Jude the ObscureIn Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy introduces the characters Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead, who violate the conventions of repressive Victorian society as they attempt to follow their natural instincts. Studying the novel, one sees that Hardy's intentions in doing this are to arouse the reader's sympathy for the characters and to join in their derision of the codes of conduct they are breaking. Jude and Sue's trial evokes a sympathetic response from the reader because the couple reflects the values ​​prevalent in modern society. They suffer persecution for giving in to emotions that are no longer considered unacceptable or forbidden, as they were then. This portrays Victorian society as cruel and unnatural, thus creating affection for the characters. Hardy understood society's tendency to swing like a pendulum from one extreme to the other. He knew that the Victorian era would not last indefinitely and that future generations would become freer. This is beautifully illustrated in this reflection by Sue: “When people of a later age look back on the barbarous customs and superstitions of the times in which we have the misery of living, what will they think?” (p.276) According to modern values, it is wrong to condemn people for following their pure and natural instincts, even if "they have not wronged anyone, they have not condemned anyone, they have not defrauded anyone." (p.378) Therefore, by foreseeing these changes and exposing the injustice of Victorian society, Hardy evokes sympathy in the reader for Sue and Jude. Hardy also uses the two characters to reveal that he finds the society they live in ridiculous. He joins Sue and Jude as they laugh at the "artificial system of things, whereby ordinary sexual impulses are transformed into diabolical domestic tools and springs to capture and detain those who would advance." (p.279) In rare periods of 'Greek joy' (p.366) Jude and Sue live by the 'law of Nature' and are able to enjoy, unabated, the 'instincts for which civilization has assumed responsibility to counteract.' (p.413) It is during these moments that the two are actually able to laugh at the conventions they have violated, as they are happy and unaffected by the repercussions.