Jude

In the Victorian countryside, Jude Fawley is a bright, working-class youth who dreams of a university education. Circumstances push him into a stonemason's trade and toward an arranged marriage with Arabella. He holds on to the belief that education should be accessible to any hardworking man, despite his class.

Months after marriage, Arabella leaves, and Jude heads toward the city to pursue education. He is blocked from the university, rejected largely because of his lower-class status. The setback hardens his resolve to seek a path through work and perseverance.

Jude encounters his cousin Sue Bridehead, a woman of beauty and intellect who shuns convention. The two quickly connect over shared ideals and mutual disillusionment with social norms. Jude becomes enraptured by Sue’s spirit and intellect.

Sue marries Jude’s former schoolteacher, Phillotson, after Jude tells her he is already married to Arabella. The union is arranged but emotionally empty, with Sue refusing to give herself sexually or romantically. The marriage begins to fracture almost immediately.

The marriage fails to fulfill Sue; she leaves Phillotson to join Jude. They begin a nomadic, precarious life moving from place to place as Jude works sporadically as a stonemason. Their unorthodox arrangement tests their loyalty and resilience.

Jude learns that Arabella bore a son named Jude, soon after she left him. The boy comes to live with Jude and Sue, increasing the pressures and complexity of their living arrangement. The new family dynamic is fraught with secrecy and hardship.

Sue gives birth to two children while living with Jude, yet their relationship remains un-married and scandalous in the eyes of society. She remains agnostic and fiercely independent, refusing to legalize their arrangement by marriage. The couple's housing becomes precarious due to societal judgment.

Because they live together without marriage, they cannot secure permanent lodging. Sue warns Juey that they must move on soon, as there are too many of them. The next day, Juey murders his half-siblings and hangs himself, leaving a suicide note blaming the situation: Becos we were to menny.

The deaths plunge both Jude and Sue into deep depression. Sue, who had rejected religion, turns back to faith, believing God punished them for their un-married relationship. She resolves to return to Phillotson, despite finding him sexually repugnant, because he is the true husband in the eyes of God.

A year after the children's deaths, Jude and Sue meet by the tombstones of their children. They are worn and wrung by sorrow as Jude presses her to declare if she still loves him. She answers, You've always known, revealing unresolved feelings between them.

After the moment by the tomb, Jude and Sue share a passionate kiss as she walks away to rejoin Phillotson. Jude shouts to her that they are still bound as man and wife, a declaration of their bond that cannot be erased by social norms. Sue walks away toward her husband, leaving their future unresolved.