"It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs."
"Well, what I mean is that I shouldn't mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband."
"It appears that ordinary men take wives because possession is not possible without marriage, and that ordinary women accept husbands because marriage is not possible without possession."
Thomas Hardy is a feminist and no-one can tell me otherwise. It is so refreshing to read a male author depict the struggles, hardships and joys of being a woman so acutely. He was a forward-thinking man, with modern ideas about the place of women in society. I would like to believe that even in the 19th Century society, which depicted women to be inferior to men that Hardy saw something different. From his writing, I am led to believe he understood that women were strong, intelligent and just as capable as men (if not more so, XD... sorry guys, jokes)! I would like to believe he would have fought for equal rights between men and women, that there should be a partnership between a husband and wife, not a dictatorship.
(Warning: Spoilers)
"I shall be up before you are awake; I shall be afield before you are up; and I shall have breakfasted before you are afield. In short, I shall astonish you all."
When we are introduced to Bathsheba, she is a headstrong, independent woman. She had a wild, fierce nature which is a rather refreshing depiction for a male 19th Century author. Bathsheba portrays different sides of herself throughout the novel; playful and loving, but also cold and stubborn. I have found that I genuinely love the female protagonists in Hardy's writing, they feel real.
"He had been held to her by a beautiful thread which it pained him to spoil by breaking, rather than by a chain he could not break."
Throughout the book, she turns down two marriage proposals—the first from Gabriel Oak, a reasonably successful shepherd with a kind soul, a sharp mind and an honest heart. His success soon turned to failure when one of his sheepdogs ran all of his livestock off a cliff. His dog's over-eager nature cost him his livelihood, which led him to work under Bathsheba as the bailiff on her farm.
"When Boldwood went to bed he placed the valentine in the corner of the looking-glass. He was conscious of its presence, even when his back was turned upon it. "
The second from Mr Boldwood, a quiet and reserved man to begin with, but was soon beguiled by Bathsheba's thoughtless actions of sending him a Valentine. After this, he was consumed with her to the point of obsession. His devotion to winning her hand knew no bounds. He sought to pay off her final suitor to gain her for himself.
I had a tug of war with myself about Boldwood. I really felt his torment over loving Bathsheba, and his complete devotion to her was admirable. But he also came across slightly creepy. His love for her was definitely obsessive and very unhealthy. He would have treated Bathsheba like an absolute queen if they had got married; however, his path to getting her to the altar was emotional extortion. He made her feel so guilty about her past behaviour towards him that within the last couple of chapters, she actually agreed to marry him. Boldwood was a weird one.
However, there was no mistaking how I felt about the dashingly handsome Sergeant Francis (Frank) Troy.
I hated him.
Troy stole Bathsheba's heart (and her common sense along with it) through cunning and seduction. The readers see that earlier in the novel that Frank is intertwined with another young lady named Fanny Robinson. He plans to marry her, but after a miscommunication about the location of their nuptials, he refuses to marry her. As a result, she is ruined in the eyes of society. He soon forgets all about her and woos the young, rich and beautiful Bathsheba with his charm and an impressive portrayal of his swordsmanship in the forest.
However, the interaction between Frank and Fanny leaves her pregnant and homeless. He learns of his past loves situation too late, and Fanny and their child dies later in the novel. Frank cannot forgive himself.
You know when you just get the instant "ick" about a particular character that you can't shake, then they reveal their true colours, and it all makes sense. That's how I felt about Troy. Sure, he was handsome and seemed to care about Bathsheba at the start, but I knew his loving manner was going to run out eventually. And I was right.
"Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon their self-reliance. When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away."
"He was hers and she was his; they should be gone together."
I start to feel a little bad for Bathsheba because she finally decides to follow her heart and marry the man that she loves. However, it is not the happily ever after that she had hoped. Frank turns out to be a nasty piece of work; he is a compulsive gambler, a drunk and a horrible husband.
Like many others I suppose, I was rooting for Oak. He was such a logical, loving and loyal man towards Bathsheba. He always treated her with respect and care, and she truly relied on his counsel, not just on the farm but also in her personal life. However, Bathsheba would pretend as if she didn't. But she was often proved wrong quickly after she made the rash decision to fire him for his honesty.
"This was a triumph, and had it come naturally such a triumph would have been the sweeter to her for having been delayed. But it had been brought about by misdirected ingenuity, and she valued it only in the sense in which she valued an artificial flower or wax fruit."
Hardy depicted a strong woman in on top, with an abundance of men at her power. But soon that fire within her was dimmed by the presence of a particular soldier depriving the surroundings of air. Despite this sad state of affairs, the descriptive portrayal of this process was sublime. I recommended this book to my father, and he said that his mind was blown. He called Hardy; "an absolute wordsmith". If anyone knows my dad, then you will know that he does not give compliments easily. I was so glad he enjoyed it, I know I did. I thought I was well aware of the eloquence of Hardy's descriptions due to Tess of the D'Ubervilles. But Hardy's portrayal of scenes within this book was sublime.
But want to know what made this book even better?
The massive plot twist that occurred mere chapters before the book came to a close! Those last couple pages were a BUMPY RIDE (anyone get that reference? No? Okay then. Back to the end of the story...)
Frank came back. Boldwood shot and killed Frank! Boldwood tried to shoot himself after but couldn't so he gave himself up to the police. Bathsheba finally realised that she relied on and deeply loved Oak.
Bathsheba and Oak got married and lived happily ever after.
THE END!
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