Thomas Hardy:
Thomas Hardy was born to a stonemason and a local builder,
Thomas, and a well-read mother, Jemima in Dorchester in 1840.He went to school
and demonstrated academic potential, however his formal education ended when he
was sixteen as his social position did not allow him to study in a university. Before
he moved to London and enrolled in King’s College in 1862, he had become a
local architect. He felt uncomfortable in London, conscious of his inferior
status and class divisions and five years later, returned to Dorchester,
committing his life to writing.
Far From Madding Crowd:
Themes related to Far Frome Maddding Crowd as like :
•Hardy's lifetime was
threatened with ruthless industrialization. His novel portrays the theme of the
importance of man's connection to, and understanding of, the natural world.
Gabriel Oak embodies Hardy's ideal of a life in harmony with the forces of the
natural world.
•The novel also
contemplates the relationship between luck, or chance, and moral
responsibility. People have to suffer for their own actions. While some
characters, like Gabriel, are always responsible and cautious, others, like
Sergeant Troy, are careless and destructive.
The plot of Far
from the Madding Crowd concerns a young woman, Bathsheba Everdene, and the three men
in her life. One is a poor sheep farmer who loses his flock in a tragedy 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 like just
another of his conquests. In chronicling their hopes, plans, and
disappointments, Hardy presents to readers a clear example of Victorian
romanticism. At the same time, his understanding of the lives of farmers and
ranchers in rural England makes him a forerunner to the realistic tradition in
literature.
Characters:
•Gabriel
Oak: 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. He can control the world without fighting against
it. He possess a humble personality and knows when to take an action.
•Bathsheba
Everdene: Protagonist of the novel, Bathsheba is a beautiful young
woman who has attracted 3 suitors. At the beginning of the novel, she is
penniless, but she quickly inherits and learns to run a farm in
Weatherbury. She is independent financially as well as in spirits.
•Sergeant
Francis (Frank) Troy: He is the novel's antagonist. Troy is handsome,
vain, young, and irresponsible, though he is capable of love. Early in
the novel he is involved with Fanny Robin. At first, he plans to marry
her, but when there is miscommunication 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: He is 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.
Ultimately, he becomes crazy with obsession, shoots Troy and destroys
his own life.
•Fanny
Robin: She is 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
symbolizes the fate of women who are not well cared for in this
society.
Hardy,
with the eye of the artist, loved the color and line of the landscape.
Thus he personalized nature. His horses were "sensible," his cat "with
half-closed eyes" viewed birds "affectionately." His delineation of
people was part caricature, as with Gabriel, and part portraiture, as
with the young woman whom Hardy shows through Gabriel's eyes.
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