Uday Puri
Far From the Madding Crowd
In this essay I will be characterizing the types of relationships of the three male characters; Sergeant Francis (Frank) Troy, Gabriel Oak and William Boldwood had with the protagonist Bathsheba Everdene in the novel “Far From the Madding Crowd”. I will begin by explaining their personalities and then go onto describing their relationships with Bathsheba Everdene and how these relationships develop.
Gabriel Oak is who can be considered as the novels hero in some ways, is a farmer turned shepherd turned bailiff. He seems to have natural, almost exceptional skills in taking care of a farm, and as we see this comes to his benefit as the story unravels. At the beginning of the novel Gabriel Oak is introduced as a young and successful farmer who was able to move his way up the ladder and acquire his own farm “I have a nice snug little farm” with “200 sheep” (something which would be considered as a prestigious achievement in those days). Gabriel Oak is a very honest and down to Earth man represented as a character with a very solid personality, in the sense that with him what you see is what you get. It can even be said that this quality of character is his downfall in his relationship with Bathsheba. The first time that Gabriel encounters Bathsheba is when she saves his life during a fire; at this point the two don’t know each other but very quickly, Gabriel who seems impressed by Bathsheba’s strong character and independence is convinced that she is the right woman for him and decides to ask her, for her hand in marriage. Unlike the other characters in the book (as we shall see), Gabriel is very candid in his proposal and does not make any real effort to “woo” Bathsheba in a flirtatious manner, but rather tries to seduce her by offering all the securities “You shall have a piano in a year or two-farmers wives are getting to have pianos now, and Ill practice up the flute right well to play with you in the evenings”, that he feels a farmer’s wife would want- and in a large sense he is right, most woman in those times would probably have accepted the offer but what Gabriel does not realize is that Bathsheba is unlike most woman of her time she represents more of what we would call a woman with modern values ( this is why it can be said that Thomas Hardy was ahead of his time and contemporary moral values in the way he felt that woman should be treated).Bathsheba almost takes the proposal as a joke but eventually declines his proposal because she fells one should only marry someone else if he/she is in love with the other person, and she does not have any feelings for Gabriel Oak, the wittiness and intelligence of her character are manifested in the way she refuses Oak, “You are better off than I.I have hardly a penny in the world-I am staying with my aunt for bare sustenance-I am better educated than you-and I don’t love you a bit:thars my side of the case.” Even though Oak is refused he ends up declaring that “He will always love her”, and as the story moves on Oak becomes more of an observer but always remains loyal to Bathsheba in the sense that he always helps her out when needed with good intentions. Oak is central character in the theme of fate that is centered on this book-one Thomas Hardy is known to have been a strong believer in.). Eventually ends up getting Bathsheba’s hand in marriage but not by flirting, but rather because he was always there for her when she most needed it (with the aid of a string of fateful events)
