Far From The Madding Crowd

Bathsheba and Boldwood leave the fair together. As they ride home, Boldwood asks her if she intends to marry again someday. She tells him she is not close to thinking about marriage; Boldwood presses, however, and gets her to admit that she may consider marrying again six years from then. He then pleads with her to agree to marry him then if he waits, arguing that she owes him for her treatment of him.

Bathsheba tries to get around it, growing more fearful of him, but promises that she will not marry another man while Boldwood wishes to marry her, but avoids giving him a promise of engagement. Boldwood continues to pressure her until she finally promises to give him an answer on Christmas. He promises not to say anything further on the matter until then.

Sometime later, Bathsheba brings the issue up with Gabriel and admits that if she does promise to marry Boldwood, it will be out of fear that “he’ll go out of his mind” if she doesn’t (424). Gabriel suggests that if her love is so important to him, perhaps she should accept his offer. However, he also claims that the real sin “lies in thinking of ever wedding wi’ a man you don’t love honest and true” (425).

Boldwood decides to throw a Christmas party this year, a move that shocks everyone given Boldwood’s typical serious demeanor. Even more so, the preparations put into the party make it clear that it is to be a jovial bash. Nevertheless, Boldwood remains in a sour mood throughout the preparations.

Bathsheba, meanwhile, prepares, taken aback by the preparations for a party she knows is essentially in her honor. She resolves to attend, but only to be polite, and she insists on continuing to wear her mourning clothing rather than anything light or festive.

Boldwood, too, dresses while his tailor works to fine-tune his clothing. Gabriel comes in to give his daily report; Boldwood questions him about the latest fashions and asks if a woman keeps her promise. Gabriel tries to convince Boldwood not to rely too heavily on Bathsheba’s earlier promise, but Boldwood refuses to hear anything of it.

Troy, meanwhile, sits and drinks at a tavern in Casterbridge with Pennyways. Troy asks about her relationship with Boldwood and learns that Bathsheba will be attending the party at his house that night.

Bathsheba continues to dress with Liddy, who asks her what she’ll do if Boldwood asks her to run away with him. Bathsheba chastises her, asking her not to even joke of it and telling her that she does not intend to marry again for a long time.

Before Gabriel departs Boldwood’s, Boldwood tells him he intends to increase his share in the farm, in part because he knows of Gabriel’s love for Bathsheba and wants to reward him for not competing with him. Gabriel leaves uneasily, thinking that Boldwood is not the man he once was. Boldwood retrieves a diamond ring from his locked closet, then heads downstairs.

Troy prepares for the party, dressing himself in such a way that he can avoid being recognized. Pennyways tries to convince him to enjoy his freedom and depart, but Troy angrily responds that “[there] she is with plenty of money, and a house and farm, and horses, and comfort, and here am I living from hand to mouth” (438). He finishes his drink and departs, planning to get to the party in a few hours’ time, around nine. 

Outside of Boldwood’s house, a group of men talk about the rumors that Troy has returned. They debate whether his return means trouble, and whether Bathsheba should be held responsible for her own situation. William Smallbury and Laban Tall arrive; they debate whether or not they should tell Bathsheba the rumors but decide that they should leave it alone since they may not be true.

Boldwood exits and the men hide. While hiding, they overhear him fretting over Bathsheba’s absence. At that moment, she arrives; Boldwood immediately composes himself, limits himself to a formal welcome, and reenters the home. One of the men exclaims that he had no idea Boldwood was so infatuated with Bathsheba still; another says that he doesn’t know much about Boldwood if so.

The group decide to go to Warren’s. On the way there, though, they see Troy approaching. They realize now that they know the truth, they must warn Bathsheba; however, they fight over who is going to be the one to tell her.

Meanwhile, Bathsheba is preparing to make her exit. Boldwood finds a moment alone with her and forces her to make a decision. Bathsheba pushes back, but eventually—and tearfully—relents, agreeing to marry Boldwood in just under six years, once the allotted time has passed. Boldwood then insists that she wear the engagement ring he brought out earlier; she again pushes back, but finally agrees, “fairly beaten into non-resistance” (449).

Bathsheba and Boldwood return to the party. The men try to tell her about Troy, but at that moment, Troy appears at the door and orders Bathsheba to leave with him. Boldwood, defeated, tells Bathsheba to leave with her husband. When she doesn’t move, Troy first tries to pull her hand, then grabs her sharply, making her scream. In response, Boldwood takes one of his shotguns and kills Troy. He then tries to turn the gun on himself, but Samway, one of the men from outside, intervenes, and Boldwood’s shot goes into the ceiling instead. Boldwood states, “There is another way for me to die” and exits (452). 

Boldwood leaves the party, walks to the jail, and turns himself in. Back at the party, everyone is in shock. Bathsheba sits on the floor, cradling Troy’s head. She tells Gabriel to ride to Casterbridge for the surgeon, though she believes it to be useless.

Three hours pass before the surgeon is able to get to Weatherbury, by which point Bathsheba has already taken the body back to her own home. The surgeon is angry at first, but upon reaching the body, discovers that Bathsheba has already taken care of all the proper preparations herself. Having completed her task, she faints. She spends the rest of the night in fits, believing the tragedy to be her fault. 

An investigation reveals that Boldwood had collected an “extraordinary” variety of articles of clothing, materials, jewels, and other items meant for Bathsheba, bought secretly from outside locations. “They were all carefully packed in paper, and each package was labelled ‘Bathsheba Boldwood,’ a date being subjoined six years in advance in every instance” (461).

Boldwood pleads guilty, as expected, and is sentenced to death. However, the general sentiment is that Boldwood was clearly not emotionally well, and therefore not morally responsible for the crime. The townspeople petition to the Home Secretary to commute his sentence; at the eleventh hour, they receive the news that Boldwood is instead confined indefinitely, “during Her Majesty’s pleasure” (463). 

Bathsheba recovers in the spring, but she remains alone, even shunning Liddy’s company. She ceases personally supervising over the farm. In the summer one evening, she travels into town for the first time since Boldwood’s party to visit Fanny’s grave, in which now Troy also lies.

She listens for a bit to the choir practicing in the church and is surprised by Gabriel, who now sings bass. However, he skips it this evening and instead returns to the tombstone with Bathsheba.

As they walk and talk, Gabriel informs Bathsheba that he intends to resign at the end of the season and leave England for California. Bathsheba is shocked and dismayed, not only because she does not know what she would do without him, but also because it was presumed that Gabriel would take over Boldwood’s farm. He bids her goodbye and departs “by a path she could follow on no pretence whatever” (469).

Over the next few weeks, Bathsheba thinks back to evidence that Gabriel dislikes her and wants to avoid her, while noticing new evidence of the same piling up. “Poor Bathsheba began to suffer now from the most torturing sting of all—a sensation that she was despised” (469).

The day after Christmas, Bathsheba receives Gabriel’s letter of resignation. Desolate, she goes to his house. However, she discovers that Gabriel is not going to emigrate; he has taken over Boldwood’s farm, and he only resigned his position with her because of rumors that he was intending to marry her.

Bathsheba is shocked and tells him that “[such] a thing as that is too absurd—too soon—to think of, by far!” (472). Gabriel agrees that it is absurd, but she replies that it is not absurd, but only too soon. The two fall into a camaraderie, recognizing at last their mutual love for one another.

Later, Bathsheba tells Gabriel she wants “[the] most private, secret, plainest wedding that it is possible to have” (477). Gabriel gets to work planning the wedding, and the two marry shortly thereafter.