Far From The Madding Crowd

Far From The Madding Crowd

Author profile: Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in Upper Bock Hampton he was educated at local schools and then he began life as an architect.

He wrote his first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, in 1867. It was not received well. Four years later he wrote three more novels, two anonymously and one bearing his name; they were received slightly better then the first. His popularity and fame did not bloom until the release of his fifth novel, Far From the Madding Crowd.

This novel launched him into the public eye and helped him to become the amazing writer and creator of the Wessex novels, as we know him today.

The major turning point in Hardy's life was the reception of his novel, Jude the Obscure. Because of the major conflict concerning the book and it's readers, Hardy swore to never write fiction again.

In 1928, at the age of eighty-eight, after writing some poetry and short stories, Hardy died and was buried next to Dickens in Westminster Abbey.

First edition: The first edition of this book was published in 1874.

Narrative modes: The book is structured in twelve short chapters. There are lot of dialogue and narrative parts that make the story more flowing and less boring. The description of the facts and the characters results not very detailed.

Narrator: In the text we have an omniscient third person narrator who tells us the course of facts. In this case it is non-obtrusive.

Setting of the story: The actions take place in the 1840's in South-West England, precisely in Weatherbury. Is present a social setting that refers to the social environment in which the story takes place.

Description of the main characters:

Bathsheba Everdene: She is the protagonist of the story, the beautiful young woman who had to choose among three different suitors. Initially poor, she soon inherited a big fortune and moved to Weatherbury were she became independent. She represents the dynamic character who changes the way of thinking as a result of the experiences she has.

Gabriel Oak He was a loyal, sensible farmer and shepherd who loved Bathsheba very much. Gabriel was a strong man who was always next to his beloved  especially in the most difficult moments and saved her from the fire. He can be considered a static character.

Sergeant Troy: If we have to find an antagonist, we can say he is the only person who mostly resembles to this figure. He was an irresponsible type, a vain Casanova able to let all the women to fall in love with him. Early in the story, Troy got Fanny Robin pregnant and then forgot her to marry the rich Bathsheba.

William Boldwood: He's Bathsheba's second suitor. Boldwood, as his name suggests, was a timid and reserved man. When Bathsheba sent him a valentine's card, he immediately fell in love with her showing his more hidden feelings.
Eventually, obsessed by this love, he became crazy and killed Sergeant Troy. 

Summary This book talks about Bathsheba Everdene, a beautiful woman who lived in a little village in South-West England where she met Gabriel Oak, a 28 year old shepherd who aspired to be a farmer.

One evening, Gabriel saved her life and immediately he fell in love with her; he also asked Bathsheba to marry him but her answer was negative because she didn't love him.

After having inherited a big fortune from his uncle, she moved away to Weatherbury where she became independent financially also thanks to the help of Gabriel, hired as a shepherd to Bathsheba, arrived in the town after having lost his sheep.

Her neighbor, Mr Farmer Boldwood, proposed to marry her after she sent him a valentine card as a joke and he became her second suitor obsessed by her beauty. For the second time she refused the proposal but then she decided to riconsider it.

Later on the same day that she was asked to be married she met a soldier named Troy who fell in love with her and convinced her to marry him. What she didn't know about Seargent Troy was that he had just got a girl, Fanny Robin, pregnant and was just about to marry her.

Shortly after they got married the girl that Troy got pregnant had his child and died during the birth.

When Bathsheba discovered that his husband was the father, Troy ran away obsessed by the senses of guilt and was thought he's drowned.

Supposing that Troy was dead, Boldwood pressed Bathsheba for a date when she will marry him.

At the Christmas Eve party at Boldwood's, Troy turned up and Boldwood, now a man driven to madness by his obsession over Bathsheba, killed him with a shotgun.

Bathsheba cleaned the body and arranged it to be buried besides Fanny. Eventually, Boldwood was sentenced to death and Oak married Bathsheba, now more sober and less lively.

Principal themes: This novel is an excellent description of people in society. In my opinion, each character represents the different personalities that exist today: Bathesheba Everdene being the vain and proud, Gabriel Oak being the hardworking and loyal, Francis Troy being the manipulator or the deceiver and Mr. Boldwood being the naļve and obsessed. Roles that, at the end, are surprisingly inverted. Predominant it is the theme of love.

Message of the book: The book stresses the brittleness and the ability of transformation of the human character that can vary in base to the circumstances and the context. It explains us that a person cannot be judged at first sight because everybody, with the time, can change and what is more also your point of view can be different. So, never say never!

Personal opinion: The narration is very exciting and interesting and the book is written with an easy and comprehensible language. The story is very charming and fascinating and the author is very skilled in to create situations of suspense. What is more I like this book because it makes us reflect on matters still actual.