In chapter six, I felt a certain amount of sympathy for Bathsheba. I think that Hardy evoked this from the fact that there was a devastating fire on the farm and that her uncle had also died leaving a huge responsibility of a farm to her. It was a knock back as well as a gain. Gabriel Oak was very impressed however how Bathsheba took on and succeeded in the running of the farm “Gabriel was rather staggered by the remarkable coolness of her manner.”
Now we look at Bathsheba and the beginning of her rather uneventful friendship with Farmer Boldwood. In chapter nine, Liddy tells Bathsheba that Boldwood is “A hopeless man for women.” I think that Hardy tried to portray to the readers that Bathsheba saw this man as a challenge and that she could have some fun with him. So she sends him a valentine’s card. “The rose is red, the violet blue, carnations sweet, and so r you.” When Boldwood receives this letter he is rather baffled and he doesn’t know what to think of it. He does come to the decision that it is from Bathsheba and he does then go to her.
When Bathshaba went to the cornmarket, she caught the eye of many men including Boldwood. She was “daintily dressed” for the occasion which may have added to her appeal. Boldwood did notice Bathsheba but he made sure that he wasn’t obviously interested in her. “But with eyes fixed on the most advanced point along the road.” Finally in chapter nineteen, Boldwood speaks to Bathsheba and tells her that he wants to marry her. “I come to make you an offer of marriage.” Bathsheba was rather surprised and she really doesn’t want to marry him “I feel, Mr Boldwood, that though I respect you much, I do not feel – what would justify me to – in accepting your offer.” I feel a certain amount of sympathy for Bathsheba here as the valentine’s card has negatively and tremendously affected her, as she does not intend on marrying Boldwood at all. She later tries to end the whole affair by “Making amends” for the valentines card and Boldwoods marriage proposal that she sincerely wishes never happened. Again Hardy evokes the reader’s sympathy for Bathsheba having to turn away yet another man that she does not love which must be hard for her and it puts her in a difficult position.
Bathsheba now meets the fickle Troy last seen with Fanny. They embarrassingly get caught together by Bathtub’s dress. “Thank you for the sight of such a beautiful face!” Was the reaction of Troy when he looked at Bathtubs face and saw how beautiful she was. After that incident they met again in chapter twenty-eight. Troy showed her his sword exercise and how skilled he is. He was jabbing and waving the sword around Bathsheba leaving her vulnerable. This is a way in which Troy shows his masculinity to her and he makes her feel “powerless” when she found out he was lying. “Is the sword very sharp?” “Oh no.” Was the lye that Troy told her. Before he went he kissed her in her helpless state taking advantage of her. By now Bathsheba has become rather fond of Troy. And I felt that Hardy evoked my sympathy for Bathsheba when she had to face Troy and his sword routine while she stood there vulnerable.
Bathsheba later marries Troy “She has married him.” This meant that she automatically lost the farm and her earnings, which evokes my sympathy. And the fact that Troy is mistreating Bathsheba marrying her for her money and lying to her “What is her name?” “How should I know her name?” Bathsheba and Troys marriage gets worse and this is where Hardy again evokes the reader’s sympathy. “All romances end at marriage.” This was Troys perception of the whole situation.
Bathsheba finds out about Fanny’s baby in chapter forty-three when she looks in the coffin at Fanny. Bathsheba tries speaking to Troy but he then disowns her in anger “You are nothing to me – nothing.” Hardy has evoked my sympathy to a peak here.
At he end of the book, Hardy builds up to a dramatic scene where Boldwood shoots Troy out of anger and jealousy. “Boldwood was seen through the smoke to be now again engaged with the gun.” Bathsheba here was very shocked and she was grasping Troy in desperation for him to wake up and come alive. Yet again Hardy evokes the readers sympathy for Bathsheba. But in the end Bathsheba finds her true love. Gabriel Oak who was always there for her. “Will you marry me?” They finally get married and Bathsheba ends on a happy note.
Fanny is presented by Hardy as a direct contrast to Bathsheba “It was a slim girl, rather thinly clad.” This is a sign that Fanny is a poor girl and probably underfed. She is blonde and fragile while Bathsheba is dark and lively. Hardy evokes the reader’s sympathy for Fanny from the moment the moment we meet her and until the moment she dies and even after she gets buried. She is a shadowy figure adding mystery to the plot. Hardy juxtaposes scenes with Troy, Fanny and Bathsheba very affectively. They two women only meet once on Yalbury Hill; Bathsheba discovers Fanny’s identity when she opens the coffin.
We first meet Fanny in chapter seven, in Weatherbury churchyard where she will finally be buried. She then met Gabriel Oak where she said, “Do you know how late they keep open the Buck’s head inn?” Hardy evokes the reader’s sympathy as Gabriel notices that she is rather poor and vulnerable. “I am rather poor and I don’t want people to know anything about me,” Then she was silent and shivered. Fanny clearly wants to go undetected and she appears to be cold and under clothed. Gabriel feeling sorry for Fanny offers her a shilling “Yes, I will take it.” Fanny accepts the shilling like a child with a sweet. She is obviously very poor and needs help and again Hardy evokes the reader’s sympathy. “Gabriel’s fingers alighted on the young woman’s wrist. It was beating with a throb of tragic intensity. He had frequently felt the same quick, hard beat in the femoral artery of his lambs when overdriven. It suggested a consumption too great of a vitality which, to judge from her figure and stature, was already too little.” She is clearly ill, frail and poor. Her fast pulse may be a sign that she is going to have a bad fate in the future.
Fanny then goes “missing” as Bathsheba can’t find her youngest servant. They’ve been wanting to lock up the door for two hours, but she hasn’t come in. “To-morrow morning I wish two or three of you to make inquiries in the villages round if they have seen such a person as Fanny Robin. There is no reason for alarm yet.” Hardy again arouses the reader’s sympathy for Fanny, as we know that she is poor and now people are starting to become concerned and people are starting to worry which is unusual.
“Between each utterance the little shape advanced about half a dozen yards. The figure was stooping. “Is it seargent Troy?” You are glad to see me Frank?” O yes of course. When shall we be married Frank? You have the permission of the officers? “The fact is, I forgot to ask. Your coming like this is sudden and unexpected. Ill come to you my dear. Good night.” Hardy evokes a lot of sympathy here for Fanny as she has made her way over to meet seargent Troy, as she loves him. She wants to marry him. He is surprised to see her and he is not very convincing when he says he wants to marry her. They agree to marry the next day in the church.
Things get worse and worse for Fanny as she has gone to the wrong church leaving Frank alone. “O Frank – I made a mistake! – I thought that church with the spires was All Saints and then I found out I was in all souls. Shall it be tomorrow Frank? “I don’t go through that experience again for some time, I warrant you!” “When shall it be?” “Ah when?” “God knows.” Frank gets in a mood with Fanny. I think that he didn’t want to marry her anywhere and that he used Fanny’s lateness as an excuse. This is where I feel a lot of sympathy for Fanny. She is a victim of circumstance, a shadowy presence who reveals Troy’s fickleness when he flirts with Bathsheba.
Fanny conceals her pregnancy and supports herself as a seamstress until she goes to Casterbridge workhouse to have her baby. Hardy evokes pity by describing in harrowing detail her last journey, especially with the picture of her “little arms” resting on a large dog. Fanny’s fear that she will never see Troy again – “Perhaps I shall be in my grave” is prophetically ironic. Ironically she has more power in death than in life. Fanny then dies in the workhouse. “These lifted the prostrate figure and assisted her in through the doorway. The man then closed the door.” I feel a lot of pity for Fanny when she dies.
Fanny is then put in a coffin and Gabriel takes her coffin in a carriage to Bathshebas farm near where she will be buried. “Fanny Robin and Child.” “Gabriel took his handkerchief and carefully rubbed out the two latter words, leaving one inscription “Fanny Robin” only. Gabriel done this to protect Bathsheba from getting hurt. The thought of Fanny having an illegitimate child evokes a lot of sympathy.
Fanny is finally buried in the “obscure” part of the churchyard being a pauper and being the mother of an illegitimate child. This is where Hardy evokes the reader’s sympathy. “Here now stood the tomb as the men had stated, snow-white and shapely the gloom, consisting of head and foot stone, an enclosing border of marble-work uniting them. In the midst was mould, suitable for plants.”
In the end Hardy left Fanny on a very sad note “The persistent torrent from the gurgoyle’s jaws directed all of its vengeance into the grave. The rich tawny mould was stirred into motion, and boiled like chocolate.” This is where Hardy evoked the most of my sympathy.
Now that we have looked at both of the characters and the sympathy that Hardy evoked, we can compare the situations of the two characters throughout the novel. Hardy only evoked a small amount of sympathy from Bathsheba and that was mainly with her situation with Troy. Troy mistreated her and used her for her money and this is where I really felt pity for Bathsheba who loved Troy. So in my opinion Hardy presented Bathsheba as a very self assured, independent woman who was very surprisely dropped all of a sudden by her husband and it left her in turmoil and sadness. This is how Hardy evoked most of the reader’s sympathy. As for Fanny, Hardy evoked a lot more sympathy compared to Bathsheba. Fanny was the “dark and lonely figure” who was poor and thin. She seemed like a nice person down to heart but she was never truly happy and she was never treated as she deserved to be treated. Troy didn’t give her the love and respect that he should have done and when it was too late he realised how much he loved her, leaving Bathsheba by herself. And when Fanny was in her grave and the gurgoyle was dripping water all over it making it even worse, Hardy really showed the readers how unfair life can be and at the same time he evokes maximum sympathy for Fanny. Overall Hardy presented Bathsheba and Fanny in the most appropriate way to evoke the certain amount of the reader’s sympathy that he wanted. This was very cleverly done and it is proof that Hardy is an all time great author.