Far from the Madding CrowdIntroduction and Notes by Norman Vance, Professor of English, University of Sussex. Far from the Madding Crowd is perhaps the most pastoral of Hardy's Wessex novels. It tells the story of the young farmer Gabriel Oak and his love for and pursuit of the elusive Bathsheba Everdene, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love. It tells of the dashing Sergeant Troy whose rakish philosophy of life was '...the past was yesterday; never, the day after', and lastly, of the introverted and reclusive gentleman farmer, Mr Boldwood, whose love fills him with '...a fearful sense of exposure', when he first sets eyes on Bathsheba. The background of this tale is the Wessex countryside in all its moods, contriving to make it one of the most English of great English novels. |
Contents
Description of Farmer Oak An Incident | 3 |
NightThe Flock An Interior Another Interior | 7 |
A Girl on Horseback Conversation | 13 |
Gabriels Resolve The Visit The Mistake | 20 |
Departure of Bathsheba A Pastoral Tragedy | 27 |
The Fair The Journey The Fire | 31 |
RecognitionA Timid Girl | 39 |
The Malthouse The Chat News | 42 |
Sortes Sanctorum The Valentine | 74 |
Effect of the Letter Sunrise | 77 |
A Morning Meeting The Letter Again | 81 |
All Saints and All Souls | 89 |
In the Marketplace | 91 |
Boldwood in Meditation Regret | 93 |
The Sheepwashing The Offer | 97 |
Perplexity Grinding the Shears A Quarrel ΙΟΙ | 101 |
The Homestead A VisitorHalfConfidences | 56 |
IO Mistress and Men | 61 |
Outside the Barracks Snow A Meeting | 66 |
FarmersA Rule An Exception | 70 |
Troubles in the FoldA Message | 106 |
The Great Barn and the Sheepshearers III | 111 |
Eventide A Second Declaration | 120 |