Question

Far from the Madding Crowd

Accepted Answer

A NovelThomas Hardy1874Rejected by the capricious Bathsheba Everdene financially ruined by his sheepdog driving his flick over a cliffFar from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readershipThe novel is the first to be set in Thomas Hardy's Wessex in rural southwest England. It deals in themes of love, honour and betrayal, against a backdrop of the seemingly idyllic, but often harsh, realities of a farming community in Victorian England. It describes the life and relationships of Bathsheba Everdene with her lonely neighbour William Boldwood, the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, and the thriftless soldier Sergeant Troy.On publication, critical notices were plentiful and mostly positive. Hardy revised the text extensively for the 1895 edition and made further changes for the 1901 edition.In 2003, the novel was listed at number 48 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.In 2007, the book finished 10th on the Guardian's list of greatest love stories of all time.The novel has been dramatised several times, notably in the Oscar-nominated 1967 film directed by John Schlesinger.SynopsisMeeting, parting and reunitingGabriel Oak is a young shepherd. With the savings of a frugal life, and a loan, he has leased and stocked a farm. He falls in love with a newcomer eight years his junior, Bathsheba Everdene, a proud beauty who arrives to live with her aunt. Over time, Bathsheba and Gabriel grow to like each other well enough, and Bathsheba even saves his life once. However, when he makes her an unadorned offer of marriage, she refuses; she values her independence too much and him too little. After a few days, she moves to Weatherbury, a village some miles off.

Bathsheba Thomas Gabriel Madding Crowd Hardy Everdene Hardy's