Far From The Madding Crowd

Hello everyone, This blog is a part of my thinking activity. In this blog I will discuss about Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd .

Introduction

Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth published novel and his first major literary success. It was published on 23 November 1874. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership.

The novel is set in Thomas Hardy's Wessex in rural southwest England, as had been his earlier Under the Greenwood Tree. It deals in themes of love, honor and betrayal, against a backdrop of the seemingly idyllic, but often harsh, realities of a farming community in Victorian England. It describes the life and relationships of Bathsheba Everdeen with her lonely neighbor William Bold wood, the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, and the thriftless soldier Sergeant Troy.

On publication, critical notices were plentiful and mostly positive. Hardy revised the text extensively for the 1895 edition and made further changes for the 1901 edition.

The novel has an enduring legacy. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 48 on the BBC's survey The Big Read, while in 2007, it was ranked 10th on The Guardian's list of greatest love stories of all time. The novel has also been dramatized several times, notably in the Oscar-nominated 1967 film directed by John Schlesinger.

Far from the Madding Crowd Summary

The novel opens with a chance encounter between Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene just outside the town of Casterbridge. Gabriel comes from humble origins as a shepherd, but has recently leased his own farm and seems to have good economic prospects. He is immediately struck by Bathsheba’s beauty, although he quickly becomes aware that she is proud and headstrong. Although Bathsheba has been well-educated, she has fallen on hard times and is now required to take a very hands-on role helping her aunt to take care of her farm. The close proximity of their farms leads to a series of encounters between the two, including an incident in which Bathsheba saves Gabriel’s life.

After only knowing her for a short time, Gabriel proposes to Bathsheba and is surprised when she turns him down, explaining that she does not love him and is reluctant to give up her independence. Shortly after this conversation, Bathsheba moves away to the town of Weatherbury. A short time later, Gabriel experiences a dramatic reversal of fortune when he loses the majority of his sheep in a disastrous accident. He loses all of his money and has to give up his farm and seek work in whatever capacity he can find. While he is looking for work near the town of Weatherbury, he happens to come across a fire that is threatening to destroy a large amount of valuable crops. Gabriel takes charge of the situation and helps to get the fire under control, only to learn later that the owner of the farm is Bathsheba. She has inherited it from her uncle, and has taken the unusual step of managing it herself, even though this was uncommon for a woman at the time. She hires Gabriel to work as a shepherd.

Bathsheba attracts a great deal of attention as an attractive, single, and prosperous woman with unconventional ideas, but she is dismayed to notice that William Boldwood, a successful middle-aged farmer, does not seem curious about her. On a whim, Bathsheba sends him a Valentine’s Day card as a prank; when she does so, she unwittingly sets the stage for Boldwood, who is lonely and shy, to fall deeply in love with her. Boldwood proposes to Bathsheba a short time later, leaving her surprised and uncomfortable. She turns down the offer but is not entirely sure how to proceed in the future, since she knows some aspects of the marriage would be advantageous.

Boldwood's courtship leads to disagreement between Gabriel and Bathsheba, to the point where she initially dismisses him from his job, but quickly hires him back when he saves many of her sheep after they eat poisonous plants and become ill. Boldwood proposes to Bathsheba a second time and although she does not accept, she gives him reason to be hopeful that she will. That same night, however, Bathsheba meets the handsome and charismatic Sergeant Troy, who quickly stirs her emotions. Knowing that Bathsheba is attracted to Troy, whom he is suspicious of, Gabriel encourages her to choose to marry Boldwood instead.

Nonetheless, Bathsheba's growing feelings for Troy lead her to tell Boldwood she can never marry him. Boldwood is angry and jealous, and even threatens violence against Troy, especially since Troy has a bad reputation as a womanizer. Bathsheba is nervous about what will happen when Troy, who is currently away in Bath, returns and she decides to go to Bath herself to end the relationship and tell him not to come back. However, when Troy and Bathsheba return from Bath, they are married, a fact which Troy reveals to Boldwood only after playing a cruel trick on him and deceiving Boldwood into offering to pay Troy to marry the woman he loves. Both Boldwood and Gabriel are deeply upset by this reckless decision.

Their worries seem well-founded, since Troy quickly proves to be lazy and unmotivated to help with running the farm. Gabriel narrowly averts disaster when a severe thunderstorm takes place on the night of the harvest celebrations and he takes the initiative to protect the uncovered crops since everyone else at the farm has gotten too drunk to help out. With Troy showing no signs of wanting to change his behavior, and spending money recklessly, the relationship between him and Bathsheba becomes worse and worse. In October, about 9 months after the beginning of the novel, Troy and Bathsheba meet a young woman walking on the road. She seems to be ill and impoverished, and the sight of her triggers strange behavior from Troy, which he refuses to explain to his wife.

Troy is determined to hide the identity of the woman: Fanny Robbins, who was formerly a servant at the Everdene farm. She and Troy had an affair the previous winter while he was stationed with his troops in Melchester, and Fanny ran away believing she and Troy were going to elope. However, he abandoned her and she found herself pregnant. Now close to giving birth, she is trying to make her way to a local poorhouse. Troy arranges to meet her in a few days time, hoping to give her money and help her. However, after making an agonizing journey to the poorhouse, Fanny and her baby both die during childbirth.

When Bathsheba learns of the death of her former servant, although not the cause, she sends for the body to be brought back to Weatherbury and buried there. Meanwhile, Troy sets out to meet Fanny, unaware of her death. Gabriel arranges for the fact that Fanny died giving birth to be hidden from Bathsheba, but the combination of rumors and her husband's suspicious behavior lead her to open the coffin and find the corpses of both Fanny and the infant inside. Bathsheba also realizes that Troy must be the father of Fanny's child, and when he comes home, the two of them have a heated argument. Bathsheba flees from the house and does not return until the coffin has been taken away. By that time, Troy has also left the house and he is seen leaving town a short time later.

Troy makes his way to the seashore, where he gets caught up in a strong tide while taking a swim. He is rescued by some sailors and impulsively decides to join them on their voyage to America. As a result of this sudden disappearance, Troy is presumed to have drowned, and Bathsheba is declared a widow. This train of events leads Boldwood to hope that he will be able to marry her eventually, although Bathsheba insists that because Troy's death was only established circumstantially, she wants to wait a full 7 years after his death. Time passes, and at the end of the summer, almost a year after his vanishing, Troy secretly returns to Weatherbury. He has gotten tried of living in poverty and is considering reuniting with his wife, although he does not immediately reveal his identity or presence. Meanwhile, Boldwood has mentioned his hopes of marriage to Bathsheba and she has agreed to tell him at Christmas whether or not she will begin the 6-year engagement.

Troy has learned that Bathsheba is considering remarrying, and on Christmas Eve, he makes a surprise appearance at the lavish party Boldwood is throwing. He tries to reclaim Bathsheba as his wife, but Boldwood flies into a rage and shoots and kills him. Boldwood is initially sentenced to death for this crime, but is eventually found to be insane and sentenced to life in prison. Bathsheba is traumatized by these events but slowly recovers, becoming more and more dependent on Gabriel to help her run the farm. She is shocked and unhappy to learn that he plans to leave England and move to America. This news leads Bathsheba to reflect on how valuable and loyal Gabriel has been. One night, she goes to his cottage to ask him why he is determined to leave, and as the two talk, it becomes clear that they both love each other, but have each been confused about the feelings of the other. A short time later, Gabriel and Bathsheba finally marry with much rejoicing from the local people and farm workers.

Characters

Gabriel Oak

The novel's hero, Gabriel Oak is a farmer, shepherd, and bailiff, marked by his humble and honest ways, his exceptional skill with animals and farming, and an unparalleled loyalty. He is Bathsheba's first suitor, later the bailiff on her farm, and finally her husband at the very end of the novel. Gabriel is characterized by an incredible ability to read the natural world and control it without fighting against it. He occupies the position of quiet observer throughout most of the book, yet he knows just when to step in to save Bathsheba and others from catastrophe.

Bathsheba Everdene

The beautiful young woman at the center of the novel, who must choose among three very different suitors. She is the protagonist, propelling the plot through her interaction with her various suitors. At the beginning of the novel, she is penniless, but she quickly inherits and learns to run a farm in Weatherbury, where most of the novel takes place. Her first characteristic that we learn about is her vanity, and Hardy continually shows her to be rash and impulsive. However, not only is she independent in spirit, she is independent financially; this allows Hardy to use her character to explore the danger that such a woman faces of losing her identity and lifestyle through marriage.

Sergeant Francis (Frank) Troy

The novel's antagonist, Troy is a less responsible male equivalent of Bathsheba. He is handsome, vain, young, and irresponsible, though he is capable of love. Early in the novel he is involved with Fanny Robin and gets her pregnant. At first, he plans to marry her, but when they miscommunicate about which church to meet at, he angrily refuses to marry her, and she is ruined. He forgets her and marries the rich, beautiful Bathsheba. Yet when Fanny dies of poverty and exhaustion later in the novel with his child in her arms, he cannot forgive himself.

William Boldwood

Bathsheba's second suitor and the owner of a nearby farm, Boldwood, as his name suggests, is a somewhat wooden, reserved man. He seems unable to fall in love until Bathsheba sends him a valentine on a whim, and suddenly he develops feelings for her. Once he is convinced he loves her, he refuses to give up his pursuit of her, and he is no longer rational. Ultimately, he becomes crazy with obsession, shoots Troy at his Christmas party, and is condemned to death. His sentence is changed to life imprisonment at the last minute.

Fanny Robin

A young orphaned servant girl at the farm who runs away the night Gabriel arrives, attempts to marry Sergeant Troy, and finally dies giving birth to his child at the poor house in Casterbridge. She is a foil to Bathsheba, showing the fate of women who are not well cared for in this society.

Themes

Love

Love is a major theme of the novel; in fact, the plot revolves around Bathsheba trying to understand what love truly is, and what type of man is worthy of giving her love to. Each of her suitors represents a different kind of love. Boldwood offers a love that is intense, obsessive, and functions like a form of ownership; he tries to buy her love with luxurious goods and promises of sharing in his prosperity. Troy offers her a passionate, sexually charged love that is very pleasurable in the short term but quickly fades away, and is not substantiated with long-term devotion or compatibility. It is Gabriel who offers her a quiet, unassuming, but steadfast and reliable love that will endure through problems and challenges. As Bathsheba matures, she comes to realize what real love is, and that Gabriel is the best partner for her.

Independence

Bathsheba is determined to assert her independence; she knows that many people assume that because she is a woman, she needs to get married and have a husband to help her with the farm. Bathsheba rejects the idea of marrying out of social convention; when Gabriel first proposes, she makes it clear that she only wants to marry for love. Through hard work and intelligence, she is fairly successful at proving that she can successfully manage her own farm as an independent woman. However, Bathsheba’s ideal of independence is a bit of an illusion, since while she thinks she is taking care of everything, she is actually dependent on Gabriel’s help the entire time. If he had abandoned her or refused to help her during crises like the sheep getting poisoned or the storm breaking out on the night of the harvest supper, she could have been ruined.

Deceit

Deceit is an important theme since various characters create unfortunate situations through a lack of honesty. Bathsheba unleashes a long and tragic series of events through the simple and playful deception of sending Boldwood a valentine and misleading him about her feelings. Later, Troy repeatedly tricks and deceives characters around him, especially Bathsheba. He does not reveal the nature of his relationship with Fanny, and when he returns from America, he disguises his identity at the fair. The scale of deceit ranges from relatively harmless to very serious, and yet it always has negative consequences, showing that honesty and integrity are the ways to lead a happy life.

Reliability 

The character who best exemplifies the theme of reliability is Gabriel. Whenever something goes wrong, he can be counted on to help out, and even though Bathsheba sometimes takes him for granted and mistreats him, he stands by her. Gabriel’s reliability is rewarded by the end of the novel in both his personal and professional life. His good reputation for his dedicated service to the Everdene farm allows him to lease Boldwood’s farm and hope for bright prospects as a farmer. Bathsheba realizes the value of his devoted love and agrees to marry him. However, Gabriel’s reliability is valuable because he is humble and giving. In contrast, Boldwood is also very consistent in his devoted love for Bathsheba, but he is demanding and insistent on trying to possess her, rather than being content to love and serve her faithfully even if she never returns his feelings.

Fate

While the novel explores the moral choices faced by various characters and the consequences of those choices, it is clear that not everything is under the control of individuals. Many of the characters seem to be ruled by fate and unable to escape from certain experiences or events. Even though Gabriel has made all the right decisions to advance his career at the start of the novel, he loses everything through a single ill-fated event. Bathsheba also experiences reversals of fate, as she goes from being financially destitute to being a wealthy heiress. Various chance encounters also bring the characters together, such as the accidental meetings of Gabriel and Bathsheba, and Bathsheba and Troy. This theme suggests that human lives play out amidst larger forces that they cannot control or predict.

Nature

Nature is a major theme in the novel, since the progress of the plot is closely tied to the passage of time, the change of seasons, and the rhythm of life on the farm. Cycles like the growing and harvesting of crops and the reproduction of the sheep structure the everyday lives of the characters and enable them to earn their livelihood. Gabriel's skill and success as a farmer stems from his ability to stay attuned to nature; other characters, like Troy, fail to appreciate nature and see it as something they can mostly ignore or exploit for profit.

Patience

Patience is shown as a virtue to be rewarded, even though it is not easy for characters to acquire. Gabriel takes a patient approach to his work, not being afraid of starting over and gradually progressing through his career. He also understands that doing farm tasks slowly and meticulously ensures they will be done well, and supports the success of the farm in the long run. He takes the same approach to his feelings for Bathsheba, remaining steadfastly loyal to her even though she sometimes takes him for granted and seems to have fallen in love with another man. Bathsheba does not naturally display as much patience since she likes to follow her impulses, but she gradually learns to appreciate a slower and more careful approach to life.