house outside Dorchester designed by Hardy and built by his brother.There he wrote The Mayor ofCasterbridge(1886),The Woodlanders(1887),and Tess ofthe d'Urbervilles(1891),the last of which attracted criticism for its sympathetic portrayal ofa "fallen woman"and was initially refused publication.Its subtitle, A Pure Woman:Faithfully Presented,was intended to raise the eyebrows ofthe Victorianmiddle-classes Jude the Obscure,published in 1895,met with even stronger negativeoutcries from the Victorian public for its frank treatment ofsex,and was often referred to as"Jude the Obscene".Heavily criticised for its apparent attack on the institution ofmarriage through the presentation ofsuch concepts as erotolepsy,the book caused further strainon Hardy'salready difficult marriage because Emma Hardy was concerned that Jude the Obscure would be read as autobiographical.Some booksellers sold the novel in brown paper bags,and the Bishop of Wakefield is reputed tohaveburnthis copy.[7]Inhispostscript of1912.Hardy humorously referred to this incident as part ofthe career of the book:"After these [hostile]verdicts from the press its next misfortune was to be burnt by a bishop-probably in his despair at not being able to burn me".[8] house outside Dorchester designed by Hardy and built by his brother. There he wrote The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders(1887), and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), the last of which attracted criticism for its sympathetic portrayal of a "fallen woman" and was initially refused publication. Its subtitle, A Pure Woman: Faithfully Presented, was intended to raise the eyebrows of the Victorian middle-classes. Jude the Obscure, published in 1895, met with even stronger negative outcries from the Victorian public for its frank treatment of sex, and was often referred to as "Jude the Obscene". Heavily criticised for its apparent attack on the institution of marriage through the presentation of such concepts as erotolepsy, the book caused further strain on Hardy's already difficult marriage because Emma Hardy was concerned that Jude the Obscure would be read as autobiographical. Some booksellers sold the novel in brown paper bags, and the Bishop of Wakefield is reputed to have burnt his copy.[7]In his postscript of 1912, Hardy humorously referred to this incident as part of the career of the book: "After these [hostile] verdicts from the press its next misfortune was to be burnt by a bishop – probably in his despair at not being able to burn me".[8]