What are the major themes in Jude the Obscure?

Hardy's "Jude The Obscure" has several themes, but the most evident is one that recurs in several of Hardy's writings.  The morality issue is large.  Jude does what he can do the best he can do it.  He tries to remain a moral man and he makes the best decisions he knows how to make after looking closely at whatever situation he finds himself in.  He tries to follow an ethical and moral path.  They may not seem to be ethical and moral to the surrounding community but he is true to his values and when he sees that he has been wrong in his thinking or made a wrong choice, he accepts responsibility for his actions.

This novel is also about the freedom of choice for women.  Sue is considered to be a "new woman" who acts on her impulses and does not try to live her life by Victorian standards.

What are the themes of Jude the Obscure?

One theme in "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy is the contrast between rural and urban culture. Jude begins as a country boy whose love of books and knowledge makes him yearn for the city. The country is presented as ignorant and backwards while the city is full of men of knowledge. Another theme in the novel is that of original sin and fate. Jude's son, Father Time, is cursed with a melancholy disposition. Father Time ends up murdering his siblings and himself. Was he destined to do this, or was it a result of circumstance?

What is the theme of class in Jude the Obscure?

Jude dreams of becoming a scholar. A rather romantic dream, none-the-less, this vision for himself never quite releases its grip on Jude, who comes back again and again to the city where he hoped to attain a formal education. 

The dream of scholarship is also a dream of social climbing, as demonstrated by the response Jude receives to his letter seeking entrance in a university:

Jude is told by the university officials that someone of his class would be better off without a degree.

As the novel moves forward, Jude comes to terms with his class status for the most part. He attempts to let go of his university dreams, along with his religious aspirations and beliefs. 

However, on returning to Christminster with Sue and his three children, Jude is drawn to discourse with some bitterness on the regrettable intractability of the class system. He laments that he attempted to do something in one lifetime (by becoming a scholar) that practically takes several generations. 

Details of the class-based, daily experiences of Jude and Sue are presented throughout the novel. These relate to the odd jobs taken by each of them, the descriptions of lodgings they take, and descriptions of the people who they mingle with in the various towns where they live. 

Discussions of aspirations also occur throughout much of the novel, regarding Jude, Phillotson, Sue and Arabella. These discussions often concern ideas of 1) dealing with the realities of social class and 2) lamenting the difficulty of moving up in the world.