Jude the Obscure is a novel by Thomas Hard which was first published in 1895. It was also last of Hardy's novels. This book was burnt publicly in the same year by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield. Jude Fawley is the hero of this book and he is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a scholar. The other main character is his cousin, Sue Bridehead, who is also his central love interest. The themes in the novel revolve around issues of class, education, religion, and marriage. Hardy began making notes for the story in 1887.