UNIT 3 FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

Structure

3.0 Introduction
3.1 Aims and Objectives
3.2 A short summary of the novel
3.3 Analysis of the novel
3.3.1 Nature: its role in the novel.
3.3.2 Themes of the novel
3.3.3 Conclusion: a tragedy with a happy ending
3.4 Summing Up
3.5 Unit end Questions
3.6 Glossary
3.7 Reading List
3.8 References

3.0 INTRODUCTION

Far From the Madding Crowd is Hardy’s fourth novel and this is considered to be his warmest
and sunniest novel. Most of his major novels especially those written in his later years like Tess
of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure have tragic endings. But this novel is in line with
happy, meaningful and conventional endings, with the marriage of the female protagonist
Bathsheba to the unpretentious hero, Gabriel Oak who has been in love with her right through
the narrative. This is a conventional love story where constancy in love, however unflashy and
restrained, gets its just reward.

This unit attempts to give a summary of the novel, but not as a shortcut to learning the story
without reading the full novel. The story in brief is meant to perk your interest to read the book
in the original and enjoy Hardy’s storytelling technique and his power of describing the scenes
where the story takes place.

3.1 OBJECTIVES

After studying this Unit, you will be able to

*discuss the summary of the novel

*analyse the plot in relation to the role of Nature
*discuss the themes that are interwoven in the novel.
*explain how this novel is both a tragedy and a comedy.

23
3.2 A SHORT SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL
The novel is remarkable for its presentation of the charm of rustic life and the simple, guileless
character of the rural people. It is the inter weaving of the story with the scenic description that
gives the novel an easy momentum, making it one of the great pastoral novels of English
literature.

The story runs smooth without any complexity from the beginning to the end as though on a
straight line, involving the three suitors of Bathsheba - the loyal, simple Gabriel Oak; the Don
Juan, Sergeant Troy; and the frustrated middle-aged wealthy farmer, William Boldwood. It ends
with the happy marriage of Bathsheba and Gabriel Oak. This novel was written towards the end
of the 19th century and a few years later, it was adapted as a play for the stage and much later for
film. Though both film and theatre productions were financially a success, they could not do
justice to Hardy’s imaginative description of Nature and the rustic Wessex that one reads about
in the novel. The merit of Hardy’s novel rests on his picturesque realism, enhanced by his
sensitive understanding of his characters. Hardy displays a highly romanticized version of rustic
life that is in evidence in the almost idyllic descriptions of Wessex. His protagonist, the rustic
shepherd Gabriel Oak with his love of the flute and love for his sheep is a contrast to the
attractive playboy image of Sergeant Troy and the stiff, wealthy farmer Boldwood.

The plot is simple. Gabriel Oak is the owner of a small farm of 200 sheep, and as the novel
opens, he is seen tending to his sheep. He leaves his farm and goes in search of a job where he
meets Bathsheba, a beautiful young woman who happens to be in a wagon near a toll gate close
to his field. He notices her smiling at her own image in a mirror even as she haggles over the toll
charges. Farmer Oak steps in and pays the amount and the woman drives away without a word.
Despite his attraction for her, Oak is sharp in the observation he makes to the gate keeper that
she has one fault: “Vanity”.

Bathsheba Everdene is an attractive young woman, highly independent and educated, who in a
male dominated rural world of the 19thcentury has the boldness to work in a farm on equal terms
with men. She is without fortune at the beginning, but soon after, she inherits her uncle’s
prosperous farm and in a world where managing farms and estates is in the domain of men, she
proves she is no less than anyone of them.

One of the fortuitous incidents that brings Oak closer to her is when she saves him from fire that
engulfed his hut when he was asleep. He had fallen asleep in his shepherd's hut with the hearth lit
and windows closed. When the hut catches fire, he almost dies of suffocation but Bathsheba
breaks in and saves him. He thanks her and asks her name. Not only does she refuse to give her
name, she also challenges him to find it out for himself. There are a few more occasions when he
spots her without her knowledge and he slowly realizesthat he is in love with her. He makes bold
to seek her hand in marriage, but she refuses saying she is not in love with him. When he asks
her a second time and she again refuses, he agrees to drop the matter, though he declares he will
always love her.

24
Activity 1

What in your opinion does this tell us about Oak? Is he shy and willing to accept Bathsheba’s
rejection of his love or is he a practical man willing to wait to win over Bathsheba?

Bathsheba leaves for Weatherbury after inheriting her uncle’s farm. Meanwhile, disaster strikes
Gabriel Oak as one of his young sheep dogs unwittingly chases his flock of sheep into a huge
chalk pit where they drown. Gabriel loses all his life’s savings that he had invested in his sheep.
He loses not only the sheep, but, since many of them were pregnant ewes, all their unborn lambs.
He leaves his farm in Newcombe Hill and goes to find a job in Weatherbury in response to an
advertisement asking for a bailiff to work in a farm. But he could not get the job as the hiring
employers learn that Oak himself had been an owner of a sheep farm and therefore will not be
the suitable person to be employed as a farm hand. Oak is not disheartened and tries to earn
money by playing his flute.

Activity 2.

What trait of Gabriel Oak do you see in the above episode?

Yet another fortuitous event takes place. Oak falls asleep in a wagon that was going to
Weatherbury, where Bathsheba has settled. When he wakes up and slips out of the wagon, he
sees something on fire at a distance. He finds a straw-rick (a large stack of straw, wheat, or other
grain) on fire. As a shepherd, Gabriel has the knowledge to extinguish a farm fire and with his
quick action and response, he succeeds in putting out the fire. The mistress of the farm in a veil
comes to him and thanks him and asks him how she should repay his services. He tells her that
she could hire him on her farm to give her a helping hand. The woman lifts her veil and Oak is
delightfully surprised to recognize her as Bathsheba. She engages him on her farm.

Oak is accepted by the farm labourers as he easily mingles with them. He learns from others that
Bathsheba was left penniless by her father, but her uncle has made her his heiress. He also learns
that she is a strong woman who has decided to manage the farm by herself and displays her
strength when she dismisses her bailiff for stealing barley from the farm. He also hears that one
of her young servants, Fanny Robin has mysteriously disappeared and is suspected to have
committed suicide. Bathsheba asks her workers to find Fanny, or get information about her as to
who her lover is with whom she might have fled. She comes to know vaguely that Fanny had a
soldier sweetheart.

A third fortuitous event takes place when Oak has an unexpected meeting with a poorly dressed
young woman as he walks back to the inn where he stays. The sparsely clad woman is Fanny
Robin who pleads with him not to tell anyone that he has seen her. On seeing this pathetic,
poorly clad woman, Gabriel offers her a shilling. Bathsheba receives a visitor in her farm: he is
Boldwood, a middle-aged farmer. Though she does not meet him immediately, she comes to
know that he is a wealthy man, kind, and fond of children. He resists all female attempts to
impress him and shows no interest in women.

25
 Bathsheba wins the approval of all the male farmers by her firm standing and she proves a
match to her competitors in the market where she sells her grains. She lets the men talk, but in
arguing on prices she holds her own firmly like any experienced dealer even though she is a
woman in a man’s world. But there is an elasticity in her firmness which makes her far removed
from obstinacy and at the same time there is a naïveté in the way she reduces the price
Boldwood is the only man who does not focus his attention on her. In a whimsical gesture,
Bathsheba sends him a Valentine card with a seal that says “Marry Me”. But she does not affix
her signature.

Boldwood is puzzled as to who could have sent the Valentine card. At that time, the mailman
hands him an envelope which he opens to find that the mail is for Gabriel Oak. Seeing Gabriel
Oak walking across the field, he hands him the letter with apologies for having mistakenly
opened it. Gabriel reveals to him the contents of the letter which is from Fanny Robin. The letter
says that she is going to marry Sergeant Troy. Even though Fanny had requested him to maintain
secrecy about her, Gabriel informs Boldwood as the latter is genuinely concerned about Fanny.
Boldwood feels skeptical as he knows Troy to be untrustworthy. Boldwood then shows Gabriel,
the unsigned Valentine card and asks him if he can identify the sender. Gabriel recognizes the
writing, and Boldwood is puzzled and bewildered when Gabriel tells him that it is from
Bathsheba.

In a twist of fate, Fanny fails to turn up at All Saints’ Church, where she is supposed to get
married to Sergeant Troy, a dashing, handsome soldier, as she mistakenly waits for him in a
different church, All Souls Church. Troy, who is waiting for Fanny feels embarrassed as the
congregation at All Saints’ Church - mainly comprising inquisitive women begin to move out.
Troy is infuriated by his humiliation before the old women who wait to witness his wedding and
takes out his rage on poor, confused Fanny. He is noncommittal to Fanny’s plea to get married
the next day. She is terrified to see his fury, the first hint at his real nature.

For the first time Boldwood meets Bathsheba in the market and finds her beautiful. Hardy
describes this meeting thus: "Adam had awakened from his deep sleep, and behold! there was
Eve. and for the first time he really looked at her." Bathsheba becomes aware of having made an
impression, but regrets her capricious, impulsive action of sending him a Valentine card. Hardy
briefly shows the new awareness of Bathsheba and Boldwood for each other. Boldwood is naïve
and he fails to notice Bathsheba’s wilful caprice and intentional frivolity in sending him the
Valentine message with the two words ‘Marry Me’. So also Bathsheba does not realize how her
careless and impulsive act will have tragic consequences.

Activity 3

Explain the reference to Adam and Eve in this section. Whom does the reference relate to?

Boldwood meets Bathsheba when she is in the fields with Gabriel Oak. Though Boldwood does
not speak to her, Oak intuitively senses that Boldwood is deeply in love with Bathsheba. He also
suspects her to have done something impish that may lead to future complications. A few days
later, Boldwood overcoming his shyness, suddenly proposes to Bathsheba. Her response was
quick: “Mr.Boldwood, though I respect you much, I do not feel - what would justify me to-

26
accepting your offer.” Boldwood tells her that despite his age, he will make a better husband who
cares for her than any young man. Bathsheba asks for six weeks time to give him her final
answer.

Hardy, who is famous for weaving his tale through a series of twists, brings in Sergeant Troy, the
third suitor to seek Bathsheba’s hand. He is untrustworthy, a charmer, a flatterer, and a liar.
After rejecting the offers of Oak and Boldwood, Bathsheba is captivated by the charm and ardent
wooing of Sergeant Troy. Troy initially has no intention of marrying Bathsheba and true to his
nature, merely pursues her lightheartedly. She is flattered by his pretentious solicitousness and is
completely taken in by him, revealing herself to be rather gullible and guileless. It is her own
vanity that makes her think he is sincere. Boldwood is upset as he knows Troy as a seducer of
women. Boldwood is angry and launches into a long, distraught harangue with Bathsheba:
"Bathsheba, sweet, lost coquette, pardon me! I've been blaming you, threatening you, behaving
like a churl to you, when he's (Troy) the greatest sinner. He stole your dear heart away with his
unfathomable lies! . . . I pray God he may not come into my sight, for I may be tempted beyond
myself . . . yes, keep him away from me." This sounds ominous as Boldwood shoots Troy
towards the latter part of the novel.

But at this point in the story he tries to bribe Troy and offers him 500 pounds to marry Fanny and
leave Bathsheba. Boldwood is shocked when Troy pockets the money but does not marry Fanny,
driving her to a penniless state and death. Boldwood approaches Troy once again and in order to
protect Bathsheba’s honour, makes yet another offer of 500 pounds if he leaves her. Troy teases
him by showing a newspaper announcing Bathsheba’s recent marriage to Troy. Derisively Troy
tells Boldwood: “Yours is the ridiculous fate which always attends interference between a man
and his wife.” Bathsheba’s vanity, Boldwood’s naive and artless nature, and Troy’s libertinism
and profligacy come together to spell disaster for Bathsheba. She settles for the glib, suave
soldier in place of the anxious and clear thinking Boldwood and the truthful and steadfast
Gabriel Oak.

Gabriel Oak is honest, fair in his judgement and has the courage to confront Bathsheba and
warn her about Troy. Though he is almost certain that she will not listen to him, he deems it his
duty to speak. He begs her to be discreet: "Bathsheba, dear mistress, this I beg you to consider -
that, both to keep yourself well honoured among the workfolk, and in common generosity to an
honourable man who loves you as well as I, you should be more discreet in your bearing towards
this soldier." She dismisses his advice with a foolish comment that Gabriel Oak’s remarks were
born out of his frustration over her refusal to marry him. Oak’s honest response that he has
stopped thinking about the possibility of marrying her hurts her. Bathsheba is upset not only by
his frankness, but more so by his indifference to her.

In a fit of anger, Bathsheba dismisses Gabriel Oak from her service for meddling with her
personal life. But he agrees to go only if she hires a good bailiff in his place. When she does not
do so, Gabriel refuses to leave the farm. As luck would have it her lambs are taken ill and the
only one who can cure them is Gabriel Oak. Bathsheba immediately recalls him to join back.
While Oak experiences anxiety over Bathsheba’s relationship with Troy, Boldwood, very unlike
the dignified, Boldwood at the beginning of the story displays great anger. Hardy gives us a hint
of the potential violence in him.

27
Troy, a charming liar ensnares Bathsheba. He indulges in flattery to woo and win her. He
exhibits his skill with his sword, and Bathsheba is overwhelmed, and falls in his trap. What Troy
asks her in jest to accept him, she takes it seriously and agrees. Troy feels trapped by his own
foolish jest. Her falling for Troy, a handsome, charming, chivalrous, skilful swordsman blind
her to the deceit of the artful dodger. The strong self reliant woman who has never had such an
encounter with someone who is clever and who manages to win over the opposite sex by fake
charm, suddenly loses her strength and shows herself to be a weak and helpless woman. Hardy
writes:

"Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon
their self-reliance. When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength, she is
worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away. One source of
her inadequacy is the novelty of the occasion. She had never had practice in making the
best of such a condition. Weakness is doubly weak by being new.”

Except for the perceptive Gabriel, no one notices her infatuation for Troy. In the absence of
Boldwood who has gone out of town, Gabriel feels responsible to protect her from Troy and
advises her to be more discreet in her bearing towards the soldier. Bathsheba does not wish to
think ill of Troy, does not want to believe the stories about him, and fights against the possibility
of their truth.

Bathsheba marries Troy, and Gabriel is uneasy as he feels that in the near future she will regret
her hasty decision. Boldwood is angry that Bathsheba has preferred the untrustworthy Troy to his
own constancy and loyalty in love. Troy returns to the farm after giving up soldiering. He
celebrates his marriage by drinking with all the farm hands except Gabriel who refuses to get
drunk. It happens to be a stormy night. While Troy and all the farm workers are in a heavy
drunken stupor, Gabriel goes to Bathsheba’s farm and saves the hay ricks from the storm.
Bathsheba also goes out in the night and meets Gabriel at work. Gabriel asks her to leave but she
stays and gratefully says “you are kinder than I deserve. I will stay and help you.” Bathsheba
abruptly confesses the reason for her trip to Bath; she had intended to break off with Troy, but
jealousy of a possible rival and her own distraction had led her to marry him instead.
Bathsheba’s impetuous and hasty actions lead her to disaster. Three men - Troy, carefree and
reaping the advantages of being master of a farm; Boldwood, angry, hurt and experiencing
severe emotional tension and Gabriel, remaining loyal to her despite her refusal to accept his
proposal – change her life.

Their marriage starts crumbling. Troy’s claims to Bathsheba’s money to cover his gambling
losses hint at the disquietude that has set in. He accidentally comes across Fanny, feels guilty for
abandoning her after having an affair with that timid young woman, and leaving her pregnant.
Troy's concern for her is real. Fanny is another victim of his inability, or his refusal, to live by
anything but impulse. Impulse dictated his marriage to Bathsheba, which now is obviously
crumbling.

Fanny dies and both Boldwood and Bathsheba who had been her employers in the past, feel duty
bound to give her a decent burial. The farm labourers know that Fanny had run away to follow a

28
soldier. Only Boldwood and Gabriel are aware that the soldier was none other than Sergeant
Troy. Gabriel sees the coffin with a scrawl on the lid saying ‘Fanny and child”. Gabriel erases
the last word to save her honour.

Bathsheba becomes aware that Fanny had died in childbirth. She had earlier seen Fanny’s golden
hair in Troy’s watch case. Intuitively, Bathsheba arrives at the truth about who Fanny’s lover
was. She shows her pity for the mother and child by placing flowers around their bodies. Troy's
emotion and remorse at Fanny’s death, reinforce her realization that her marriage is over.

Troy who always desires fun and excitement gets bored with the life in the farm. He feels some
remorse for his flirtation with Fanny and leaving her to take a forlorn path that ends with her
death and also that of his child she was carrying . He feels a savage aversion to Bathsheba and
leaves her, seeking solitude. He goes for a swim, is carried away by the deeper currents of water
but is rescued by a passing ship.

Though news of Troy drowning reaches Bathsheba, she refuses to accept it, as deep within she
believes he is alive. She has no emotions left for him and goes about her daily duties. Bathsheba
is remorseful but somewhat relieved when Troy disappears. His clothes are found on the shore of
a bay where he had gone for a swim. The circumstantial evidence points to his death, but
Bathsheba knows intuitively that he is alive. After much persuasion she agrees to wear mourning
clothes as Troy’s widow. Boldwood continues to seek her hand but she says she cannot accept
him before the seven year period of mourning is over. Boldwood who was earlier known for his
farming and managerial skills is reluctant to work and take charge of his farm. Gabriel accepts
his request to attend to his farm after consultation with Bathsheba, whose farm he is already
managing.

Six years pass by, and Boldwood approaches Bathsheba to marry him as per her promise (that
she would marry him after the seven year mourning period, when the law will declare her legally
widowed). Troy returns and interrupts the Christmas party that Boldwood is giving prior to his
marriage. Shocked at his return, the infuriated Boldwood loses cool and shoots him. Troy is
buried beside Fanny, his wronged love. Because of his insanity, Boldwood's sentence is
eventually commuted to internment at the pleasure of Her Majesty, the Queen. Gabriel, who has
served Bathsheba patiently and loyally all this time, marries her at the story's conclusion. The
augury is that, having lived through tragedy together, the pair will now find happiness.

3.3. ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL

The novel has 57 chapters. Harper and Brothers’ first edition of the novel in1912 had 464 pages.
Here we have abridged the book with a focus on the story. In this abridged version of the story,
we have only given a short summary of the novel and not dealt with Hardy’s description of the
rural countryside and the role played by Nature in the progress of the novel. In this section we
will take up the role of Nature in the novel. You will gain an insight into Hardy’s picturesque
description of the Wessex countryside and understand how Hardy uses Nature to echo human
feelings and thoughts. Before analyzing the role of Nature, let us first learn about the location of
the story.

29
The novel is the first to be set in Thomas Hardy's fictitious countryside, Wessex, which he
locates in rural southwest England. Hardy set all of his major novels in the south and southwest
of England. He named the area "Wessex", which he described as ‘a realistic dream country’. But
in reality, there exists no such place. What Hardy does is to recreate real places from the
southwest region of England and fill them with fictional characters from the rural countryside.
His portrayal of the folks from small towns in the farming areas is authentic and real.

In this novel, we find life in the rural region presented idealistically and ends on a happy
fulfillment of human emotions unlike in his later works notably Tess of the D’Urbervilles and
Jude the Obscure which end in tragedies. Far from the Madding Crowd is an early novel of
Hardy where love and constancy win in the end.

The main story of Far from the Madding Crowd, as we discussed above, is that a young woman,
Bathsheba Everdene, has inherited a farm and is courted by three men: Gabriel Oak, a shepherd
who is devoted to her but is ruled out as a suitor due to his low station; Boldwood, a
neighbouring wealthy farmer, upright and reserved; and Sergeant Troy, a dashing soldier. Far
From the Madding Crowd is a great, emotional story about three interesting characters in love
with one strong, beautiful and self-confident woman, and whose one wrong choice changes the
fortunes of all the three suitors. Her impetuous decision causes fatal disaster to one of the suitors
(Sergeant Troy), leads another to crime and punishment (farmer Boldwood) and ends happily
with her marriage to the third suitor (Gabriel Oak). Apart from some minor characters, we have
Nature presented as one more important character playing a very significant role.

3.3.1 Nature: Its role in the Novel.

Though Wessex with its rich pastoral setting does not exist, the simple rustic, jolly characters
bring it alive as they seem to be carriers of old traditions. Hardy says that he went back to early
English history to understand the rural myths and beliefs, their traditions of farming and
transposed them on to 19th century England under the reign of Queen Victoria. Hardy’s attempt,
he said, was to seek a continuity of the past and the present. The rural countryside continues the
age-old serenity and peace which Hardy captures through his Wessex, where society and Nature
are in harmony. In this novel, the Wessex countryside has not felt the impact of the industrial
revolution. Nature and Man still live in close proximity to each other.

Nature does not remain a static entity, but an animated presence and its pristine purity, its
abundant generosity and its energy are embodied in Gabriel Oak. It is the same with Bathsheba
but she deviates through her impulsive acts. She is equally a woman rooted in the rural soil, self-
confident, vivacious and beautiful but unlike the calmness of Nature, she reveals an impulsive
and whimsical self, as a result of which she is restless, agitated and needs a calming influence
that Gabriel Oak, is ever willing to offer.

Boldwood in the early part of the novel, represents the best of Nature in his disciplined and
confident way of living, far from the madding emotions of love and passion, jealousy and
vengeful rage, but Bathsheba’s playful and thoughtless note expressing her interest in him - and
which is not true, but only an impish act - changes him, and in the latter part of the novel he
gives himself to passionate jealousy and kills Troy for coming in the way of his marriage to

30
Bathsheba. He goes against his natural traits and gets out of tune with Nature which is the
personification of selfless generosity, of giving in abundance without any expectation of
receiving in good measure. While Gabriel Oak seeks nothing after Bathsheba rejects his proposal
and works for her selflessly, looks after her personal interest and also her farm, Boldwood is
jolted out of his calm and gentle nature when he begins to love Bathsheba, mistaking her
impetuous request to marry her as genuine and turns violent, in violation of his basic nature. He
shoots Troy because his return will hinder his proposed marriage to Bathsheba. Tory is the anti-
thesis of Nature displaying the city-country conflict as he represents the city’s superficiality and
shallowness in contrast to the country’s naturalness and wholesomeness. His agitation, his
restlessness and flirtatious behaviour is pitted against the quietness, tranquility and serenity in
Nature.

The title “Far from the Madding Crowd” is a line adapted from the 18thcentury “Elegy Written in
a Country Churchyard,” by Thomas Gray (“Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife”). The
word ‘madding’ means frenzied. This serene countryside is far removed from the hurly burly of
the city. Hardy shows the rural peace of the countryside that is not disturbed by the inhabitants.
But it is breached by the man from the town who intrudes into the lives of Bathsheba, Boldwood
and Fanny and wrecks all of them. But Nature’s tranquility represented by Gabriel Oak restores
peace at the end. Nature is constant in her serenity even when there are stormy nights.

Gabriel does not change even when there are ups and downs in his life. He encounters disasters
like the loss of his entire flock of sheep, rejection of his marriage proposal by Bathsheba, and his
instinctive anxiety about her relationship with Troy, and despite all these troubles, he continues
with his professional work and remains loyal to Bathsheba and feels responsible for her
wellbeing. “The constancy of the rural life and of dependable characters such as Oak are still
there when all the trials and tribulations are over, to provide sheet anchor for such as Bathsheba,
‘Far from the Madding Crowd’s ignoble strife’.”1

The calm pastoral landscape, free of strife is set against the turmoil and conflict among men.
Nature with all her calmness poses a challenge to human beings who are compelled to face
natural disaster. The story shows how the one who is able to navigate through vicissitudes of
natural disaster triumphs at the end. The sudden disaster that overtakes Gabriel Oak when he
loses all his sheep changes his life and he is forced out of his home to go in search of a job. He
gets a job when he puts out a fire in Bathsheba’s farm and later he saves a group of lambs from
being poisoned by clover. He is a man of the soil and is skilled to navigate around natural
disasters. In contrast, Troy cannot face Nature’s storm that washes away the flowers he had
planted over Fanny’s grave. He is listless and dissatisfied after his marriage to Bathsheba. He
only wanted to flirt with her, pompously strut around as he is conscious of his handsome
appearance, his soldier’s uniform and his skill as a swordsman. He is surprised at Bathsheba’
willingness to marry him. He marries her not out of genuine feelings of love, but to show off to
the poor, innocent villagers his prize catch and that too won by outsmarting Boldwood. After the
wedding, he celebrates by getting drunk along with the wonderstruck workers in Bathsheba’s
farm. Troy’s pretension of love is in conflict with Nature’s spontaneity and generosity. His
behaviour is yet another conflict generating aspect that ends in tragic disaster.

31
When the storm breaks out at night when Troy and the farm labourers are in a drunken stupor,
Bathsheba joins Gabriel to race against time and storm to safeguard all their farm produce.
Humans then, can work to mitigate conflicts within nature, can rebel – unsuccessfully - against
it, or can become hostile forces of their own. Whichever the case, the novel makes clear that
country life is not exempt from such conflicts”2. And while humans manage natural forces as
best they can, there is little they can do to halt them. In the novel, Hardy uses nature as a
premonition, as a clue to understand the future of some relationships between different
characters. For example, Fanny, most of the time, appears alone, at night, hidden in the darkness.
In chapter seven, she meets Gabriel for the first time; she is alone at night, she is fleeing
Bathsheba's house, to ask Troy to marry her. She is what can be best described as ‘darkness
visible.’ She is no doubt betrayed by Troy, but she is a victim of her fate as she misses out the
church where she is supposed to marry Troy.

Check Your Progress 1

1. What does Wessex stand for in the novel?

2. How does Hardy relate nature to the different characters?

3.3.2 Themes of the Novel

(1) Unrequited love: Gabriel’s love, Boldwood’s passion for Bathsheba, Bathsheba’s
misplaced love for Troy and finally poor Fanny’s innocent love for Troy illustrate this
theme.
(2) Concept of class structure- Bathsheba’s earlier rejection of Gabriel Oak, Farmer
Boldwood’s consciousness of his superiority, Troy’s supercilious attitude towards the
rural folk and Bathsheba’s treatment of her farm workers and her maids are examples of
this class structure.
(3) Catastrophe: Gabriel’s loss of his entire flock of sheep at the beginning of the novel
changes his life, leading him to seek work in Bathsheba’s farm. Nature’s fury and the
stormy nights bring Gabriel and Bathsheba together when she begins to appreciate his
commitment and loyalty despite her rejection of his proposal to marry him.
(4) Fate: Fate, chance, and circumstance rule Hardy’s rural world. Fanny turns up at the
wrong church to marry Sergeant Troy – if this marriage had taken place, one of
Bathsheba’s options would have been removed and Fanny’s tragedy averted. So is the
return of Troy at the nick of time when Bathsheba agrees to keep her promise to marry
Boldwood after the official mourning period of widowhood is over. The result is the
shooting of Troy by Boldwood and his imprisonment as a consequence. Destiny brings a
happy ending to the story with Bathsheba’s acceptance of Gabriel and marriage to him.

Check Your Progress 2:

Write a note on the themes of Far from the Madding Crowd.

32
3.3.3 Conclusion:

This novel is one of the very few novels of Hardy that ends on a happy note though the elements
of tragedy cannot be ignored. It has elements both of tragedy and comedy and approximates to
the dramatic genre called ‘tragicomedy’. The German writer and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim
Lessing speaks of tragicomedy as a mix of seriousness and pain: “Tragicomedy allows works of
literature to explore depths and paradoxes of human experience unavailable to strict comedies
and tragedies.”3 In this respect Far From the Madding crowd explores different human
experiences - of love, constancy, rejection, depression, and anger. Far from the Madding Crowd
starts on a tragic note with the memorable image of all Gabriel Oak’s flock of sheep running
over a cliff in the dark. Although this is disastrous for him personally, it proves to be lucky, as he
goes in search of a job and meets Bathsheba, whom he ultimately marries. Troy’s desertion of
Fanny and the death of Fanny and their unborn child is tragic. In fact, later Troy mourns at
Fanny’s grave and although he had been false to her in life, he decorates her grave with
expensive flowers. Ironically the heavy rains that night made water leak from the church roof,
and through the mouth of one gargoyle floods the grave. Boldwood’s shooting of Troy is
sensational and overtly melodramatic. It is a calamitous ending for both the suitors who with a
single bullet have put an end to both their claims over Bathsheba. It enables the novel to end on a
happy note as there is nothing to come in the way of the union of the lead pair. The happy
ending after a series of tragic events makes almost everything turn out for the best for the
protagonists. We may recall here, Thomas Hardy’s wise observation on writing: “The whole
secret of fiction and the drama - in the constructional part - lies in the adjustment of things
unusual to the things eternal and universal.” 4

3.4 SUMMING UP

You should definitely read the story in the original to appreciate Hardy’ gifts as a story teller. In
this Unit, we have discussed the summary of the novel in brief; analysed the role of Nature in the
novel, focusing on the one–to- one correspondence between nature and the four major characters,
and considered Far from the Madding Crowd as a combination of elements of tragedy and
comedy.

3.5 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1. Justify the novel’s title Far from the Madding Crowd.

3. Is the novel a tragicomedy?

3.6 GLOSSARY

Rustic: Rural, of the countryside

Guileless: Simple, undesigning, not scheming
Interweaving: interlacing, blending
Momentum: impetus, thrust, drive
Pastoral: Rural, rustic, countryside
Don Juan: A habitual seducer of women
Idyllic: idealized, picturesque

33
Protagonist: Leading character
Playboy: Womanizer, Pleasure seeker
Ewes: female sheep
Haggling: quarreling, arguing
Fortuitous: Happening by chance, lucky, fortunate
Hearth: A fireplace
Bailiff: An overseer of an estate; a steward.
Shilling: in Britain until 1971, a coin worth one-twentieth of a Pound
Hoary: ancient, venerable
Naivete: Unaffected simplicity, lack of worldliness
Mailman: One who deliversmail, postman
Skeptical: Having doubt
Congregation: A gathering
Inquisitive: curious, inquiring
Adam and Eve: The first Man and the first Woman, ancestors of all humans
Capricious: Unpredictable, impulsive
Impish: Mischievous, prankish
Solicitousness: excessive concern
Gullible: Easily trusting, unsuspecting
Distraught: Deeply agitated
Harangue: A long, pompous speech
Coquette: A flirt
Churl: A rude boorish person
Libertinism: a tendency to unrestrained, often licentious or dissolute conduct
Profligacy: immorality, dissipation, depravity
Suave: smooth tongued, charming
Artful Dodger: A sly rogue, a miscreant
Stupor: a state of numbness, drunken state of reduced consciousness
Impetuous: hasty
Augury: forerunner
Proximity: Closeness
Static: Fixed, stationary
Entity: Something that exists as a particular unit
Animated: lively, dynamic
Pristine : remaining in a pure state.
Anti-thesis: opposite
Navigate: drive, maneuver, steer
Vicissitude: change
Unrequited: Unreciprocated, not returned

3.7 READING LIST: CRITICAL WORKS ON THOMAS HARDY

Page, Norman, Oxford Reader’s Companion to Hardy.

Nathalie, Bantz, “Far from the Madding Crowd and the Anxiety of Place.”
“Notes on Far From the Madding Crowd.” Methuen & Co.
C. G. Harper. The Hardy Country.

34
3.8 REFERENCES:

1. Notes on Far from the Madding Crowd, Metheun&Co.

2.www.litcharts.com › lit › themes › conflict-and-the-laws-of-nature.
3. A Hardy Companion: A Guide to the works of Thomas Hardy by F.B. Pinion, Springer
publications, 2016.

35