When he wakes he sees a barn on fire. Being the kind natured man he is, he runs over and helps. He instantly rounds up the other people who work on the farm and takes control of the situation and puts out the fire. Bathsheba looks from a distance at the stranger helping her other workers putting out the fire. Bathsheba calls the stranger over and offers him a job. Bathsheba unveils her self and looks astonished, as the stranger is Gabriel. This is Hardy’s first use of fate to bring these characters together in the end and it is how he works the theme of true love as things happen by chance.
After sometime Bathsheba sacks her bailiff and decides to manage her farm by herself. This shows how Bathsheba does not need help and it shows that she is contradicting the role of women in the nineteenth century as any other woman would have a man to help her but her independence is what Hardy uses to show disregard of how women were supposed to act.
A new character is in introduced by Hardy called Farmer Boldwood who is a very successful farmer. Farmer Boldwood is portrayed as a perfect gentleman. He is well respected and liked by the men in the village. Bathsheba changes this mans life for ever as his obsessive love leads him to shooting a man dead for her.
Bathsheba with the help of her maid, Liddy-made a Valentine’s card with “marry me” on the back of it and sent it to Farmer Boldwood as a joke. Again this shows how her character contradicts with her nineteenth century role as a woman. This is not particularly lady like behaviour for a woman to act like in them days, although in her defence she is mildly being egged on by Liddy. When Boldwood discovered the letter, he was very curious about who sent it him and even more curious of what was on the back of the letter. Boldwood went to talk to Gabriel about it as he respected him. Boldwood went to Gabriel while he was marking the sheep and asked him
“whose writing this is
Oak glanced into the book, and replied instantly, with a flushed face,
Miss Everdene’s”
Hardy shows that Gabriel is still in love with Bathsheba by showing his embarrassment of the letter by blushing and just by saying her name allowed:
“Oak had coloured simply at the consciousness of sounding her name”
Now Boldwood found himself besotted with the young woman but he didn’t know if she was beautiful. He couldn’t quite assure himself as he has had no outward interest in women so in the market place while e was watching her he asked the person next to him:
“Is Miss Everdene considered handsome?
O yes- she was a good deal noticed the first time she came if you remember. A handsome girl indeed.”
Boldwood was now convinced that he loved her and he should do something about it, as he believes she has good enough asked him to marry her. Hardy allows misinterpretation to allow one of his characters to fall in love and he shows how love can come about in many different ways whether it can be true or just obsessiveness.
Boldwood wanted to make Bathsheba his wife. When she noticed his approach, she quickly withdrew to get away from him, as she knew that love was going to be mentioned. Although Bathsheba tried to retreat from Boldwood he caught up with her and called her name. She nervously replied “Good morning!” and carried on but Boldwood still prevailed and got to have his word. Boldwood asked for her hand in marriage but Bathsheba respectfully declined and when the Valentine was mentioned she tried her best to apologize to Boldwood but he was not offended about the fake Valentine as he was already too far-gone in love with her. Boldwood persisted and Bathsheba was forced into saying she would think about it. Hardy now has now given his main female character two proposals of marriage, which makes it more interesting for the reader as Hardy is using the theme of love for suspense and to intrigue the readers mind.
Gabriel comes into the web of love again when Bathsheba starts to confide in him about the matters with farmer Boldwood and his proposal of marriage. She kindly asks Gabriel to tell the others that she will not be marrying Boldwood if they are thinking of any such thing. Gabriel agrees and gives his opinion of Bathsheba’s conduct with Boldwood, which Bathsheba really doesn’t like to hear
“My opinion is (since you ask it) that you are greatly to blame for playing pranks upon a man like Mr Boldwood, merely as a pastime. Leading on a man you don’t care for is not a praiseworthy action. And even Miss Everdene if you seriously inclined towards him you might have let him discover it in some way of true loving-kindness, and not by sending him a valentines letter.”
Bathsheba is so shocked and offended by this opinion she asks him to leave the farm. This shows she is still childish and because she cannot handle one opinion, which is entirely true, she gets upset and fires Gabriel. Hardy is letting us know that Bathsheba is still a little immature to handle true love at the moment as she is acting like a little spoilt girl who has to have her way.
Once Gabriel has left she realises she needs his assistance on the farm as her sheep were dying and the only person in the area who could perform the operation to save them was Gabriel. Bathsheba has to swallow her pride and send for him. She sends for him in a rather disrespectful manner
“Jump on the bay mare, and ride across, and say he must return instantly:”
Bathsheba’s disrespect allows Gabriel to refuse. Again she tries but this time in a more proper and polite way. She sent him a letter with
“Do not desert me, Gabriel”
Gabriel comes at once and saves her sheep and gets his previous job back as she re-offers it him. Hardy makes Bathsheba show respect to Gabriel and shows the audience her character is maturing and she is becoming less vain.
Further through the novel Boldwood’s desire to possess Bathsheba grew stronger and it allowed his once very prosperous farm to deteriorate. At the shearing supper Bathsheba’s entire workforce sat down for supper. Bathsheba and Gabriel’s friendly relationship grew and she asked him to sit at the top of the table. Unfortunately for Gabriel, Boldwood showed up and Bathsheba asked Gabriel if he could kindly return to his place. The meal went well and everyone had a very cheerful time.
Once it ended Bathsheba and Boldwood went into the house. That same night Hardy introduced the final character that would compete for Bathsheba’s heart, Sergeant Frank Troy. Troy is already in love with Fanny Robbin, a maid who had worked for Bathsheba but who had left. Gabriel once gave money to her. Troy is a selfish man who uses flattery to win women’s hearts. In the fir plantation, Troy bumped into Bathsheba and got tangled up with her. Once they were untangled and Troy noticed how beautiful Bathsheba was, he said:
“Ah, Beauty: good-bye!”
This stuck into her mind and she realised Boldwood had never complimented her on her looks. Hardy’s newest character instantly had an affect on Bathsheba and this is the first new interest that Bathsheba has actually started to have feelings towards even in this short space of time.
Once Troy had found out that the woman he found to be beautiful was Bathsheba Everdene he found himself even more interested as this woman was well-off and could offer the selfish and womanising man security. Hardy uses this character to attract Bathsheba in many different ways than Gabriel and Boldwood. Troy does not try to offer her security, possessions or any other such method the other two used. Troy lies and deceives her, he uses his talents of swordsmanship to impress her and he uses the art of flattery.
Troy’s ways had got him the closest to the heart of Bathsheba and he was the first one to share a kiss with her in the meadow. By this time Bathsheba was in love with Troy or believed she was. Troy also thought he was in love yet it was only infatuation.
“Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon their self-reliance”
This shows that Bathsheba has given up her independence that she relied on in the past for the love of Troy. Hardy changes the character of Bathsheba slightly by falling in love with Troy as she now has given up one of her qualities that she relied on, her independence. Hardy’s readers can see that Bathsheba has changed for love as she is has wrongly fallen in love with Troy. Hardy’s readers know this is wrong and in time things will change, as this is not the cause of true love.
Bathsheba and Troy eventually get married and that is when the romance begins to end. The two become less infatuated with each other and start to become bitter. When Troy, Bathsheba and her workforce are celebrating there marriage Troy gets rid of all the women and gets drunk with all the men. Meanwhile Gabriel is outside all night in the storm trying to save the harvest. Bathsheba is greatly thankful for what he has done
“Thank you for your devotion a thousand times Gabriel!”
Hardy shows yet again that Gabriel is the right man for Bathsheba through his loyalty, devotion and general good and decent nature. The reader knows that Bathsheba is with the wrong man and hopefully it is only a matter of time before her and Gabriel get together.
When it is discovered that Fanny is dead, Gabriel is the first to look at the coffin and notices that it says
“Fanny Robbin and child”
Gabriel rubs out and child as he knows the child is Troy’s and he does not want her to get hurt as he cares for her.
Liddy then informs Bathsheba that there is a rumour going about Weatherbury
“I mean that a wicked story is got to Weatherbury within this last hour-that-that there’s two of’em in there”
Bathsheba’s curiosity overwhelms her and she decides to open the coffin. Hardy then uses poetry to tell the reader that there is a baby there
“A curious frame of natures work,
A flow’ ret crushed in the bud,
A nameless piece of babyhood,”
When Troy comes in and discovers that Fanny is dead he kisses her and the baby. Bathsheba begs Troy to kiss her which shows her insecurity as she gave up her independence for him and now she wants to rely on but she knows that he still loves her. After he says “you are nothing to me” she runs out.
Hardy has finally shown the true character of Troy. He is an incredibly nasty person to say this to his wife and now the reader knows it. The way he has treated Bathsheba all this time is unforgivable. Although Hardy has portrayed him as this malicious character he has proved that he did love Fanny and did not just use her for sexual pleasure.
Troy eventually decides to get away from everything and fakes his own death. This is where Boldwood comes in to play again. He is still obsessively in love with Bathsheba and in doing so his farm is doing very badly. He makes a proposal to Bathsheba of marrying him in six years after Troy is officially declared dead.
“Well then, do you know that without further proof of any kind you may marry again in about six years from the present- subject to nobody’s objection or blame?”
Boldwood forces this offer upon Bathsheba and in the end she has to say that she will give him an answer at he Christmas party. Bathsheba. Although she believes her husband to be dead she does not have along time in which she would cease to do things due to bereavement, she carries on and is cool and level headed. This shows yet again how she is in comparison with other women in the 19th century. Normally she would be expected to bereave, it would be her role but not Bathsheba she is different and more modern than other women.
During the Christmas party Boldwood asked Bathsheba for her answer and she reluctantly said yes
“Very well. I’ll marry you in six years from this day if we both live,”
Boldwood was delighted and he then gave her a ring, which she was forced, to where for that night. Soon after they got back to the party Hardy brought a great thrill to the novel as Troy showed up to the party, cloaked. When Troy tried to grab Bathsheba, Boldwood shot him dead.
With Troy dead and Boldwood in prison the reader now knows that Hardy has left a big opening for Bathsheba’s heart. The only man left and the most decent man is Gabriel Oak. Finally Hardy gives the readers what they have wanted through out the whole novel. Gabriel asks Bathsheba to marry her and she accepts, they are soon married and the novel ends happily.
Throughout this novel Hardy has shown three different types of love, obsessive, infatuation and true love. Hardy is trying to say that there are many types of love, some are not real but there is one type that is real and that is true love. True love being the type of love where you love the person for who they are not just what they look like. Hardy also shows that Bathsheba resembles a 20th century woman more than a 19th century woman. She is modern and she is very independent. Her independence is one of her main qualities along with her vanity, which slowly faded away.
