which Troy gambles are held regularly. Along the coast a few miles to the east lies Lulwind (Lulworth) Cove, where Troy’s clothes are found after he is swept by the current toward Budmouth harbor.

*Bath

*Bath. Another fashionable town a day’s journey north of Casterbridge, where Troy and Bathsheba marry. The artificiality and lack of connection to the rural geography symbolize the uprooting of Troy and the destructive intrusiveness of his adventurism.

Norcombe

Norcombe. Town that is the site of Gabriel’s first meeting with Bathsheba and the first dashing of his hopes, some twenty miles north of Weatherbury.

Wessex

Critics frequently note that Hardy fashioned Wessex, the fictional backdrop for many of his novels and poems, to mirror Dorset, situated along England's southern coast. The term “Wessex” first appears in Far from the Madding Crowd.

Historically, “Wessex” referred to a kingdom in southern England, established following the Saxon invasion in 494 A.D. Although its boundaries evolved over time, its most enduring form closely matched the modern counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Somerset. This region is famously associated with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, lending it significant historical importance. By 927, however, this kingdom had been integrated into the larger entity of England.

By the nineteenth century, the name “Wessex” had largely faded from common use. Hardy's application of this term for the area evokes the ancient myths and traditions still prevalent in rural communities across southern England during his era. It also signifies that Hardy was not aiming to depict an accurate history of any specific location. Nevertheless, the resemblances between Dorchester and Wessex are so striking that entire books have been dedicated to mapping the fictional county to real places in Southwest England.

Urbanization

In the late nineteenth century, rural life in England faced numerous challenges. Industrialization was on the rise, partly due to the Industrial Revolution, which had begun in England in the previous century and had spread across Western Europe by Hardy’s time. Factories, concentrated in urban areas, offered wages far exceeding what workers could earn in the agricultural towns of their forebears, prompting many to relocate to cities. This migration led to the overcrowding and pollution vividly described in Charles Dickens’s novels about London in the 1830s and 1840s.

Moreover, English farms suffered a significant loss of profitability following the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. These laws, in effect in various forms for over 400 years, were highly controversial throughout the nineteenth century. Proponents argued that they shielded English farmers from market volatility by guaranteeing high prices for their crops, while opponents contended they hindered industrial growth by diverting tax money to subsidize landowning farmers. The repeal of the Corn Laws caused farm wages to plummet, forcing many families with generations of farming heritage to move to urban areas.

In a way, Hardy's tales of Wessex provided displaced farmers with a way to channel their nostalgia for the land their families had cultivated for generations. Although Hardy's rural characters are not always kind or wise, they consistently exhibit traits associated with country folk: traditional wisdom, a strong sense of community, and a deep-rooted adherence to customs, all of which are often missing in urban life. Furthermore, Hardy is praised for his unparalleled ability to depict the subtleties of rural workers in southern England.

Realism and RomanticismFar from the Madding Crowd is often regarded as a prime example of realism, a literary movement that emerged in Europe during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The earlier part of the century was dominated by romanticism, which encouraged writers to emphasize their imaginations. Romantic authors generally focused on personal expression, resulting in works that frequently included supernatural elements and depicted the world as a reflection of individual emotions. In reaction to the perceived excesses of romanticism, which some felt distanced literature from the actual human experience, realistic fiction began to take shape in the 1840s through writers like Gustave Flaubert and George Eliot. While romantic writers often portrayed the world as moldable by sheer willpower, leading to happy endings, realistic writers tended to depict life's harsher realities. In Far from the Madding Crowd, the realistic perspective is most evident in the sudden and senseless death of Oak’s flock of sheep. It is also reflected in Hardy's portrayal of societal norms, exemplified by Fanny Robin’s plight as a jilted and pregnant woman. On the other hand, the novel contains numerous romantic elements. The thunderstorm in chapter 37, which mirrors the emotional turmoil of Gabriel and Bathsheba, is a typical romantic device. The story's many unlikely coincidences, such as a boat rescuing Troy before he drowns and his subsequent encounter with Bathsheba at the Greenhill Fair, also reflect romanticism. The novel's happy ending, with the longtime acquaintances finally free to acknowledge their love and marry, suggests that despite its realistic aspects, the work is fundamentally a romantic novel.

Denouement

The term denouement is derived from French, meaning “the unraveling” or “the untying.” In literary terms, it refers to the portion of a story that follows the climax, where the tension has peaked and readers gain insight into the future lives of the surviving characters. In this novel, the climax occurs at the Christmas party when Boldwood kills Troy. This climax extends into the next chapter, “After the Shock,” where Bathsheba dresses her husband’s body and finally frees herself from his control. The denouement takes place in the following March, when Oak and Bathsheba, having had time to come to terms with the shocking events that removed the main obstacles in their path, find themselves able to playfully admit their love. For readers, it is evident that Troy’s sudden return and equally sudden death will not have a lasting negative impact on Bathsheba. The future of the novel’s two main characters is clear: they will live happily ever after.

1870s: England starts transitioning from an agricultural economy to an industrial one, as imported meat and produce reduce farm wages. Over the ensuing decades, the population migrates from rural areas to cities at an unprecedented rate.

Today: Britain boasts one of the world's most advanced industrial economies. Only around forty percent of the land is suitable for farming, and the country is only about four percent forested.

1870s: A woman bearing a child out of wedlock would often endure poverty in isolation rather than return to her hometown and face public shame and disgrace.

Today: The social stigma surrounding unmarried women has significantly lessened, as the practice has become more common over the past thirty years.

1870s: It is highly unusual for a woman like Bathsheba to manage a farm on her own. Most women who inherit farms depend on bailiffs to handle daily operations.

Today: A woman solely running a farm would be notable today mainly because most farms are owned and operated by corporations.

1870s: Owning a piano is a symbol of wealth for a woman living on a farm. Gabriel Oak assures Bathsheba that if she marries him, she will have one "in a year or two."

Today: Full-sized pianos still signify luxury; however, electric keyboards can offer similar sound quality at a much lower cost.

1870s: News spreads by word of mouth, typically at public gathering places like Warren’s Malthouse in the novel. Shepherds use natural signs to forecast weather changes.

Today: Even the most remote areas have access to twenty-four-hour news and weather channels, along with Internet access for real-time updates.

An abridged audio version of Far from the Madding Crowd is offered by Blackstone Audiobooks. Released in 1984, it features narration by Jill Masters and is accessible in both cassette and compact disc formats.

Another audio version on cassette, narrated by Hugh Rose and Kate Young, was released in 1980 by Century Publishing in Houston, Texas.

An unabridged audio edition, available on cassette and compact disc, was released in 1998 by The Audio Partners. This version is narrated by Stephen Thorne.

A major film adaptation of the book was produced in 1967, featuring an all-star cast that includes Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp, and Peter Finch. Directed by John Schlesinger and produced by Warner, this film is available through Warner Home Video.

A more recent film adaptation, created for public television’s Masterpiece Theatre series, stars Paloma Baeza as Bathsheba Everdene, Nathaniel Parker as Gabriel Oak, and Jonathan Firth as Frank Troy. Directed by Nicholas Renton, it was released on videocassette by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 1998.

An unconventional adaptation of this novel, focusing on themes of lust and passion, was produced by London’s SNAP People’s Theatre Trust. This version, tailored for a younger audience, adjusts the story of Bathsheba Everdene for children. A videotape of this production was released by Globalstage in 1998 and is recommended for viewers aged 12 and up.

Readers can explore hundreds of online articles about this novel and Thomas Hardy himself at the Thomas Hardy Association’s website (http://www.yale.edu/hardysoceaders).

Sources

Carpenter, Richard, “Thomas Hardy Revisited,” in Thomas Hardy, Twayne’s English Author Series, No. 13, Twayne Publishers, 1964, pp. 15–16.

Casagrande, Peter J., “A New View of Bathsheba Everdene,” in Critical Approaches to the Fiction of Thomas Hardy, edited by Dale Kramer, Barnes & Noble Books, 1979, pp. 51–53.

Kramer, Dale, “Thomas Hardy, Then to Now,” in Critical Essays on Thomas Hardy: The Novels, edited by Dale Kramer, G. K. Hall, 1990, pp. 2–3.

Further Reading

Lock, Charles, “Hardy and the Nature of Fiction” in Thomas Hardy, St. Martin’s Press, 1992, pp. 84–138. This chapter delves into Hardy’s artistic theories, as reflected in his fiction and other writings.

Ray, Martin, The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy: Allusions and Annotations, Thomas Hardy Association, 2003, CD-ROM. Hardy’s works, especially this novel, are rich with references to folk songs and other authors. This work identifies the precise sources of references to Shelley, Wordsworth, Milton, Tennyson, Swinburne, Byron, Keats, Shakespeare, and the Bible.

Stewart, J. I. M., Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography, Longman, 1971. Stewart provides detailed background information for each of Hardy’s major novels.

Zabel, Morton Dauwen, “Hardy in Defense of His Art: The Aesthetic of Incongruity,” in Hardy: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Albert J. Guerard, Prentice-Hall, 1963, pp. 24–45; originally published in Craft and Character in Modern Fiction, Viking Press, 1957. This essay extensively references Hardy’s writings on art and the critics who challenged him.