial imagery. Whereas these and other critics have discussed symbolism and imagery in Hardy's novels, there appears to be no detailed analysis of the dark-light imagery in Jude the Obscure. It is the aim of this study, then, to explore this imagery in relation to the total structure by 1) describing briefly the nature of that structure, 2) establishing and classifying the dark-light images involved and 3) demonstrating their structural functions. For the purposes of this investigation, imagery may be understood as including figurative language.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Dark-Light Imagery in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Spellman, Clair Stephen"],"dc:description.abstract":["Although critics have turned increasingly to \"poetic\" techniques in Hardy's prose, the imagery in Jude the Obscure continues to invite close attention. Norman Holland sees Jude as more allegorical than realistic. In his view. Hardy uses symbols and images to deny the relevance of Christianity to the modern world and to criticize the Christian ideal of self sacrifice. McDowell gives his discussion a less allegorical focus and endeavors to relate various images to the actual lives of Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead in society. Alastair Smart, on the other hand, explores the influence that art and artists had on Hardy's pictorial imagery. Whereas these and other critics have discussed symbolism and imagery in Hardy's novels, there appears to be no detailed analysis of the dark-light imagery in Jude the Obscure. It is the aim of this study, then, to explore this imagery in relation to the total structure by 1) describing briefly the nature of that structure, 2) establishing and classifying the dark-light images involved and 3) demonstrating their structural functions. For the purposes of this investigation, imagery may be understood as including figurative language.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/113"],"dc:subject":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["Dark-Light Imagery in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:51Z"}