'Far from the madding crowd' is set in the late 1860s to the early 1870s in Wessex, a fictional county based heavily on Dorset.

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Thomas hardy was born in 1840 in Dorset which is located near Dorchester. Hardy's first important novel was Far from the Madding Crowd in which he successfully adapted to a traditional form to his own purposes, slightly changing it in the process. His novel states the importance of man's connection to, and understanding of, the natural world. The story is set in an agricultural rural community. He viewed the industrial revolution as a major threat to the communities he loved. The main character in this novel is a shepherd who is called Gabriel, this gives off a very pastoral mood in the novel. The plot develops complications when Bathsheba has love for three different men. Gabriel Oak who is the shepphard embodies Hardy's ideal of a life in harmony with the forces of the natural world. Throughout the entire novel there are unusual twists and turns and in the end Bathsheba ultimately marries Gabriel, whom she had turned away so long ago. In the story of all Thomas Hardy’s novels, both love and fate play major roles.

In the first chapter we are introduced to Gabriel oak. He is a young sheppard. The main incident starts when Gabriel is walking in the countryside and he sees a wagon travelling down the road, and sees this young attractive woman is sitting on top if it. The Waggoner comes to a halt when they reached the gatekeeper and they had to pay a fee of three pence but the woman refused and only offered two pence. Gabriel stepped forward and paid the gatekeeper the rest of the fee and he insisted to let the women pass.

‘Far from the madding crowd’ is set in the late 1860s to the early 1870s in Wessex, a fictional county based heavily on Dorset. The village where Gabriel oak lives is in a small rural community. Many people such as Oak liked to hold onto their traditional views and values. Nowadays many of these views would be considered conservative and possibly outdated. Oak being a Shepard is very significant because it links back to the bible, so there are a lot of religious and biblical references in this novel. Most people went to church on Sunday. Church was very important. We learn that Gabriel Oak goes to church but doesn’t take it seriously. Hardy uses rural dialect to bring the minor characters to life, this gives them some personality. ‘Higgling matter’. Even though it is a winter’s day it is described as being spring. There is a reference to the girl having ‘vernal charm’. This symbolizes as spring which is associated with a new start. The new start in this case is Gabriel’s and the women’s relationship.

From the very beginning of chapter one, we have been given a positive description of Gabriel oak from Thomas Hardy. In paragraph one, we have been given a description of farmer Oak having a big cheerful smile.

‘When farmer oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks and diverging wrinkles appeared around them’

Gabriel's name is very significant in relation to his character, which refers back to the bible comparing with the angel Gabriel, but he is not just meant to be a holy saint, he is a very real person with very human feelings, and this becomes obvious as his relationship with Bathsheba grows. Also Gabriel’s second name, Oak, is significant as well because it represents and oak tree, which is large, strong, reliable and independent. An oak tree has lengthy roots, this is a comparison with Gabriel because he is traditional and he also likes to hold onto his roots.

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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 ...

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