"Far from the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy

"Far from the Madding Crowd" is one of the first novels by Hardy which makes it much more optimistic than his later works like "Tess of the D’Urbervilles" or "Jude the Obscure", still if you think that early work always means "imperfect" I can assure you that it is not the case. In fact already here the author reveals his outstanding talent and produces one of his most bright and multifaceted female characters - Bathsheba Everdene.

Not quite Victorian character

The name of the main character - Bathsheba - was taken from the Bible. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of the soldiers of Kind David's army and she was "very beautiful to look upon". When King David saw her bathing he couldn't stand her beauty, though Bathsheba herself didn't know he was watching her and didn't want to seduce him, and he ordered to bring the woman to his palace so that she would share bed with him. Thus Bathsheba's beauty brought King David to commit a sin, adultery.

In this novel Hardy developed the Biblical character to create another woman - Bathsheba Everdene, but the fatal impact of Bathsheba's beauty remained unchanged.

"... woman so charming as yourself, Miss Everdene, is hardly a blessing to her race", - says Sergeant Troy and indeed Bathsheba, even though unwillingly, causes the men who are in love with her more pain then pleasure and such love even results in a tragic final for some.

But it wouldn't be true to call this character "femme fatale", although aware of her good looks and taking pleasure in admiration of the other sex (which any girl does anyway) she doesn't mean to manipulate men and doesn't want to hurt anybody. In fact she is rather shy, getting embarrassed each time men speak to her about her beauty and doesn't have a slightest intention of flirting with them.

In all other matters which have nothing to do with relations between men and women Bathsheba appears to be a strong and proud woman, often too self-assured and unwilling to receive help from anybody. At the same time she, sometimes, is too affected by her feelings and often acts according to her momentary impulses, which, of course, often causes her many troubles.

Already with her inner world Bathsheba seems different from usual image of a Victorian age woman, but what she does definitely sets her apart from all the typical characters of the epoch. Like in the case with Tess, the author uses his female character to destroy all the prejudices of the time – Bathsheba not only openly declares that marriage is not her first and only aim in life, she also, having inherited her uncle’s farm, decides to manage everything herself, refusing to hire a baily which comes as a shocking news for many other farmers in the neighbourhood.

The picture of the character I have briefly described may seem very contradictory but it is true nevertheless, and such inconstancy and collision of different, often opposite, traits of character is the very thing that makes Bathsheba such a fascinating character.

Different men, different love

Now that so much has been said about Bathsheba, it is necessary to mention her suitors too and here there is also much to tell. All three men are very different, not only in appearance but also in character ad conduct and therefore their love to Bathsheba is not the same either.

Gabriel Oak is the first and the most patient of Miss Everdene’s admirers. He is a kind, clever, honest and hard-working young man, typical villager (therefore not so elegant and well-dressed and the other two suitors), but none the worst for that matter. First a farmer himself, then a simple shepherd in Bathsheba’s estate, he doesn’t like to rush into his feelings and prefers to express them in deeds rather than in words. To love for him means to be helpful and caring to the beloved and his relationship with Bathsheba resembles friendship much more than anything else.

William Boldwood, a man in his early forties, one of the local farmers, didn’t intend to fall in love with anybody at all and, even in his youth he had no thoughts of marriage and therefore considers himself an old bachelor who feels perfectly well living all alone. Being serious and restricted by nature, Mr. Boldwood is considered by everybody to be a man, who can’t have any strong emotions, but, as it turned out, he does sometimes have them and, as the author suggests “His equilibrium disturbed, he was in extremity at once. If an emotion possessed him at all, it ruled him”. Indeed, his feelings to Bathsheba appeared all of a sudden and pretty soon he found himself drowning in them. The love of Mr. Boldwood is passionate and true, but at the same time, entirely selfish, he wants to have Bathsheba to himself and absolutely refuses to hear that his feelings might be unrequited. He is entirely concentrated on himself and his feelings and doesn’t notice how his love turns into a kind of obsession.

Francis Troy, a sergeant in Her Majesty’s Army, is probably the most complicated character of all three. Clever and educated he is still too apt to entertainments and easy-going to make use of his talents and military service in peaceful time is the best way for him to enjoy his life and admiration of women. But Hardy doesn’t present him as a mere ladies man and bon-vivant (a cliché image of a soldier very typical of 18-19th century novels – just remember Mr. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice). Sergeant Troy isn’t a purely negative character, sometimes he does show himself in a good light and is able to feel deep and true love, unfortunately not to Bathsheba, for his feelings to her are just passion, lust and admiration of her beauty.

Far from the Madding Crowd

The title of the novel creates the peaceful atmosphere of countryside but the degree of emotions in it is far from the pastoral. This is the first novel mentioning Wessex, the typical setting of Hardy’s novels and those who read some other works of the author will easily recognize the places mentioned in it. The usage of the same geographical names helps Hardy to create the feeling that all his characters and novels are connected with each other which makes the narration very reliable.

The author does a great job describing the life in rural England – the people, the customs, the fairs, the food, local festivals with dances and songs, as well as all the details of everyday life of a farmer – from sheep-shearing and hiving the bees to the attempt to save the harvest from fire and water. All those details not only create the appropriate atmosphere but also can proof useful to those who are interested in the life of previous ages.

The novel Far from the Madding Crowd is one of the best works of Thomas Hardy. It is the story of dangerous beauty and of love which can be so various in its manifestations.