The One Believed-In Thing : A Comparative Analysis of Sue Bridehead in Hardy's Jude the Obscure and Winterbottom's Jude

This thesis discusses the representation of Sue Bridehead in Thomas Hardy's novel and the corresponding representation of her in Michael Winterbottom's adaptation. My starting point is the interplay between thematics and visual structures in the novel, a narrative technique that combines Realist social critique and Modernist narrative structures. I argue that this dualism contributes to the development of the heroine's complex character, rendering her part contemporary feminist and part traditional Hardy heroine. The aim of the thesis is to explore whether the character of Sue Bridehead could successfully be recreated in a film genre in which this dualism is also inherent - adaptations generally give the impression of representing 'real' life, but they do so through Modernist cinematic techniques. A considerable part of the discussion concerns Hardy's use of perspective, imagery and related film theory on the subject of the Gaze and the Image.