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Title: Far from the Madding Crowd (Oxford World's Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Suzanne B. Falck-Yi, Linda M. Shires ISBN: 0-19-280149-X Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: Forget the infamous "love triangle"...
Comment: In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy introduces us to the precarious "love square". At the core of all the turmoil is beautiful farm girl, Bathsheba Everdene - spirited, vain, intelligent and adept at toying with the hearts of men. Inevitably beguiled by her charms a humble and kind farmer, Gabriel Oak, fervently attempts to win Bathsheba's affections. Enter the competition: (suitor#2) Farmer Boldwood - a wealthy and temperate middle-aged man respected in the community, eventually plunges into maniacal obsession at the mere possibility of making the beloved Miss Everdene his wife; and (suitor#3) Sergeant Francis Troy - a dashing young philandering soldier, with his share of inner demons, ruthlessness and vanity, vies for Bathsheba's hand in marriage. Bathsheba's ultimate decision, and the cataclysm it evokes, lies at the epicenter of Hardy's unforgettable ambivalent story.

Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's fourth novel, saw publication in 1874 and earned him widespread popularity as a writer. A delicately woven tale of unrequited love and regret, set in the mid-19th century, Far From the Madding Crowd is a masterpiece of pure story-telling. Hardy's classic style is a pleasure to read as he masterfully brings his characters and their dealings to life. I would not hesitate to say it definitely captured my heart as another favourite.

Rating: 4
Summary: Far from a Madding Crowd--Miss Schmidt Period 3
Comment: Far from a Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy, was a very well written book that is equivalent to common soap operas of today. Hardy's classical romantic describes to us and lets us depict if the woman is in power of love or if her need to control love will overpower her.
Bathsheba's love life is what the plot is based on in the story. Bathsheba is the main character and doesn't realize the effect she has on men and her number of admirers. Many typical elements in a woman's love life are represented through her romantic affairs. Hardy portrays to a 'T' the relationship with Gabriel. He will be there for her if nothing else works out. Gabriel is kind-hearted and is honest excepting any problems that need to be solved. He is heroic in saving Bathsheba's life and her farm numerous times.
Bathsheba's relationship with Boldwood is a typical situation of an eager and curious girl wondering if she could accomplish snatching the handsome, wealthy man that every girl has her eye on. Bathsheba has her fun with Boldwood then pushes herself away from him because she doesn't want him now that she can have him. Hardy tends to make the reader feel bad for Bathsheba's love interests because she is a heartbreaker.
Bathsheba's third love interest, Troy, is a challenge to Bathsheba because he is not totally openhearted and devoted to her. Fanny, Troy's first love interest, will always be in the picture during the relationship. This makes Bathsheba nervous because she wanted Troy all to herself and seduces him to the fullest to try to get his devotion. Troy has the most effect on Bathsheba's heart and the most effect on her mental breakdown. He enjoys experimenting with women's emotions, which is new to Bathsheba because she is used to being the controlling one. Hardy's descriptions of Troy and Bathsheba's relationship makes his female readers relate to her directly.
In the end of the novel Bathsheba falls back on the man she thought she was too good for, Gabriel. Gabriel was her cushion from emotional strain caused by the two other men in the story. This shows women's pattern for motivation to get what she wants but return back to what feels natural.
I like Thomas Hardy's e depiction of how women can be in a love situation. I dislike how everything in the novel was Bathsheba's fault because it made the reader hate the main character, I didn't feel bad for Bathsheba at all through out the novel. I did though feel bad for the men she played.
Thomas Hardy was a brilliant observer of women and how they tend to function in love. He emotionally and physically caught the pattern that women most likely have towards men and took it to the extreme in the romantic novel, Far from a Madding Crowd.