The theme of time and its progression is a key element in the novel. Throughout a period of eighteen months, the landscape of the heath remains unchanged. This unchanging nature is reflected in the lives of the inhabitants who have lived there for generations. They continue to uphold long-standing traditions, performing the same wedding ceremonies, harvest rituals, and holiday customs. They even rely on folk remedies, like the traditional treatment for an adder's bite. Sometimes, these age-old beliefs lead to animosity, such as the suspicion that Eustacia Vye is a witch.

The characters who face the greatest challenges are those who resist the flow of rural life. Eustacia, for example, is unhappy with her life on the heath and longs for the "bustle" of Paris. Similarly, Wildeve finds life on the heath monotonous and plans to explore the world after receiving a large inheritance. Clym is the character most torn by conflicting desires; while Eustacia thinks he is too cultured to live in the countryside, he appreciates the land's eternal beauty.

[W]hen he gazed from the heights on his journey, he couldn't help but feel a primitive satisfaction in noticing that in some attempts to reclaim the land from wasteland, tillage, after enduring for a year or two, had retreated in defeat, with the ferns and furze-tufts stubbornly returning to their place.