function of biblical allusion in "Jude the Obscure"

Thomas Hardy's novels reflect a tradition important to authors of Victorian fiction, that of the use of allusion to major works of literature in order to enhance the appeal of their own work. In Jude the Obscure references are made to mythology, the English Romantics, Shakespeare, and, especially, to the Bible. Jude is Hardy's final novel, and the use of Biblical analogy separates it from all the others. In it Hardy traces the odyssey of Jude, showing that at important turning points in his life Biblical references serve as guideposts marking his direction. The device acts to identify Jude with the same Judeo-Christian heritage that provides the foundation on which Victorian society rests; however, the Victorians do not acknowledge him as one of their own. Through Biblical allusion Hardy shows that Jude is a rightful heir, but the legacy is denied him as he becomes instead that society's victim.