Far from the Madding Crowd

In life it is important that each person thinks rationally in every decision they make, but it is equally important that everyone follows their heart, too. For some people, thinking rationally while following their heart is not an easy task, and it often causes more tragedy than good. Thomas Hardy, a famous British author, repeatedly wrote novels depicting the cross between logical thinking and following one’s heart. For example, his first novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, involves a love circle during a period when women were trying to prove their independence. Bathsheba, the main character, manages a farm on her own and strives to continuously prove her dominance in a male dominant world. She finds herself distracted and stressed due to the fact that three men wish to marry her. Bathsheba significantly wishes to keep her independence, so she turns down the first two men. However, Troy, an untrustworthy womanizer, steals her heart for a moment until she again thinks realistic enough to not fall under his love traps. Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy, depicts the cross between thinking both rationally and irrationally once love is present in one’s life, which is common in all of Hardy’s books through the character development, central themes involving love, and gender confusion.

To begin, Thomas Hardy always seems to incorporate a dominant main character, normally a young beautiful female, in his novels, who changes drastically throughout the story from a number of things including love. In Far from the Madding Crowd specifically, Bathsheba changes in her personality and beliefs continuously due to her uncertain feelings and the dramatic love circle she becomes tangled in. At first, Bathsheba portrays “a vain ...

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...e. Gale. Web. 22 April 2014.

Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. New York: Signet Classic, 1984. Print.

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Moss, Mary. “The Novels of Thomas Hardy.” Atlantic Monthly 98 (Sept. 1906): 354-367. Rpt. in Twentieth Century Literary. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 143. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 22 April 2014.

Phelps, William Lyon. “The Novels of Thomas Hardy.” North American Review 190 (1909): 502-514. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 153. Detroit: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Web. 22 April 2014.