Gabriel Oak is quite naive when it comes to women. He treats Bathsheba clumsily and is more honest than romantic. For example his proposal although it was heartfelt it was not really romantic ‘whenever you look up, there I shall be – and whenever you look up, there I shall be’ and this does not impress Bathsheba. Especially as he is less educated than her and she feels he is not good enough for her as you find out later in the book when she is discussing her proposals with Liddy ‘‘how nice it must seem!’ said Liddy, with the fixed features of mental realisation. ‘And you wouldn’t have him?’ ‘He wasn’t quite good enough for me.’’ Gabriel has had no experience with women in the past and so does not know how to treat them. Another example of Gabriel’s honesty comes when Gabriel’s hut catches fire and Bathsheba saves him and Bathsheba gives him her hand. ‘But I suppose you are thinking you would like to kiss it? You may if you want to.’
‘I wasn’t thinking of any such thing,’ said Gabriel simply; ‘but I will – ’‘That you won’t!’ She snatched back her hand.’
He appears throughout the book mostly as an observer but always knowing what’s going on and knowing when to step in at the end to help Bathsheba. He is very modest and as soon as he hears that Bathsheba might have other men after her he immediately gives up as he doesn’t think he has a chance. ‘‘That’s unfortunate,’ said Farmer Oak, contemplating a crack in the stone floor with sorrow. ‘I’m only and every-day sort of man, and my only chance was in being the first comer ’’
He also promises never to ask again to marry Bathsheba. Oak is also modest when he is made shepherd by Bathsheba the other workers are congratulating him: ‘A clane cup for the shepherd,’ said the maltster commandingly. ‘No – not at all,’ said Gabriel, in a reproving tone of considerateness. ‘I never fuss about dirt in its pure state.’
Gabriel first meets Bathsheba when she is sitting on a cart full of furniture he noticed her straight away and became curious "followed the vehicle to the turnpike gate some way beyond the bottom of the hill, where the object of his contemplation now halted for the payment of the toll." Gabriel proceeds to pay her fair at the turnpike gate which she refuses to pay. Bathsheba is not pleased with Oak; because of him she has lost her point. However she thinks nothing of it apart from being a little irritated and carries on but Gabriel talks to the gatekeeper and mentions her vanity. This casual meeting introduces the two characters to each other for the first time, little does Bathsheba know that this seemingly insignificant farmer will play such a big role in her life.
Bathsheba never cares for Oak in the same way as he does for her. Oak loves Bathsheba all the way through the novel but Bathsheba treats him insensitively by asking him advice on her lovers which hurts Gabriel but she doesn’t notice. It is not until the end of the book that bathsheba realises how much she needs Gabriel and what a big part of her life he is.
Farmer Boldwood is the second lover we meet in the book. Boldwood, as his name suggests, is a wooden, reserved man. He is a very serious and a solitary man who lives alone on his farm and has not had much experience with women.
‘Who is Mr.Boldwood?’ said Bathsheba
‘A gentleman farmer at little Weatherbury.’
‘Married?’
‘No, miss’
‘How old is he?’
‘Forty I should say – very handsome – rather stern looking – and rich.’
He is a formal man who always goes by his second name ‘Boldwood’ and never by ‘William’, his first name. This gives the impression of someone who is very dignified and does not have many close friends.
Boldwood is a serious and clever man. He is a successful farmer who does not have much to do with other people, even though he is concerned about Fanny Robin who he has cared for as a child. Because he doesn’t have much to do with women he does not know them at all. He took the valentines card from Bathsheba too seriously as it never occurred to him that someone could be light-hearted about something like that. ‘He placed the valentine in the corner of the looking glass. He was conscious of its presence even when his back was turned upon it. It was the first time in Boldwood’s life that such an event had occurred.’ Boldwood does feel embarrassed that he is so worried by the valentine he has to ask a stranger who it’s from.
‘Soon parting from Gabriel the lonely and reserved man returned to his house for breakfast-feeling twinges of shame and regret at having so far exposed so far his mood by those fevered questions to a stranger.’
Like Oak, Boldwood has not had much experience with women although there is a rumour that he was jilted when he was younger. He is too serious to be romantic. However he is very troubled by the valentine. He has always had a lot of respect from the villagers for being serious and stable but the card brings out an obsessive side of him when he sees Bathsheba. ‘He passed by with an utter and overwhelming sensation of ignorance, shyness and doubt. (Boldwood when he saw Bathsheba.)
However Boldwood does not really know Bathsheba so has fallen in love with a false image of her which he has built up in his mind. He does not know her faults so he does not have anything not to like about her. ‘The great aids to idealization in love were present here: occasional of her at a distance and the absence of social intercourse with her – visual familiarity, oral strangeness.’
Boldwood is very obsessive over Bathsheba and keeps on asking her to marry him and will not take no for an answer. He can’t see that Bathsheba only agrees to marry him as she feels guilty that she sent him the card. Boldwood gets very jealous of Troy when Bathsheba loves him and he tries to threaten him and bribes him to marry Fanny. Although when Boldwood fears Bathsheba is compromised he bribes Troy to marry Bathsheba to save her reputation.
When Bathsheba meets, falls in love with and eventually marries Troy, Boldwood gets very depressed but it is an observation from Hardy which tells the reader why Bathsheba fell for Troy ‘It was a fatal omission of Boldwood’s that he had never once told her she was beautiful.’ He also completely gives up on his farm. ‘His manner was stunned and sluggish now’. However the turning point for Boldwood in the novel is when Bathsheba gives him her word that she will marry him and Boldwood honestly thinks she will be his – but because then Troy returns all his hopes are instantly crushed. It is her cry and apparent reluctance to go with Troy which triggers his extreme reaction, killing Troy. ‘How was I to know that what is a pastime to all other men was death to you?’ Boldwood warns Bathsheba about his feelings towards Troy ‘Oh Bathsheba keep him away – yes keep him away from me’ but gets so insanely jealous of Troy that he cant contain his feelings ‘You juggler of Satan, you black hound! – but I’ll punish you yet – mark me – I’ll punish you yet!’
Sergeant Troy is Bathsheba’s third love in the book he is a soldier in the dragoon guards and so travels around a lot with them. It is partly because of this that Bathsheba falls for Troy as he is very handsome and smart and well dressed in his uniform ‘The man to whom she was hooked was brilliant in brass and scarlet. He was a soldier. His sudden appearance was to darkness what the sound of a trumpet is to silence.’ However Liddys opinion of Troy is probably the most accurate as her opinion reflects the view of all the villagers. ‘a gay man- a walking ruin to honest girls.’ Another accurate description is Hardy’s when you are first introduced to Troy in the novel ‘Idiosyncrasy and vicissitude had combined to stamp sergeant Troy an exceptional being’.
Troys name is also a reflection on his character as ‘Troy’ is associated with the city which is renowned for being sinful and infamous for its drinking and gambling. Also the fact that troy is a sergeant is relevant as soldiers of that time were notorious for being womanisers as they move around a lot which is true to Troys personality as is proved with Bathsheba and Fanny. Troy is very experienced with women because of this especially when you compare him to Boldwood and Gabriel and this is one of the reasons Bathsheba is attracted to him. He is good at impressing and flattering them. He shows off his sword fighting skills to Bathsheba and as he is well educated he is able to talk French to impress her even more. However although Troy is very experienced with women he does have a rather cynical view on marriage. ‘All romances end at marriage.’
However Troy does not treat women well even though he puts on a charming front. He is cruel to Bathsheba when he is married to her but tells her he still loves Fanny.
‘You are nothing to me- nothing, said Troy heartlessly. A ceremony before a priest doesn’t make a marriage. I am not morally yours.’ Troy is also selfish and expects Bathsheba to give him money for gambling ‘He did not now love her enough to be carried too far by her ways’ Troy also lies to Bathsheba and tells her that the hair kept in his watch was hers when it is actually Fanny Robins.
Troy is not very responsible and even though he bought his way out of the army with Bathshebas money to become a farmer, he neglects his farm duties when he is one. A typical example of Troys selfish and irresponsible behaviour comes when he holds the harvest party. Gabriel sends a message about a coming storm but Troy simply sent a messenger back ‘Mr Troy says it will not rain returned the messenger and he cannot stop to talk to you about such fidgets.’ Gabriel has to work all night with Bathsheba and this shows Troy is not dedicated to his farm.
Even though women were not treated as equals in the Victorian times, in comparison to Boldwood and Gabriel, Troy is extremely sexist. ‘‘Friends,’ he said, ‘we’ll send the women folk home! ’Tis time they were in bed. Then we cockbirds can have a jolly carouse to ourselves!’’ This is said by Troy at the harvest party.
