Thomas Hardy has described his personality as a ‘young man of sound judgments, easy motions, proper dress and a general good character’. For farmer oaks physical features he has been described as being a well built person. He looks young ‘curves of youth’ and also there is a quote stating that oak looks youthful and he ages very slowly (appearance wise), e.g. ‘Tarried’.
Oak is seen as an open minded person, we know that he likes old things like the small pocket watch (‘fob’) he carries around with him, this could be sentimental to him,‘ this instrument, being several years older than Oaks grandfathers’. Oak is ‘proper dressed’, he wears large boots and also wears a huge coat, the huge coat is referred back to Dr Johnson, who is a very important man of history, he was the first person to write the very first dictionary, ‘and a coat like Dr Johnson’s’ this is significant because Dr Johnson used to carry around a dictionary around with him in his large pocket, and in this case Gabriel being a Shepard carries lambs in his pocket. From the opinion of others, farmer Oak is seen as a ‘rather bad man’ by other people, the other characters view him in a way that’s linked to their mood, so depending what mood they are in, they have different views about Oak. They have no fixed opinion of him.
We have been given a lot of effective descriptive information by Hardy for the first impressions of the girl. We find out that the mysterious girl is called Bathsheba. This is significant because it is a biblical name, which is in the Old Testament, which has a comparison with Bathsheba. Gabriel sees the ‘mysterious’ girl, she is sitting on top of the wagon, this could tell us that she wants to be important, that she likes to be on top of things, so everyone can see her. “The girl on the summit of a load”. In the description of the girl in the first paragraph, there are a lot of references about the girl feeling trapped and restricted. ‘Surrounded by tables and chairs with their legs upwards’. Hardy also uses animal imagery, showing the girls restriction, ‘Cage canary’. Also hardy mentions a cactus which are spiky and strong, this could suggest that if the girl wanted to escape she could get hurt, ‘...And cactuses together’. Again hardy uses animal imagery to describe the girl being trapped, ‘there was also a cat in a willow basket, from the partly opened lid of which she gazed with half closed eyes’. This tells that she is restricted to what she can do ‘partly opened lid’ ‘she gazed with half closed eyes’. The reference to the cactus, maybe the girl also has a spiky side to her. The girl could be caring because she has two pets and she could be seen as special because she is surrounded by flowers, ‘ornamented in front by pots of geraniums, myrtles’. Thomas hardy describes the girl to being attractive, ‘handsome girl’. Hardy uses a lot of strong, calm and composed sentences, ‘motionless’ ‘waited some time idly in her place’
‘She looked attentively downwards’. This gives the writing a peaceful atmosphere. In the second paragraph, Hardy uses a lot of effective techniques to build up to reveal what is inside the package, ‘her thought seeming to run upon what was inside it’. The girl seems narcissistic when she looked at herself in the swing looking glass. She likes what she sees, ‘survey herself attentively. She parted lips and smiled’. In the third paragraph semantic fields are used (visual imagery). Hardy uses bright colours to describe the girl’s personality. ‘Sun lighted’ ‘scarlet glow and crimson jacket’ these colours tell you that the girl has a strong, positive and passionate personality. The girl remains self conscious, she again looks at herself in the mirror, ‘she blushed at herself, and seeing her reflection blush, blushed some more’, this shows the girl is vain as well as narcissistic. The sentence structure echoes the reflective process of the mirror, the verb ‘blushed’ is repeated again and again
When the two characters first meet in the novel Gabriel sees a carriage loaded with furniture on top of the hill and Bathsheba is sitting on top of it. He becomes interested in the lady sitting on top of the hill and as the carriage is about to leave he “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.” Oak is obviously interested in the lady but the scene unfolds as Bathsheba decides not to pay the turnpike keeper the two pence that he wants. Gabriel approaches and gives the keeper the money. ‘Let the young woman pass’
Bathsheba is neither pleased nor dismissive of Oak yet because of him she has lost her point. She thinks nothing of it apart from being a little disgruntled and carries but Gabriel talks to the gatekeeper who 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 great role in her life. Analyzing the first meeting, we can see that Bathsheba doesn’t take much notice of Gabriel. But Gabriel certainly notices her, and describes her in different ways. He thinks Bathsheba is original; she is different compared to other women ‘freshness of originality’. Gabriel says that she looks natural “fair product of nature in the feminine”. This refers back to were Gabriel states that she is original. Where Bathsheba shows no appreciation for the generosity of Gabriel paying the rest of the fee off. “For she carelessly glanced over him”. This is contrast, because it’ shows little she thought of Gabriel, she showed no gratitude. ‘She might have looked her thanks to Gabriel on a minute scale, but she did not speak to them’. Towards the end Gabriel discuss the girl’s faults, he acknowledged that Bathsheba was vain ‘and said vanity’.
Throughout the novel, chapter 1 is the most important. It gives us the story outline on what is to come later on in the novel. Chapter 1 mirrors the plot in the rest of the novel, with it ending up of Gabriel and Bathsheba coming together. Hardy uses a lot of clever techniques into revealing the plot of the novel. ‘In which men would play apart-vistas of probable triumphs’
This tells us that Bathsheba will have a lot of men playing a part in her life, this describes the main plot. ‘Vistas of probable triumph’ predicts Bathsheba’s relationships with 3 men in her life, because later on in the novel Bathsheba has 3 lovers, Gabriel, Sergeant Troy and Bold wood.
In the early stage of the novel we discover positive and negative sides of Bathsheba’s character. Firstly when Bathsheba at first comes in she is wearing red, this shows evil or danger. She argues with the tollgate because she doesn’t want to pay, this shows what kind of character she is. Bathsheba gets annoyed that Gabriel paid the money for her, she wanted to get her own way and not pay. When they first speak Gabriel calls her vain, she does not reply which signifies that this could be true. Fortunes turn around with Bathsheba, and Gabriel. He loses all of his sheep and becomes unemployed. While at the same time Bathsheba’s fortunes get better when she inherits a farm off her uncle. However they meet again when Gabriel saves Bathsheba’s life from the fire incident. Bathsheba is faced with another disaster later on in the novel. Her sheep had run into a clover field and could have died if not treated. She becomes turns angry and blames someone else. This shows us that when something bad happens she instantly blames somebody else. She does not stop and think whether it could be her wrong doing that has caused such a thing. She becomes helpless, However she asks Gabriel to help, she sent a note demanding that Gabriel to come and help. This showed that she is very impolite, rather than asking Gabriel nicely to come she ‘demanded’ him to come. He replied that he would not until he was addressed more courteously. Desperately she asked him again. When he came, the sheep were saved, and Bathsheba ‘smiled on him’, at this point Bathsheba’s attitude changes towards him.
Later on in the play Bathsheba’s other lover, Sergeant Troy fled the village after finding Fanny’s coffin. When he reached the seaboard he disrobed to take a swim. The strong current nearly drowned him, but fortunately a boat came to his rescue. A passer noticed his clothes on the beach as if they had been drawn in and a conclusion was made that he had drowned. Troy did not hesitate to take the opportunity of this conclusion and he moved to America so everyone believed he was dead. However Bathsheba relieved by his disappearance was not convinced by the slightest, that he had drowned. This shows that she has intelligence and sticks with her own independent ideas.
Now Boldwood believing in the theory was overwhelmed and urged over and over again for Bathsheba to marry him. She decided that if Troy did not return, she would marry Boldwood. After this Troy burst into the doors to take Bathsheba. At the same time she fainted, then an annoyed Boldwood shot Troy killing him instantly. Bathsheba was under so much pressure, she had had enough of this trouble. Boldwood after trying but failing to commit suicide but failed handed himself into the institution later to be confirmed that it was life in there. Oak was now the only lover left. He was not forgotten but had dwindled in the novel into the background. He nursed Bathsheba until she was well. He then declared that he was going to move to America for a better life. On that account Bathsheba realised that she needed and loved him. Then later they had the most secretive and quietist wedding there could be. Bathsheba had finally found the man she wanted. By this experience she realised that faithfulness, honesty and devotion were precious emotions too. Bathsheba starts to realise who she is and who she wants. Her maturity finally comes to her and she takes life seriously and tries to get it sorted out.
The other character in this novel is Fanny Robin, who used to be a servant at the Wethearbury farm. The name Fanny Robin is very significant. I can see that from Fanny’s surname that hardy wanted to create connotations to her surname and this was just the simplicity of her character. Robin gives an idea of an animal that is small, fragile and beautiful but is also vulnerable and timid. I can see that this tends to be true from when the novel is read further. There is also a reference to this in the novel to this, ‘A slim, poorly clad girl’. To describe Fanny robin as a character she is a direct contrast to Bathsheba. Fanny Robin is blond and timid which fixes her second name ‘Robin’ and while this Bathsheba is dark and lively. Fanny is also a shadowy character and is adding mystery to the plot. When sergeant Troy fails to keep his promise to marry her, Fanny becomes upset and this is leading her to death because she is not strong enough in body or mind. Although when looking at which of Fanny’s characteristics are significant it becomes most important to see that Hardy’s aim in this situation of why Hardy introduced Robin to this story. Robin’s death in particular shows the reader how Bathsheba has changed throughout the novel. When she learns of Fanny's death, she seems genuinely upset and does not seem to be relieved that her rival is dead. We can see that she has matured a lot and is less hasty, but calmer than she was when she was first introduced into the novel in chapter one.
In Hardy’s novels, fate plays a major part. From the start of the novel fate always played a part, there are references to fate by Thomas hardy, ‘then fate dealt Gabriel’. Gabriel’s sheep had died and he was in poverty, then he slept in a cart, that night the cart carried him to where Bathsheba lived, this was fate. Also later on in the novel it is also fate that Fanny confuses the two churches. Fanny mistakenly walks into the wrong chapel for her wedding with troy and troy impatient and embarrassed by her late arrival, didn’t want to marry her.
Once again there is more fate involved with the character Fanny Robin where Troy has been looking for Fanny but re-encounters her when it’s too late and Troy has married Bathsheba. The chance has been enrolled in Fanny’s role, this is when Troy keeps a lock of Fanny’s hair and Bathsheba finds it by chance and she gets jealous, this causes extreme arguments between Bathsheba and Troy and gives Bathsheba a clue to Fanny’s identity and this helps the coming together of Gabriel and Bathsheba, because Bathsheba begins to change.
For my personal opinion I think that chapter one is a very effective first chapter and it made me want to read on and see what happens further on in the novel. I think the main plot was suggested in chapter one and that gave us an idea on how the novel would be later on. Hardy used a lot of interesting techniques to make the story interesting. He gave an in-depth description on the main characters, which gave us an idea on how the characters really are. Hardy introduces the characters in an interesting way, like the first meeting between Bathsheba and Gabriel, Hardy shows Gabriel as being generous, giving money to the gate keeper, where was Bathsheba remained vain and impolite, showing no appreciation.