Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas

Hardy – review
‘If you’re thinking of reading this book before you watch the film,
or just reading this book, then do!’

This book is set in the 1870s, following a women called Bathsheba

Everdene. The book follows her life as she takes a position as a farmer with
a big estate. Due to Bathsheba being as bold as she is, three suitors are
drawn to her and ask for her hand in marriage.

My favourite character in this book was Gabriel Oak, who is Bathsheba’s

first suitor, because he seems really genuine and humble. He also knows
how to react to certain things and he has a heart.

On the other hand, I didn’t like Bathsheba because she was quite vain and
proud of who she is. She didn’t really think about her choices thoroughly,
although as I read on I realised that she is very independent, which is quite
a surprise context-wise, because women during this time period didn’t have
to same freedom that she has and traditional family values were normally
followed. Bathsheba is just very different.

I think that certain parts of the plot was quite obvious, in my opinion. I
could guess what was going to happen and the ending was very obvious, if
not a cliché. However I am aware that during the time this book was
published, it may not have been.

The writing was easy to read and when I went into the book, I expected it to
be quite hard to read, due to my little knowledge of classics. However, it
reads like today’s English with more detail added. So if you’re thinking of
reading this book before you watch the film, or just reading this book, then
do! I didn’t have any trouble so I’m sure you won’t. I really loved how
Thomas Hardy really goes into detail about the setting of the book, because
as a reader it means that you can create a visual image and it definitely
improves the reading experience.
To conclude, I do recommend this book; I did have a little trouble trying to
get into it, but when I got in it was an amazing reading experience and you
got to explore the characters with depth - something you won’t be able to do
with modern texts.

“Far From the Madding Crowd” passes a kind of reverse Bechdel test:
Nearly every time two or more men converse, they are talking about a
woman. When they talk to her, she often responds like one of the women
in Mallory Ortberg’s hilariously captioned online surveys of Western art
history, who generally have better things to do than listen to men. When
Gabriel Oak, a farmer played with understated but unmistakable virility
by Matthias Schoenaerts, proposes to Bathsheba shortly after they have
exchanged glances over a rustic fence, she brusquely refuses.

Not because she doesn’t like him — it’s clear that she likes him best — but
because the prospect of marrying makes no sense to her.

Continue reading the main story

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Continue reading the main story

At that point, Gabriel (though for obvious reasons everybody prefers his
last name) is relatively prosperous and Bathsheba is penniless. After he
loses his small farm and she inherits a much bigger one from her uncle, an
awkward gulf opens between them. She hires him to tend her sheep, and
he watches as she toys with the affections of William Boldwood (Michael
 Sheen), a neighbor with an even bigger farm and an even manlier last
name. (When it comes to the evocative christening of his characters, Hardy
rivals Dickens and Shakespeare himself.)

Photo

Far From the Madding CrowdCarey Mulligan in the newest film version of Thomas Hardy’s 1874
novel.CreditAlex Bailey/Fox Searchlight Pictures

Bachelor No. 3 is a military officer named Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge),

who in a scene with no Freudian implications whatsoever impresses
Bathsheba with his skilled swordsmanship. He has a former sweetheart
(Juno Temple) and a fondness for vice that alarms Oak and intimidates
Boldwood.

The narrative conspires to make Bathsheba choose and choose again until
she gets it right, and her mistakes and spells of indecision are engaging
without feeling terribly consequential. The mood of the film is less Hardy-
esque than vaguely Hardy-ish. He rooted his chronicles of desire and its
thwarting in a closely observed world of agricultural labor and ancient
custom, an earthiness conveyed here by the occasional shot of a toad or a
snail and a few bouts of hearty off-key singing. Hardy’s interest in the
operations of accident and caprice — in the “purblind Doomsters” who
governed human fate — is reduced to a few plot points. A feckless dog
chases a flock of sheep over a cliff. A bride goes to the wrong church on her
wedding day. It all feels a little flimsy.

Through it all, Ms. Mulligan smirks, sighs and sniffles, Mr. Schoenaerts
smolders, Mr. Sheen scowls and Mr. Sturridge enjoys his mustache. They
are all fun to watch, though only Mr. Schoenaerts seems interested in
testing the deeper currents of longing, shame and pride that course
beneath the surface. The most obvious thing to say about “Far From the
Madding Crowd” is also the most bizarre, given the source material. It’s
buoyant, pleasant and easygoing. That’s a recommendation of sorts, and
also an expression of disappointment.
 “Far From the Madding Crowd” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly
cautioned). Sighs, smirks, sexy swordplay.

Far From the Madding Crowd

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.