Jude the Obscure

1980 - A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and a responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, it's effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

The "war", or internal conflict, between passion and responsibility is a very prominent and reoccurring theme in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Jude's passion for studying and learning as compared to his responsibilities to work and making money are the first of many internal conflicts throughout this novel.
Jude has this aspiration of being able to go to a neighboring college town, Christminister, to become a scholar after his childhood school teacher moves there to further his education. Jude does all that he can to try to educate himself with borrowed books while he makes bakery deliveries for his Aunt. Some of the towns people are a little upset because he reads while driving the cart and this is very dangerous. So he is forced by the town to stop this foolish learning while on the highway, though he sneaks it sometimes. But even still, he is constantly forced to make the decision of his studies or his passion. When he is working as a stone workers apprentice and is forced to do his studies at night, having the responsibility over himself to have to make money to eat, he makes the decision to go and see Arabella, instead of keeping to his studies. Because of this decision, he is lured into sex with Arabella, a pregnancy scare, and the impending marriage to follow, instead of being able to pursue his career.
After his wife leaves him, he moves to Christminister and ends up falling in love with his cousin Sue. When he throws his aspiration out of the window in order to try to be with her for the next half of his life, he really chooses passions over responsibilities. Because he is so enthralled with Sue he never really makes a lifelong career out of any of his professions, constantly having to change himself for her, or Arabella later on, because he chose what he wanted to do over what he needed to do. He chose Sue over being a clergy, even though it would have been a really good profession for Jude; and both he and Sue were married.
Lack of persistence in his studies and his complete adoration and covet of Sue ultimately ruined his life. If he had been more serious about getting into college, then he never would have allowed himself to be entrapped by Arabella; and if he had focused on college while he was so close to it, he would have not met Sue when he did. Things would have probably been better for Sue if Jude had never loved her either, because she suffered tremendously in this ordeal as well. But his lack of will power and self control allowed his wants to tower over his needs, only leading to the very catastrophic ending to this tale of woe