Far from the Madding Crowd Summary

About the Author

After releasing several relatively successful works, Thomas Hardy was approached by the editor of the prominent literary magazine Cornhill in December 1872 about writing a story for serial publication. The resulting book, Far from the Madding Crowd, became an honorable mention for a well-known magazine and Hardy's first literary success. Between January and December of 1874, it was first published in serial form in Cornhill, and the same year in London, it was also published in book form. Although Hardy had previously written several books, this was the first of five that would establish his legacy in literature.

Introduction

Young woman Bathsheba Everdene and the three men in her life: one is a poor sheep farmer who loses his flock in a tragic event and ends up working as an employee on Bathsheba's farm; one is the respectable, boring owner of a neighboring farm who takes Bathsheba's flirtations too seriously; and the third is a dashing army sergeant who treats her with respect. Hardy provides readers with a strong illustration of Victorian romanticism by recounting their dreams, intentions, and disappointments. At the same time, his awareness of the life of farmers in rural England positions him as a predecessor of the realistic literary tradition.

The fictitious English country of Wessex, which Hardy meticulously described throughout his writing career, is the setting of Far from the Madding Crowd. It is comparable to Dorset, where Hardy spent most of his life, yet its imaginary nature allowed the author to characterize the countryside as he wanted. Far from the Madding Crowd was written in the same Dorset home where Hardy was born and his grandparents constructed in 1800. Despite being a work of fiction, the citizens of Wessex?farmers, landowners, laborers, servants, and the like?are regarded as accurate representations of people living when the novel was written.

The Plot of the Novel

This work is one of Hardy's few to have a happy ending, even though sadness is unavoidable. It resembles the theatrical genre, ' tragicomedy,' containing tragedy and comedy. According to German writer and philosopher Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Tragicomedy combines seriousness and pain: "Tragicomedy allows works of literature to explore depths and mysteries of human experience unavailable to strict comedies and tragedies."

Far from the Madding Crowd explores many human emotions, like love, constancy, rejection, sadness, and fury. Far from the Madding Crowd begins on an emotional note, with the unique vision of Gabriel Oak's entire flock of sheep going over an edge in the dark. Although this is devastating for him, it is fortunate since he travels searching for work and meets Bathsheba, whom he eventually marries. Troy's rejection of Fanny and the deaths of Fanny and their unborn child are heartbreaking.

Troy eventually mourns at Fanny's funeral, and despite having been unfaithful to her in life, he dedicates her with beautiful flowers. Ironically, the severe rains that night caused water to flow from the church roof, flooding the grave through the opening of one gargoyle. Troy was filmed in a posh and highly theatrical manner by Boldwood. It is a tragic finish for both rivals, who have ended their claims to Bathsheba with a single bullet.

Since the main couple's union doesn't provide any challenges, the story can come to a happy conclusion. The joyful finale of a sequence of terrible circumstances ensures that practically everything works out for the heroes. We might recall Thomas Hardy's thoughtful comment on writing: "The whole secret of fiction and drama - in the constructional part - lies in the adjustment of unusual things to eternal and universal things."

Character Summary

Bathsheba Everdene

Bathsheba is the novel's essential character. At the tale's start, she is about twenty years old and poor, self-centered, working on her aunt's farm. When Oak first sees her, she takes out a mirror and checks her face, unaware anyone is watching. She flirts with Oak but declines his marriage proposal since she does not feel he can put up with a strong-minded woman like herself.

Bathsheba assumes control over the property after her uncle dies and leaves it to her. She dismisses the cop for stealing and, rather than hiring another cop, takes over farm management herself. However, she still has a flirtatious side, and on Valentine's Day, she sends the conservative bachelor who lives next door an anonymous card. She feels horrible when he takes her love declaration seriously and cannot deny him flatly.

Bathsheba is a responsible employer. She rewards her staff with bonuses when business is booming. When Bathsheba discovers that Fanny Robin, a worker for her uncle, has passed away, she arranges to bring her body back to Weatherbury and bury it there.

William Boldwood

Boldwood is a forty-year-old bachelor who owns the property next to the Everdene farm. When Fanny Robin's parents die, he accepts responsibility for looking after her. Bathsheba Everdene initially encounters Boldwood when he visits her shortly after taking over her uncle's land. Her maid informs her that Boldwood is a confirmed bachelor with little interest in women, driving Bathsheba to write him an anonymous Valentine.

Boldwood starts to consider women after receiving a Valentine. He convinces himself that he is in love with Bathsheba. Because he is used to professional contacts rather than personal ones, he pushes her to marry him and needs clarification when she declines. When she marries Troy, Boldwood feels cheated and leaves his land. After Troy is presumed dead, Boldwood takes the fact that she will not remarry for seven years, indicating that she will marry him at the end of that period. When she promises she will respond by Christmas, he throws a magnificent celebration, expecting she will become his fianc�e.

When Boldwood is imprisoned for killing Troy, the scope of his beliefs becomes clear. Locked closets are discovered at his home, full of clothes, furs, and jewelry, all addressed to "Bathsheba Boldwood," with a date seven years ahead when he expects her to marry him. Boldwood is not put to death for killing Troy because he is insane.

Jan Coggan

Coggan is introduced as a guy who frequently witnesses marriages and baptisms around the area. Oak stays at Coggan's residence when he comes to Weatherbury. Coggan becomes a friend aware of Oak's previous relationship with Bathsheba.

Pennyways

Pennyways works as the cop at Everdene Farm. Soon after taking over the farm, Bathsheba discovers Pennyways slipping out of the barn with half a sack of barley and fires him. He later appears at the Greenhill Fair, where he recognizes Troy as a performer. His attempt to alert Bathsheba of Troy's presence fails, and he eventually becomes Troy's partner in Troy's quest to reclaim himself at the property.

Joseph Poorgrass

Joseph is timid, and the other agricultural workers criticize him for it. He has a drinking problem. When he is obligated to return Fanny Robin's body to the Everdene farm, he stops at the Boar's Head and drinks so late that he does not return to the funeral.

Fanny Robin

The womanizing Sergeant Troy takes advantage of the depressed young woman Fanny before leaving her. Fanny worked on the Everdene farm for years before leaving a few days after Bathsheba arrived because Troy's firm relocated. She travels to the new quarters to find out when Troy will marry her. Troy refuses to marry her after arriving late for the wedding ceremony because she went to the wrong church. Troy meets her after he marries Bathsheba. Fanny is poverty-stricken. Troy wants to assist her, but she dies before he can.

Oak attempts to conceal that Fanny died unmarried and with a kid. When Troy got to know about it, he expressed his genuine sadness. Instead of his lovely, wealthy wife, Bathsheba, he claims Fanny to be his sole genuine love.

Summary

The story opens in Norcombe, where Gabriel Oak is a young farmer. He meets Bathsheba Everdene, who resides with her aunt nearby, one day when she saves him from unforeseen suffocation. He rapidly falls in love with her and proposes marriage; however, she rejects his proposal and soon relocates to neighboring Weatherbury. A short while later, Gabriel's sheepdog in training unintentionally breaks his entire herd off a cliff, leaving him bankrupt.

Some months later, he is on his way to hunt for the job when he comes upon Weatherbury. When he sees a barn on fire, he rushes to help. Bathsheba, who received her uncle's property, owns the barn. Unaware of their past, the locals request that Bathsheba hire the heroic Gabriel as a shepherd, to which she agrees. Gabriel finds a place to stay and becomes a dependable employee for Bathsheba; their relationship stays professional.

On Valentine's Day, Bathsheba writes a humorous Valentine to her neighbor William Boldwood, a wealthy local farmer, because Boldwood never pays attention to her in the marketplaces or at church. Boldwood, a severe guy, takes the Valentine as a sincere expression of love and falls in love with Bathsheba. He follows her until she agrees to consider marrying him in five or six weeks, provided he agrees to leave her alone till then.

During this period, Bathsheba meets Sergeant Troy, a young military soldier on leave from the region. Troy is attractive and passionate, and when he chases Bathsheba, she falls in love with him against the cautions of those around her. They both married privately. Boldwood is disturbed and sinks into a deep sadness, ignoring his crops and losing most of his harvest to a big storm.

However, after their marriage, Troy becomes more interested in drinking and gambling than settling down, and Bathsheba rapidly regrets marrying him. Furthermore, Troy still holds romantic sentiments for an ex-girlfriend. Bathsheba had no idea that Troy's previous sweetheart was Fanny Robin, a former servant who suddenly vanished. Bathsheba takes care of retrieving the body and arranging the burial after learning that Fanny died in a poor house in neighboring Casterbridge. During this time, she discovers Troy's link to Fanny, proven when Troy arrives and discovers Fanny in the coffin. He tells Bathsheba that he has always loved Fanny and that Bathsheba means nothing to him.

Troy goes away from Budmouth after arranging for a monument for Fanny. He swims on a neighboring beach and gets washed out to sea. The village presumes him dead; Boldwood, reenergized, renews his search for Bathsheba, eventually compelling her at his Christmas party to agree to marry him in six years when a suitable period has passed since Troy's disappearance. However, Troy comes during the feast and demands that Bathsheba accompany him. When Troy gets abusive with Bathsheba, Boldwood shoots him and then surrenders. He is finally sentenced to life in prison.

Gabriel has been at Bathsheba's side, functioning as her most reliable and valued worker and companion. She realizes she loves him; Gabriel and Bathsheba marry at the end of the story, a little more than a year after Troy's death.

Analysis

The title comes from Thomas Gray's famous 18th-century poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard":

"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,

Their sober wishes never learned to stray;

Along the cool sequestered vale of life,

They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."

Throughout quoting Gray's poem, Hardy brings the rural culture that, during Hardy's lifetime, was on the verge of extinction due to brutal industrialization. His narrative emphasizes the significance of man's relationship to and comprehension of nature. Gabriel Oak personifies Hardy's vision of living harmoniously with nature's powers.

The novel also addresses the link between chance and moral responsibility: why should we live a morally good life if a calamity occurs to us all equally? While certain characters, such as Gabriel, are always careful and sensible, others, such as Sergeant Troy, are irresponsible and destructive. Hardy was heavily affected by Charles Darwin's theories, which held that the development of a biological species--and, consequently, human society and history--is determined by chance rather than the design of God.

Another topic is the danger and damage that romantic love and marriage bring; Hardy reveals the contradictions, excessiveness, and betrayals that frequently affect romantic partnerships. Bathsheba begins the tale as a self-sufficient lady, but her passion for Troy nearly ruins her life. Similarly, Hardy shows us numerous marriages in which one person is more in love than the other, and he demonstrates the disastrous effects of this difference.