Consider carefully which of Bathsheba’s three suitors, Oak, Troy and Baldwood, possessed the qualities most likely to make Bathsheba a good husband.

farm, of which belonged to her family.

She has an impetuous nature - for example, when she and Oak got into an

arguament, she instantly sacked Gabriel. This is a good example of how this can be

a destructive and hurtful trait of Bathsheba's.

Bathsheba is a vain woman - at the beggining of the novel we see her looking into a

mirror and admiring herself. She is easily susceptable to Troys flattery, as she likes

the idea of others liking her looks.

Being flirtatious comes naturally to Bathsheba - I recall an episode early in the novel

involving Oak, and Bathsheba caught the eye of Oak instantly. Another example

would be how easily she wrote the valentine to Boldwood, with the words marry me

engraved on it.

Pride is another quality of Bathsheba's that can be harmful, for herself, for others

and for the farm she owns. An exellent example of her pride getting in the way of

what she should be done is when she needed Gabriels expertise to keep her sheep

alive, as he was the only one nearby who had the skills needed to save her sheep.

Bathsheba is a confident person, not afraid of taking on big tasks. The fact that she

runs her own farm and goes to the market and deals with the farms affairs is

evidence of her confident personality.

Miss Everdene is a stubborn Lady - a superb example of her stubborness is when

she had much trouble in asking Oak nicely to help her with her farm.

Bathsheba's spirit is an independant one - when her bailiff was stealing money from

her, she sacked him and ran the finances of her farm herself.

She can be very thoughtless at times - the sending of the valentine she sent

Boldwood should have been carefully considered, but she didn't give it a second

look. This action instigated Boldwoods infatuation with her.

Though her bad points are many, she does have a caring side - she is a sensitive

person. Her guilt after her thoughtless valentine is proof of this.

Miss Everdene is a responsible farmer - when Fanny went missing she took

responsibility and sent a search party out for her.

Bathsheba is also a courageous person - when the storm threatened both her farm

and her life she struggles to keep her farm running along with Gabriel as they

worked through the terrible weather.

Mr Boldwood is a kind old man - an example of his generosity is that he paid for

Fanny's education. This is a very kind gesture, as he isn't even related to younf

Fanny.

Obsessive - Boldwood becomes infatuated with Bathsheba after his heart is

brought into action by her Valentines. A piece of evidence the defence used in his

court case later in the book was that he had bought many presents, addressed to

Bathsheba, and they were intended to be given to her when they were to be wed.

He is a mysterious man, who keeps himself to himself. The evidence of this is that

we never see him loitering about or talking to people unless he is talking about

something important.

He is passionate about Bathsheba - every chance he gets he wants to talk to her

about gettin married.

Persistant - he never gives up in his battle for Bathsheba's hand in marrige.

Patient - prepared to wait for many years until he gets his chance to marry

Bathsheba.

He is a wealthy man, respected and has a high status and a lot of authority in his

area.

Protective - when Troy tried to pull Bathsheba away late in the book, Boldwood

shoots him as soon as Bathsheba seems to be in pain.

Caring - offers Troy money to marry Bathsheba when it looks as if was going to

break her heart.

Mr. Boldwood is by far the oldest of the three suitors, and indeed much older than

Bathsheba. This will be offputting for Bathsheba for obvious reasons.

Troy is an attractive young soldier - Bathsheba falls for his charms quickly, though

not instantly.

Seductive - he can seduce many women, and uses his charms often on any

attractive woman he lays his eyes on.

Troy has probably cheated on women before in his life and he says to Bathsheba at

one point that he is looking at other, more attractive women.

His skill with a sword is magnificent - when he was practicing on Bathsheba his skill

astounded her.

Talented - even at school he was bright, but decided to join the army.

Troy has a tendency to decieve - when Bathsheba asked if he had a son, he said

no, even though he knew he did. His lie was later found out.

Blows hot and cold - he often has mood swings.

Vain - like Bathsheba, he loves himself too much.

Oaks bad points are noticed first by Bathsheba, but later she notices his better side.

He is a very trustworthy man

Jason Rajamogan English Coursework Far From The Madding Crowd