The Bloom in the Dark before D

The Bloom in the Dark before Dawn

                           —Book Review on Far from the Madding Crowd

1. Introduction

 Thomas Hardy was a man of a changing era. The late Victorian Age was somehow a self-contradictory era full of hope and desperation, as Dickens’ s famous beginning going “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, a complicated time in which science, religion, politics were striking each other and igniting genius sparks. And all this, was where Hardy stood and faced, as well as where Far from the Madding Crowd were brought to birth.

  Far from the Madding Crowd is a tragedy of a woman among three men. Bathsheba, a girl of extraordinary personality, attracted a rich young farmer named Oak at the first sight. In an accident , Oak lost all his wealth and became a farmer employed by Bathsheba who inherited her uncle’s wealth. During the following days, a strange farmer name Boldwood fell in love with Bathsheba while she was lured by Troy, and finally became his wife. Bathsheba’ s independence and self-dignity didn’t met Troy’s satisfaction and he abandoned her after his old lover, Fanny, who was pregnant but left by him, was found dead. In the end, Boldwood killed Troy and was sent into the prison , and Bathsheba was persuaded by Oak to become his obedient wife.

2.The Bloom----Female-conscious

 As a striking feminine representative against the traditional conventions in patriarchal society, Bathsheba shows her capacity by gaining the independence of economy. Instead of being limited in a humble position while facing men, she insists that women are equal to men. She takes charge of everything in the house personally, from arranging the farmers to buying materials in market. In a men-centered society, the idealized women are often created to be like angels, who are kind-hearted, virtuous and submissive. On the contrary, the women opposite to these “angels” are considered evil, though they actually do nothing except pursuing themselves. This distinction, deep inside, was just a ridiculous defense of men’ s self-dignity. In this sense, everything Bathsheba does is a strike on the mores in patriarchal society.

3. Tragedy----Bathsheba’ s Surrender

 Although Bathsheba was a wise girl, she had never been truly accepted by the men to whom women were just like leaves to branch. The final surrender of Bathsheba could be indicated by her being tamed by Oak, a typical representative of patriarchy. In such a society, men tended to utilize women with the wealth while using it to lure or even force them. From the very beginning, Oak had attempted to put his proposal by giving well description of his wealth. After being refused, he kept watching on Bathsheba with a patriarchal view, lots of things that were so natural of Bathsheba, such as looking into the mirror and smiled to herself, which was certainly a reflection of a admiration of feminine beauty, was regarded as vanity in his eyes. He put his own values on Bathsheba’ s choice, and finally forced her to be his obedient wife.

4. Conclusion

 Maybe the source of tragedy could be also tracked down to Hardy’ s own thoughts, which included fatalism and pessimism. Failed as the resistance of Bathsheba against patriarchal, the fact that it ignited a great new spark could not be denied. The spirit inside was like a bloom in the dark before dawn, fragile as it was, lied there was first ray of the rising sun. Standing here and looking back to the history course, we can exactly see how our ancestors fought step by step. Far from the Madding Crowd is a great mirror reflecting the hope while showing the realistic tragedy.

2016-05-09

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