Bathsheba's marriage to Troy?

A.M.D.G. What Went Wrong With Bathsheba’s Marriage? 4th February 2003

Spencer Murphy

What Went Wrong With

Bathsheba’s marriage to Troy?

In this essay I am going to try to discover how Bathsheba Everdene ended up marrying Sergeant Troy, and then how the marriage was ruined. To do this I am going to go through each character involved in the plot, and their personalities and find out why Bathsheba either dumped them or succumbed to their charm. The characters I shall be dealing with are Bathsheba, Sergeant Troy, Gabriel Oak, and Farmer Boldwood. Then I shall make a final conclusion as to how Bathsheba’s marriage came about and ended.

Bathsheba is the second character we meet in the novel (After Gabriel Oak) and we learn from her first encounter with Oak at the tollgate that she is beautiful and vain. Bathsheba, endowed by Hardy with charm and personality, stands at the centre of the novel as the object of three men's attention. She is a slim, tall, and dark-haired beauty (Although wrongly portrayed as a blond in a movie version) who is concerned with her appearance and her acceptance by others. She is also an independent woman who has a strong hold upon life. She can manage her farm efficiently, as seen in her handling of the dishonest bailiff. She cares about the farm workers, paying personal attention to the payment of their wages. She is not afraid of manual work, as seen when she helps Gabriel cover the ricks in the midst of the storm. As the lone woman manager, she carries on business transactions with men at the corn market with remarkable skill, on an equal footing with her male peers.

At the beginning of the novel, Bathsheba is a woman filled with vanity and pride. She often looks at herself in the mirror and admires her reflection. She turns down Gabriel's proposal, for she feels he is beneath her. She is incensed that Boldwood doesn’t pay her attention and manipulates him into loving her with the help of a St. Valentines Day card. As the novel moves on, there is a change in her character for the better. At the end of the novel, she is a mature woman free from vanity and pride. She cleans the tombstone of Fanny Robin, the lover of Sergeant Troy, her husband. She lays Troy out for his final burial. She regrets her poor treatment of Boldwood, and agrees to marry him out of a sense of guilt. And in the end, she realizes the worth of Gabriel and knows he is more than worthy of her.

Her attention to the three men who are attracted to her marks the progress of her maturity. She at first rejects Gabriel Oak's love, for she feels she is better than he. However, she recognizes all along his superior qualities and is drawn to him for advice and comfort. She is carried away by the flattery of Sergeant Troy and marries
him out of infatuation with his charm without knowing anything about his involvement with Fanny and her flirtation with Boldwood arises out of selfishness. She emerges as a heroic woman after the death of Troy, or rather the second death of Troy, which is when Boldwood shoots him after “Returning from the dead”. She does not turn hysterical, but takes command of the situation with coolness and courage.

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Gabriel Oak is the first character that we meet in the novel. At first he sees Bathsheba as arrogant and vein, “She has her faults,” he says, “Vanity.” though his most striking quality is his devotion and loyalty to Bathsheba after realising this of her. His love is not short-lived like that of Troy. It is not possessive like that of Boldwood’s, which we shall talk about later, though he is employed as a shepherd for much of the book, he performs all the duties of a bailiff. He is the definition of a true farmer; he loves the land and is in tune with nature, this is shown when he warms his lambs by the fire, when he notices the movements of insects and senses the impending weather, and is most evident when he tells time by the stars. He is also a smart and sensitive worker. Almost single-handedly, he saves Bathsheba's harvest from rain and storm. He has a strong sense of duty.

Another quality of Oak is his simplicity. When he meets Bathsheba's aunt to place his marriage proposal, he does it in a simple way without a formal preface. He is also a straightforward person. He is annoyed at Bathsheba for having played a trick on Boldwood with the Valentine’s Card. He is also simple in his approach to trouble. He endures his misfortunes calmly and resolutely. When he loses his sheep farm, he is able to bear his financial loss courageously. He shows the same endurance in his love for Bathsheba. Though Bathsheba rejects his love, he is not defeated like Boldwood. He does not grumble when Bathsheba is married to Troy, but accepts the fact he will never have the woman he loves. Instead, he will simply continue to serve her.

By nature Gabriel is kind-hearted. On seeing the distress of Fanny Robin, he offers her a shilling even though he does not know her or understand her problems. He is deeply moved by Boldwood's disappointment in love and his sad fate, and tries to help and comfort, him. He repeatedly shows kindness to Bathsheba, even though she is undeserving of his kindness or admiration. Gabriel is also a modest and humble person. He does not push around the workers on the farm, but he stands down the law and makes it known that he is boss. He genuinely cares for them and their feelings, and is willing to work beside them, always providing service.

Gabriel is also a smart person. He has a great knowledge of farming and nature and uses the knowledge wisely to the benefit of everyone, especially Bathsheba. Early in the novel, he saves the farm from ruin by fire. He later saves a year's worth of crops from the rain. Gabriel is also widely read and has literary taste. His collection of books includes Paradise Lost, The Pilgrim's Progress, and Robinson Crusoe. He also plays the flute in a pleasing manner.

Truly, Gabriel Oak is a gentle, kind, amiable, wise, and honorable character. He is also patient. At peace with himself and nature, he does not rush. He serves Bathsheba throughout the novel, with no hope of ever winning her. The reader is delighted that the story ends in a comedy for this well-liked protagonist. In the end, he wins Bathsheba not through guilt or manipulation, but she falls in love with him because he is a good person.

Sergeant Troy is a tall person with an athletic appearance and handsome features. He comes from a middle class family, is well educated, and has potential, which he seems to give up when he joins the army. His virtues are entirely located in the masculine realm of military showmanship. He strengths are perverted by his
moral weakness. He hurts women most, acting out of a selfish sense of the justness in satisfying his own pleasure at their expense. Clean-shaven except for a moustache, he is heart-breakingly attractive to those women who notice only his looks. He is moderately truthful to men, but he tells extravagant lies to women. He wins their hearts by subtle flattery. He is an experienced swordsman and an expert rider. There is dignity in his speech and action. He dazzles Bathsheba by his skill at swordplay
in the hollow among the ferns. It is by the quickness and the charm of his manner and speech that he wins her love.

Troy is a selfish man, who thinks only of his own interests. He seems to use Fanny for sexual pleasure and marries Bathsheba because of her financial security. Fate brings him in contact with Fanny Robin, who seems to be full of abiding love and innocence. He hides his love affair with Fanny in order to marry Bathsheba. He leaves the farm when his love affair with Fanny becomes known. He comes back to Weatherbury with the intention of sharing the prosperity of Bathsheba's farm. He is a
liar and an unprincipled character. His character cannot stand close scrutiny and analysis, because he will stand exposed.

Farmer Boldwood is a very interesting character and bears himself as a perfect gentleman. He is respected and well liked by the men in the village. The women also notice him, for he is handsome and dignified, caring about his appearance. Boldwood is also essentially generous, helping the likes of Fanny Robin. Like Oak, he too keeps Troy's involvement with Fanny a secret from Bathsheba. By nature he is a simple and unassuming. Perhaps that is why, at age forty, he is still a bachelor. Basically shy, he shows no outward interest in women. When he pays Bathsheba no attention, she decides to toy with his emotions and sends him a valentine. As a result, he falls in love with her.

Boldwood's love for Bathsheba is expressed by an overwhelming desire to possess her. He is so obsessed with this single desire that he allows his farm to deteriorate. He buys presents for her to give sometime in the future, when they are married, as he is sure they will be. He repeatedly asks for her hand in marriage, and cannot accept that he cannot have her. When she marries Troy, he is driven to the point of insanity. But when Troy deserts her, his hope is restored, although is obsession and his madness continue. When Troy reappears on the scene at Boldwood's party and destroys his plans for a future with Bathsheba, he is pushed to the brink. When he says Troy treats his true love roughly, he snaps. He takes a shotgun and shoots Troy. The villagers, who pity this pathetic romantic, stop him from shooting himself. He leaves the party and honourably turns himself in to the authorities in Casterbridge. He is truly a tragic figure.

The main plot of Far from the Madding Crowd grows out of characters, and the sub-plot grows out of natural situations. Bathsheba Everdene is a charming and beautiful woman who, prompted by her vanity and pride, rejects the proposal of marriage offered by Gabriel Oak, for she thinks she is better than he. Oak, ironically, proves to be indispensable to her through the thick and the thin of her life. Nonetheless, the immature Bathsheba overlooks the worthy Oak and becomes infatuated with Sergeant Troy. She marries him, although he is already involved with Fanny. By the time of her marriage, Bathsheba has already set the tragic wheels of fate in motion by her foolish encouragement of Farmer Boldwood. When he ignores her, she sends him a valentine to attract his attention. He takes seriously the seal, "marry me," that she adds to the card. His life becomes an obsessive pursuit of this woman he loves.

So, now we know about the characters and why Bathsheba took the option that she did, what happens to Bathsheba’s life after marriage. Well, quite frankly Bathsheba's life is ruined by her marriage to Troy. She resents his selfish ways, his gambling, and his refusal to work on the farm. When Bathsheba learns about his affair with Fanny, it is too late. The girl and her child are already dead, and Troy deserts her. When Bathsheba is ready to accept her mistake in encouraging Boldwood and marry him out of pity and duty, Troy dramatically reappears on the scene. Appropriately, the deranged Boldwood, who is still obsessed with Bathsheba, shoots him. The death of Troy and the incarceration of Boldwood allow Bathsheba and
Gabriel to finally acknowledge their love for one another. At the end of the book, they marry quietly, and the villagers rejoice.

So in conclusion I can say that Bathsheba ended up marrying Troy because, firstly she viewed Oak as “not worthy of her”, secondly because she never loved Boldwood and only seeked his attention, and thirdly because she was wooed by Troys charm and the show he puts on for her. She then realises what Troy really is and resents him. Troy is then believed to be dead but upon his return Boldwood makes the myth of his death a fact by shooting him. Then the widowed Bathsheba opts to marry Oak for she finally realises his qualities.