Paper Summary:

This paper relates the story of Thomas Hardy's novel "Far from the Madding Crowd", which is a blend of romance, pathos, irony, coincidence and regionalism that distinguishes much of Hardy's fiction. The rural chorus, the author points out, is the best example of how connected this novel is to the earth. The paper concludes that this early novel demonstrates characteristics of Hardy's future writings, such as the emerging role of nature, the typical dramatic romantic situations, plots that have an improbability and a sense of the miraculous found in folklore.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Story
Critical Evaluation
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Fanny goes on to Casterbridge, but she is so weak and ill when she arrives there that she dies shortly afterward. When news of her death reaches Weatherbury Farm, Bathsheba, unaware that Troy was the girl's lover, sends a cart to bring the body to the farm for burial. When the body arrives, Gabriel sees scrawled on the coffin lid a message that both Fanny and a child are inside. He erases the last words in his fear that the real relationship of Fanny and Troy might reach Bathsheba's ears; but Bathsheba, suspecting that the coffin conceals some secret, opens the casket late that night. At the same moment, Troy enters the room and learns of Fanny's death and of the death of his child. Torn with grief, he tells Bathsheba that she means nothing to him, that Fanny was the only woman he ever loved, and that he married Bathsheba only for her looks and for her money. Bathsheba shuts herself up in an attic room.
"Troy has a beautiful tombstone put up over Fanny's grave, which he covers with roses and lilies. During a heavy storm that night, water pours from the church roof through the mouth of a gargoyle, splashes on the grave, and ruins all of his work. Troy disappears from Casterbridge."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hardy, Thomas (2003). Far from Madding Crowd . Publisher: Penguin Classics. ISBN-10: 0141439653.
• Mallett, Phillip (2004). The Achievement of Thomas Hardy. New York: St. Martin's Press.
• Millgate, Michael. (2004) Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Page, Norman, (2005) Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Swann, Charles (2003). "Far from the Madding Crowd: How Good a Shepherd Is Gabriel Oak?" Notes and Queries 39, no. 2: 189-201.

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