Jude the Obscure Marriage Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Having based a permanent contract on a temporary feeling which had no necessary connection with affinities that alone render a life-long comradeship tolerable. (1.11.11)

Let's break that down into simple, everyday speak. Just because you love someone for a minute and decide to get married doesn't mean that you're actually going to like each other for the rest of your lives. Again, not the most romantic view of marriage, here—but there is some truth to Hardy's concerns.

Quote #5

'You don't know what marriage means!' (3.7.4)

It turns out that Jude is right: Sue really doesn't seem to fully understand what she is getting into when she marries Phillotson. This is one of those times in the novel where if one person had just listened to the advice of another, things could have worked out differently for all involved. Of course, if that happened, there wouldn't be any novel, so you know, take it for what it is.

Quote #6

'I am called Mrs Richard Phillotson, living a calm wedded life with my counterpart of that name. But I am not really Mrs Richard Phillotson, but a woman tossed about, all alone" (4.1.66)

Speaking of Sue's marriage…here she does her best to demonstrate that the social contract and societal "mould" of marriage is just something that people are forced to squeeze into. It does not actually relate to what people are truly like. Even though Sue is socially and legally "Mrs Richard Phillotson," she still feels like a woman out on her own.