Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Write a summary of the plot or a synopsis of this book.

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Bathsheba Everdene: The beautiful, independent, and often impulsive young woman at the center of the novel, who must choose among three very different suitors.
• Gabriel Oak: A farmer, shepherd, and bailiff, marked by his humble and honest ways. Skilled with animals and farming, hard working and very loyal, Oak is one of Bathsheba's suitors.
• William Boldwood: The owner of a nearby farm, Boldwood is reserved and dignified.
• Sergeant Francis 'Frank' Troy: The handsome, vain, young, and irresponsible antagonist, Troy is often considered a less responsible male equivalent of Bathsheba.
• Fanny Robin: A young orphaned servant girl at the farm.
• Liddy Smallbury: Servant to Bathsheba.
• Cainy Ball: A young boy who works as Gabriel Oak's assistant shepherd on the Everdene farm.
• Jan Coggan: Farm laborer and friend to Gabriel Oak
• Pennyways: The bailiff on Bathsheba's farm.
• Joseph Poorgrass: A shy, timid farm laborer who blushes easily and has a fondness for drink.
• Laban Tall: A farm laborer and friend to Gabriel Oak. Quiet and unassuming, it is mentioned that about town he is known as "Susan Tall's husband."
• Susan Tall: Wife of Laban Tall.
• Henery Fray: Another of the workmen at Little Weatherbury Farm, a "more than middle-aged" man "with eyebrows high on his forehead" who is somewhat of a pessimist.
• Charlotte: First wife of Jan Coggan, who was dairymaid to Farmer Everdene (Bathsheba's late father).
• Jacob Smallbury: The son of the old maltster. A man "about sixty-five, with a semi-bald head and one tooth in the left centre of his upper jaw, which made much of itself by standing prominent, like a milestone in a bank." Father of William (Billy) Smallbury.
• William ("Billy") Smallbury: Son of Jacob Smallbury. A man of about forty, "who manifested the peculiarity of possessing a cheerful soul in a gloomy body, and whose whiskers were assuming a chinchilla shade here and there."
• Maryann Money: One of Bathsheba's farm laborers.
• Matthew Moon: One of the laborers at the Everdene farm, a humble man described as "a singular framework of clothes with nothing of any consequence inside them."
• Warren Smallbury: The "ancient maltster," proprietor of the malt house, father to Jacob Smallbury and grandfather to William Smallbury.
• Temperance Miller: One of Bathsheba's farm laborers.
• George: Gabriel Oak's trustworthy old shepherd dog.

Quotes edit see section history

• “To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this – the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement. The sensation may be caused by the panoramic glide of the stars past earthly objects, which is perceptible in a few minutes of stillness; or by a fancy that the better outlook upon space afforded by a hill emphasizes terrestrial revolution; or by the wind; or by the solitude; but whatever be its origin the impression of riding along is vivid and abiding.”

• “Being a man not without a frequent consciousness that there was some beauty in this life he led, he stood still after looking at the sky as a useful instrument, and regarded it in an appreciative spirit, as a work of art superlatively beautiful.”

• “Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness.”

• ““…I shouldn’t mind being a bride at a wedding if I could be one without having a husband.””

• “It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting out of love as there is for getting in.”

• “…a resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible.”

• “Marriage transforms a distraction into a support, the power of which should be, and happily often is, in direct proportion to the degree of imbecility it supplants.”

• “Like Guildenstern, Oak was happy in that he was not too happy. He had no wish to converse with her. That his bright lady and himself formed one group exclusively their own, and containing no others in the world, was enough. So the chatter was all on her side. There is a loquacity that tells nothing: which was Bathsheba's. And there is a silence which says much, that was Gabriel's.”

  Narrator

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Weatherbury
• Casterbridge
• Heaven
• Norcombe Hill
• England
• Budmouth
• Cainy

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

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• Women in Society: This novel is often considered an early piece of feminist literature, as its main character is an independent woman with the courage to defy convention by running a farm herself. By making Bathsheba's character a woman with an independent income, Hardy is able to illustrate the various ways a woman's position in society is often dependent upon her marriage and how marriage can often be disadvantageous to a woman with her own wealth. Other characters illustrate the often sad fate of women who do not have their own incomes and who are not cared for by society.
• Love and Relationships: A major theme is the danger and destruction inherent in romantic love and marriage; Hardy exposes the inconsistencies, irrationalities, and betrayals that often plague romantic relationships. Bathsheba begins the novel as an independent woman, but by falling in love with Troy, she nearly destroys her life and those of several people around her. Hardy also shows us examples of couples in which one partner is more in love than the other, showing what disastrous events often result from this unequal situation. Hardy makes clear that a love borne of passion only is far insuperior to a love that grows between two people who work together, respect each other, get to know each other and allow their relationship to grow over time.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Christmas Carol, and followed by Good Night, Mr. Tom.

Preceded by Anne of Green Gables, and followed by The Handmaid's Tale.

Preceded by The Temptation of Saint Anthony, and followed by The Enchanted Wanderer.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Thomas Hardy (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Margaret Drabble
2. Tony Buzan

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• BBC's Big Read (April 2003, #48)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 823.8

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › Classics › Hardy, Thomas
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › 19th Century
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( H ) › Hardy, Thomas
• Books › Literature & Fiction › History & Criticism › Criticism & Theory
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikipedia: Far from the Madding Crowd at Wikipedia
• Community Walk: Locations in the 1874 novel Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928).

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Far from the Madding Crowd (IMDb): 1967
• Far from the Madding Crowd (IMDb): TV 1998