19th Century Soap Opera (Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
Date:	04/06/04 (206 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story, Captivating back drop

Disadvantages: 19th century language

---Introduction---

It was on holiday in Scotland that I chose to read the bulk of this particular book. Whether it was the magnificent Highland scenery that inspired the read (albeit the rugged mountainous terrain would hardly substitute for the fictional lowlands of *Wessex) or the more than common flock of sheep that put me in mind of the characters, I'm not sure; but having spanned a gap of some 24 years since the first time I read the book, this is an account of my experience.


---Thomas Hardy---

Thomas Hardy was born in June 1840 in Higher Bockhampton, just outside Dorchester. In 1874 ?Far From the Madding Crowd? was published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine in twelve numbers, illustrated by H. P. Allingham.

Hardy went on to write and publish much loved works such as ?The Mayor of Castorbridge? and ?Tess of the D?Urbervilles? that caught the public imagination and are still read in vast numbers today.

---Far From The Madding Crowd---

Far from the Madding Crowd is set in rural 19th century England. Based in Wessex, the story is established in and around the south of England approximating to the New Forest region of Hampshire in the main. Gabriel Oak is a shepherd who has made his own way in the world. Having built up his own flock based on hard work and a soon to be paid loan, he is doing well as a reputed expert in his trade. On a particularly unremarkable day, he encounters the beautiful and daring Bathsheba Everdean. Headstrong and flamboyant, Bashsheba saves Oak from suffocating in his Shepherd?s tent triggering a longing for ?..The young girl with the remarkably pleasant lips and white teeth?. Before long, Gabriel asks for Bathsheba?s
hand in marriage but she declines as she doesn?t love him.

Following an unfortunate accident resulting in the loss of Oak?s flock, their paths cross again in the nearby village of Weatherbury. Down on his luck, Gabriel is hired by the now mistress of her own farm, Bathsheba in a twist of fate not lost on the young woman.

Ensconced as the closest thing to nobility in the district, Farmer Boldwood is the perennial Bachelor who takes life all too seriously. With a bad experience in love at an earlier age colouring his outlook, a misguided prank involving the mischievous sending of a Valentine to Boldwood leads to a dangerous obsession with the naïve sender, Bathsheba that ultimately ends in tragedy.

Meanwhile, the dashing romantic military figure of Sargent Troy is stood up at the alter by the unfortunate Fanny Robin. With a rogue?s eye for adventure and more than a hint of cynicism, Troy finds his way into all of the main character?s lives but, in the main, Bathsheba?s to set the metaphorical cat among the pigeons and give the story it?s catalyst for melodrama and disaster.

---My Thoughts---

Far From The Madding Crowd has been an established part of the school curriculum for many years and it?s easy to see why. At 318 pages long, it's a reasonable length and, unusually, not written from any one perspective. Adopting the position of several different characters at alternate times, there's more of a narrative feel to the telling than anything else.

In terms of a pure reading experience then the book is a relative page turner. With short, punchy chapters, the magazine format is clear for all to see with chapter?s headed up by the main events of the sequence. For example, chapter 2 is entitled "Night-The Flock-An Interior-Another Interior
"and only lasts for 6 pages.

As to the actual construction of the work then it?s hard to fault Hardy. Technically, the writing is exemplary and the label of genius has been used in Hardy?s case by many over the years. An absolute pleasure to read, Hardy builds on his great skill with the ability to paint mental pictures in the reader?s mind that places the audience squarely in the middle of a vista that would not be out of place in a Constable painting.

For me, the title of this piece speaks volumes. There?s more than a suggestion of subversion in the notion that life revolves around the towns and cities of the time and that the country is a pastoral existence of peace and loving. Clearly, Hardy refutes this through pot-boilers like this one and the carefully constructed soap opera eschews the idea in an overly dramatised plot intended to shock and entertain. There is a clue on p.113 as to where the author is coming from ??.In comparison with cities, Weatherbury was immutable. The Citizen?s Then is the rustic?s Now. In London, twenty or thirty years ago are old times; in Paris ten years, or five; in Weatherbury three or four score years were included in the mere present, and nothing less than a century set a mark on it?s face or tone.?

Hardy has a wonderful talent for drafting pen-pictures of his main characters. Of Boldwood, that stoicism is captured succinctly on page 94 after having received the Valentine?s card. ??His equilibrium disturbed, he was in extremity at once. If an emotion possessed him at all, it ruled him; a feeling not mastering him was entirely latent. He was always hit mortally, or he was missed.?

It does appear that Hardy uses the rustic characters as a way of lending a sense normality to proceedings allowing the principal characters to play out their excesses. I guess it?s th
is aspect that struck me the most; the way the book reads more like a play. It wouldn?t be unkind to compare the goings on to those most over the top of operas or an overblown Greek tragedy. Perhaps more up to date, today?s soap operas would show a strong resemblance to the twists and turns of the events included in a Hardy production. It?s easy to see why the Victorians of the day would have revelled in the scandal included in a Hardy story whilst at the same time sharing an outrage at Hardy?s oblique handing of sensitive social issues such as divorce.

Of course, not everything is plain sailing with a classic like this. There were passages that I found hard work at times usually involving the conversations in the Inns and the like as the text and subtext was often mundane in today?s terms. The apparent religious undertones of a still worshipful rural population seemed dated by today?s standards although it?s that gentle dogma that gives a gentle balance to the overriding morals that Hardy chews over in his plot. With something of a chequered love life himself, maybe it is no surprise that the writer ponders the inner workings of love and lust and eventually appears to conclude that a mutual respect in a form of loving seems to make more sense than a passionate love affair that will serve only to disrupt all of those around (this point becomes much clearer towards the end of the book).

---Conclusion---

Like any other story, books like this stand all fall by the characters involved. Compared by some to a Shakespearean comedy, I would have to disagree, if only that I couldn't really detect a comedic aspect in the story. What I do know is that I empathised with the flighty Bathsheba; I admired the stoical Gabriel Oak and I wanted to shake the vulnerable Boldwood. As for Sargent Troy then a few hisses would
have been at home as the villain of the piece strutted the literary boards. Hardy?s realism and literal pragmatism stirred many an emotion in the Victorian arena of the day. It?s hard to imagine these days unless you chose something particularly emotive such as the ordination of Gay clerics or the social acceptance of minority groups in general (merely examples, mind)

Hardy stands astride English literature of his time and stands amongst the greats of his era. He deserves the respect that other similar writers deserve (Cookson, Bronte etc) but if I had to draw a comparison in terms of style then it would be with a writer I am very fond of i.e. Arthur Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes stories. Both wrote in a magazine format, both could tell a mean story, both are well worth discovering if you?ve never tried them before. Of course, there will be those who might find this too staid bearing in mind when it was written or even put off by having been force-fed the book at school. All I can say is try again on your own terms. I did and I?m very glad I returned to Wessex.

Thanks for reading

Marandina


*Wessex did exist at one time. Hardy himself confirms that, in his case, the counties included were: Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon

ISBN: 1 84022 466 5

Available to buy online at Amazon for just £1.50 in paperback format.

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