Jude the Obscure

I just finished Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy. I have enjoyed other Hardy novels; Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, and Tess of the d’Urbervilles . If you are not familiar with Hardy, he seems to enjoy putting his characters in futile, fatalistic, tragedies in which they struggle through endless hardships for some goal they never reach. But he is such a good describer of nature and human nature that the novels are enjoyable. Jude the Obscure seems to follow the trend of the other novels I have read.
It seems like the main theme of Jude the Obscure is that the practiced Christianity of the time did not work in real life, except to stabilize the class society. Christian society (or God) relentlessly works against anyone who dares to raise their goals, dreams, station in life, philosophy, or morals. Intrinsically flawed is the institution of marriage. Repeatedly it is suggested that the more thought and solemnity that are given marriage (and Christian life), the more difficult or impossible it becomes. The book follows an ill-fated Jude. Nothing goes right for him and his lover, Sue. Sue eventually decides that all the misfortunes come from a hostile God. Jude rejects this interpretation of God (and also rejects God) and instead blames nature and society. Religion, marriage, and society are not portrayed positively. More than once in the book Jude makes the prophetic comment that they are 50 years ahead of their time. Jude and his morals would have fit in nicely during the second half of the 20^th century. The book makes a point out of having characters struggle to do “what is right in their own eyes” and to push futilely against a blind religion (God) that has no compassion. Just like Jude and his son, everyone is assumed to be better off dead.
I always enjoy reading a well-thought out and descriptive portrayal of life without the saving grace of Jesus. (I maintain that Jude the Obscure is logical description because a Christian worldview is “foolishness” or hidden to those whom the Holy Spirit has not called and revealed.) Clearly Jude and the “Christians” he interacts with do not have a relationship with Jesus. Life is ultimately meaningless to Jude, and a Christ-less Christian society is cold and cruel.