An Analysis of the Four Characters in Far from the Madding Crowd.doc

an analysis of the four major characters in far from the madding crowd abstract: far from the madding crowd was about the love story between bathsheba and three men. bathsheba was a beautiful woman but full of vanity and pretension. when the three men pursued her at the same time, she chose the handsome but flashy sergeant troy who was actually not the right man to trust, so this marriage was doomed to be a tragedy. boldwood was a rich farmer but full of selfishness and ambition. he would make full use of his cunning business mind to get all the things he wanted by all means. an ideal figure in the authors mind named gabriel oak was the right man to be trusted both by the men and the women. but he did not appeal to bathsheba until she waked from this tragic marriage. we can better understand the complex love of the four people by the deeper analysis of the characters of the four people. key words: character love tragedyi introductionfar from the madding crowd is mainly about the love affair. the young, beautiful and proud bathsheba everdene went to wessex to inherit her uncles farm. a hardworking and trustworthy guy named gabriel oak fell in love with this beautiful girl at the first sight but he was refused by bathsheba when he showed her his love. after the failure of running his own farm, gabriel became a shepherd on bathshebas farm accidentally. when he took it for granted that he had another chance to approach this woman, a man named boldwood with a good fortune broke into the event. boldwood pursued this beautiful woman with the volcanic power, and asked this goddess in his heart to marry him instantly. facing this situation, bathsheba didnt know what to do. she was sure that she did not love this man at all, but on the other hand she was clear that she did be responsible for this result because of her joke on valentines day which made this man so crazy about her. she did not love this man, but her vanity loved this mans attention when she posted the letter to this stranger who paid less attention to her at the church. but after the letter boldwood paid all his attention to her. facing boldwoods crazy action, she deliberately avoided to meet with him. during the absence of boldwood, bathsheba fell in love with a sergeant named troy who was a handsome guy and satisfied bathshebas heart very much. in order to avoid boldwoods crazy persuit, she got married to this nice but flashy guy. the only thing she knew about him was that he was really the right man she wanted to marry but nothing more about him.it is said that marriage is the funeral for the romance. after their marriage, troys fresh feeling for his wife faded day by day and paid little attention to the farm. all his attention was for the gambling of the horse race instead of his family. at last their romantic love ended up with the appearance of fanny robin, the ex-wife of troy. after fannys death, troy left home, and bathsheba trapped into the misery of this marriage. when she got the information that her husband was drowned in the sea, boldwood took another chance to pursue her. bathsheba promised to marry him if her husband did not come back on the sixth christmas day. to all the peoples surprise, troy did appear on the sixth christmas day which made boldwoods dream really a dream. at last, boldwood killed troy and ended up his own life in prison. at this moment, bathsheba faced the situation of losing her husband and the farm, but to the readers pleasure, gabriel went into her life at last which made the whole story a happy ending. ii the love story of the four peoplea. the character of the four people1 the character of bathshebathis novel is regarded as a mixture of the tragedy and comedy which includes the elements of the tragedy but ends up with a comedy. the main two charactersstory formed the element of the tragedy and directed the tragedy to the comedy. many critics believe that bathsheba was the most important character in the whole story because she was the only one connected the whole story. but from the information that the writer wanted to show us, oak was really the most important character who indicated the authors ideal character in his mind. his christian name gabriel was the right angel who announced the birth of john and jesus in the bible .and gabriel in the novel also indicated the humanism. he was persistent, kind and also he was an excellent shepherd in the farm. bathsheba on the other hand was a woman who did things only with her first sense in the bible. there was a story about her. “when a king named david saw her taking a bath in the river, he admired her beauty very much and got together with her. but this beautiful woman was already married to a man who was now on the field of the battle.so actually, bathsheba did the very thing betrayed her husband. and the king shamed on their disgraceful action. so he tried every way to kill bathshebs ex-husband to relieve his stress. at last god punished these two unfaithful people seriously. they regretted their mistake at the price of the death of their son.” (ala star fower, p11)in the novel bathsheba was also a beautiful woman full of vanity. she did not know what the true love was but only knew what could appeal to her vanity. bathsheba was described as “young and attractive” and as “the handsome girl”. each quotation referred to her youth and her beauty which were her two main assets at the begging of the book. she had a “bright face” and a “soft and dark hair” which showed her “vitality”. she wore a crimson jacket which in literature was associated with love, life and youth. she was likely to be of interest to any eligible bachelors who would see her as the perfect wife. bathsheba was traveling on the wagon because she was moving into the area. the wagon had a “chair” and a “table” on it; however her belongings were mostly plants. she was not very wealthy at this stage. she was starting a new phase in her life by moving in with her middle-aged aunt who owned a cottage and rears animals. even when she moved in with her ant her finical position was still poor. she would rather pay a man to do these jobs for her. bathshebas manner towards the waggoner said a lot about the kind of person she was. she behaved in a disdainful way with him. she looked down on him as someone who was there to take orders from her. she talked to him so naturally that it suggested that she was used to speaking to people in this way. she was unconventional in a society where women had to perform in decorum. she behaved in a very eccentric way by taking out her looking glass and admiring herself attentively. she practiced smiling to see if she is attractive to men. the whole action was done on purpose and it is all pure vanity. she looked at herself as “a fair product of nature in the feminine kind”. she liked to have privacy when she performed this ritual. she was conscious of anyone watching her by looking to “learn of the waggoner were coming.” 2 the character of gabrielgabriel oak was a local farmer whose life took a roller-coaster ride during the story. gabriel had a huge smile which was spontaneous, natural and it spread from one side of his face to the other. unlike bathsheba, when gabriel smiled he did not do it to show his emotions. this completely contradicted bathsheba, whose smile was a “factious one”. gabriel was a man of “sound judgment, easy motions, proper dress, and general good character”. he was reliable and dependable however he was not a charismatic character with an outgoing personality. gabriel had a very lazy attitude to religion because he only went to church because he had no choice in the matter. he was not interested in the spiritual aspects of religion, making him a more materialistic character. he would rather be out working than have to sit in a church all day. he even managed a “yawn” because he was so bored and started to think about his dinner. “gabriels character varied on people mood at the time. if they were angry, he was considered a “bad man”. if on the other hand people “were pleased” he was considered a “good man”. if they were neither they had mixed emotions about him. this shows how gabriel did not have a character of his own because he relied on other people to give him one.” (elizabeth nelson, p133) gabriels general appearance could sometimes be almost comic. he wore a large hat which was wedged into his head, a large coat which drops down to his feet, very large boots and leather leggings. he had a very large watch which in size was a small clock. because it was very old, it sometimes went too fast or it did not work at all. gabriel also had difficulty in getting the “watch out” of his pocket and the whole action was compared to getting a “bucket from a well”. he also had a very peculiar habit of putting his face up against the windows of his neighbors to see what the time is. he also used the sun and the stars to tell the time, which showed that he was not an urbane person. gabriel had a “quiet modesty” about him. he walked “unassumingly” and did not impose himself on people, so he did not draw attention to himself. gabriel was someone who was down to earth and he never let his heart rule his head. there were many occasions during the story when gabriel helped or protected bathsheba, there by living up to his name being associated with the guardian angle gabriel. when bathshebas farm was on fire gabriel happened to pass by. they were not coping with the fire and gabriel took control of the situation. he made the people stand in a line to pass the water and this helped to save her farm. there was another occasion when bathshebas sheep escaped and became ill by eating some poisonous plants. gabriel was the “one person in the country” who could save them. the sheep were full of gas and it required gabriels precision to cure them. gabriel was the only person during the harvest party who was concerned because of the storm that was brewing. he again helped bathsheba by saving the hey while the others were all getting drunk. gabriel tried to protect bathsheba from the knowledge that fanny robins had a child by rubbing off its name from the coffin. he knew she would be upset because she would have known that the child was troys. in the end bathsheba married gabriel. the situation has changed so it is now possible for them to get married. gabriel had quickly become affluent and a lot more profitable. he dressed more smartly and could soon take over weatherbury farm from farmer boldwood. troy and boldwood have been removed from the scene as possible husbands for bathsheba. troy gatecrashes boldwoods party. bathsheba had just said “in 6 years if my husband doesnt return, ill be your wife.” (常耀信，p287) then troy entered and said arrogantly “ive come to take you home” to bathsheba. it is too much for boldwood who inadvertently shoots and kills troy. bathsheba has changed by learning wisdom through hardship and experience. she also shows more responsibility by helping gabriel save the hey during the storm. bathsheba would not have tried to stop gabriel from leaving if her character had not changed. she now appreciated gabriels qualities and felt that he was the right man for her.3 the character of boldwood“farmer boldwood was the most important person living in weatherbury. he was the tenant of little weatherbury farm and was the closest person to aristocracy in weatherbury. boldwoods house was “recessed from the road”. his house had a sad, gloomy atmosphere to it. the house had “no light and there were” cobwebbed windows.” (shower elaine，p100) the house had “no careless touches” which suggested the absence of a female or any other form of company. when boldwood was young he was jilted by a lady. this upset him so much that he vowed to have nothing to do with women. he lived in a state of “equilibrium, a state of perfect balance so he could stay calm. if he were to be disturbed from that state he would become completely obsessed. the words “celibate” and “meditate” were associated with monks. boldwoods lifestyle was similar to that of a monk. he lived isolated from society like a monk. after he has fed his animals all he did was pace up and down and “meditate until it was dark”. boldwood would not make a particularly good husband for bathsheba because of his inexperience with women. boldwood “could not read women” he, like gabriel, would find it difficult to understand what bathsheba wanted. boldwood did not fit the description of bathshebas ideal man at the time. he was not someone who was not exciting or romantic and his over obsessive behavior could irritate bathsheba. bathsheba frivolously sent boldwood a valentine card. the card also had a proposal of marriage on it. boldwood acted upon this by proposing to bathsheba. he used emotional blackmail to try and persuade bathsheba to marry him. he made her feel guilty by saying it was her fault that he felt this way. he said “i should not have spoken out had i not been lead to hope.” (showaler elaine, p68-81)he only spoke about his feelings for bathsheba rather than hers. it did not matter to him that she said she did not love him. he talked about how he would look after and how much she meant to him. she felt “sympathy” for him because his feelings for her were so deep and it was her fault. he would not take no for an answer and in the end his persistence forced bathsheba to promise to give him an answer. she prevaricated, when she should have given him a straight answer in the first place.4 the character of troythe character to fall in love with bathsheba was sergeant francis troy. he was a handsome young soldier whom bathsheba met after she had seemingly agreed to marry boldwood. troy was a complete contrast to boldwood both in character and personality. troys mother was a french governess who worked in an aristocratic household. there she had an affair with “lord severn” which resulted in her becoming pregnant, which made troy and illegitimate child. she lost her job and married a poor medical man. so he is a doctors son by name, which is a great deal; as an earls son by nature. he was in a grammar school when he was young which shows how intelligent he was. he went on to get a job as a second clerk and could have worked himself into a more “dignified position”. however he showed how he can be unpredictable, wild, rash and irresponsible by enlisting in the army. though he became a sergeant and rose through the ranks without trying at all. this was the complete opposite of boldwood who was more predictable and responsible. bathsheba married troy. if it was a battle she would have lost because she wanted troy to marry her. she went away to meet him, which was a gamble because if she had come back unmarried it would have been disgraceful. the beginning of the break-down of their marriage happened at their wedding celebration. troy had got all the men inebriated and had sent the women home. the men couldnt refuse because he would sack them and they would be showing the “white feather” for being a coward. while all this was happening there was a storm outside which threatens to destroy all the hey. luckily gabriel and bathsheba managed to save the hey in time. in the morning all the men at the party were suffering from hangovers, except for troy who walks away normally. this showed that he has done it before and is likely to do it again; he is accustomed to this lifestyle. troy had another bad habit of gambling on cockerel fights.it was his favorite pastime however troy was not very good at selecting winners and he lost a lot of money. he then asked bathsheba to give him more money however he did not tell her why. troy liked to go out at night and neglected bathsheba for other pastimes. now that he has got what he wanted by marrying bathsheba he has now lost interest in her. when fanny robins returned in a poverty stricken position he wants to help him. he was reluctant to allow her to stay one night in a workhouse. he said he would help her financially which could mean that he still had feelings for her. fanny robins died overnight during childbirth and her coffin coincidentally ended up in bathshebas house. bathsheba went to investigate the coffin and she found troy there. she finally realized that he did not love her when he said fanny meant more to him now. he kissed the dead fanny robins rather than bathsheba. this was the point when the break-down of their marriage became irretrievable. troy then disappeared and faked his own death by pretending to drown. b. the fate of the four protagonists1 hardys writing style the connection between the nature and the charactersthe description of nature in hardys wessex novels is characteristic of hardys style. the description of nature not only serves as a setting, but also becomes a vital part of hardys novels. he focuses on the interrelations between human, nature and society. nature in his novels is personated and melted with the characters together. hardy believed firmly that man was part of nature, a guardian of nature and should always remain true to their closeness with nature. in all hardys wessex novels, the characters, who can live in harmony with nature all deserve a good ending, while those who cannot are by all means go ruining. the conflict between mans aspirations and his environment is the central unifying force of hardys tragic novels. it stresses that human should live in harmony with nature. hardys presenting tragedy is caused by the dynamic and destructive tensions between character and environment. at the same time, it offers sharp and profound social messages. his deep insight into human nature and the dynamics between character and nature, “gives his novels significance and a range of reference wider than that of a particular time and place