FAR FROM THE

MADDING CROWD
The characters

Gabriel Oak: Is a farmer, shepherd and bailiff, with an honest soul and
exceptional skill with animals and farming. He occupies the position of
quiet observer throughout most of the book.
Bathsheba Everdene: The beautiful young woman at the center of the
novel, who must choose among three very different lovers. She run a farm
in Weatherbury, where most of the novel takes place.
Sergeant Francis Troy: The novel's antagonist. He is handsome, vain,
young, and irresponsible, though he is capable of love.
William Boldwood: The owner of a farm near Bathsheba’s, he is a
reserved man. He seems unable to fall in love until Bathsheba sends him a
valentine, and suddenly he develops feelings for her.
Fanny Robin: The youngest servant at Bathsheba’s farm, she runs away
the night Gabriel arrives.
The plot

Gabriel Oak is a young shepherd and he owns a little farm. He falls in love
with Bathsheba Everdene, a young and poor girl who arrives to live with
her aunt. He makes her an offer of marriage, but she refuses and moves
away after after she inherited her uncle's farm in Weatherbury . Gabriel
life changes drastically when he loses all of his sheeps after an accident
and he decided to move to Weatherbury, where he finds a job in
Bathsheba’s farm. She start to being very popular in the village, but
there’s only one man who isn’t intrested in her: Mr Boldwood. She send
him a valentine card to fool him, but he become obsessed with her. At first
Bathsheba refuses him because she doesn’t love him, but she then agree to
reconsider her decision. But one day she met a soldier, Sergeant Toy, and
falls in love with him. She decided to broke up with Boldwood and marry
Troy. But she will soon discovers that he has already another girl named
Fanny and she’s pregnant of their child. Fanny suddently dies and Troy run
away and is thought to have drowned. Boldwood decided to propose to
Batsheba one again and throws a Christmas party for her, but Troy returns
and shows at the party to claim her. Boldwood goes crazy and shoots him to
dead. He is then senteced to life prison and Bathsheba marry Gabriel, the
only one who has been there for her during the entire book.

The themes

The themes are:

• Indipendence: 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.
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.
• 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. As Bathsheba matures, she comes
to realize what real love is, and that Gabriel is the best partner for
her.
• 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 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.

The author

Thomas Hardy was a poet and writer in the 19th and the 20th century and
he was born in 1840. Thomas loved to write, but his family didn’t have
enough money to send him to the university, so he began training wit a
local architect. In Cornwall in 1870 he met Emma Cornwall, who became
his first wife. He has been writing for several years when his fourth book,
Far from the madding crowd, brought him enough money to be able to give
up his job as an architect. But the marriage with Emma quickly became
unhappy and they divorced. Hardy continued to write novels that criticised
society, marriage and religion. In 1896 Hardy stopped writing fictions and
turned his full attention to poetry. In his most successful collection he talks
about Emma’s death and his sadness and regret as he looked back at their
life together. In 1914 he married another woman. He was nominated to
Nobel Prize in Literature two times, but he never won. Thomas Hardy died
in 1928. His ashes were taken to Poet’s Corner, but his heart was removed
and buried in Dorset with Emma.