Jude the Obscure Religion Quotes

Sue is smart, sexy, and has a rebellious streak? No wonder Jude falls for her so badly. One of our first glimpses at the great Sue Bridehead is this little act of revolt. She visits a market and makes the nearly scandalous decision to buy figures that bear images of non-Christian deities. This is such a big deal that she has to cover them while returning home, and eventually, the head of the house where she stays sees them and smashes them.

Speaking of those figures: This is what Sue says when she buys Venus and Apollo. She is pretty clear about being sick of "those everlasting church fal-lals"—in other words, images of saints and Christian religious subjects. Again, Hardy establishes her as a rebel, and right now, most of her little rebellions seem to be against religion.

Oh, Jude, once again a lady has entered your life, whatever will you do? While our hero let his religious studies falter when he first met Arabella, he now turns to religion to help him rid himself of his desire for Sue. Um, it doesn't really work out—if it did, we wouldn't have much of a novel, really.