How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"And so you see 'twas beautiful ale, and wished to value his kindness as much as I could, and not to be so ill-mannered as to drink only a thimbleful, which would have been insulting the man's generosity." (8.70)
When he tries to explain why he drank so much during a past experience, Joseph Poorgrass says that it would be rude to drink only a lit bit of beer when your host offered it to you. In other words, getting a little drunk can be the polite thing to do in certain cases. Then again, he might just be making excuses for enjoying his drinking a bit too much.
Quote #2
At the present moment [Gabriel] was engaged in handing round a mug of mild liquor, supplied from a barrel in the corner, and cut pieces of bread and cheese. (22.9)
Gabriel Oak might not be a big drinker, but that doesn't mean he's totally against the stuff. In some cases, he's even the guy who passes liquor around. As long as his men don't get too drunk, he's fine with it all.
Quote #3
Out of these say twenty will endeavor to drown the bitterness of despised love in drink: twenty more will mope away their lives without a wish or attempt to make a mark in the world. (26.42)
As we hear in this section, many men who get rejected by the women they love will take refuge in alcohol. Others will just mope for the rest of their lives. For the narrator, there isn't much of a difference between the two: both approaches are for losers.
Quote #4
Here, under the table, and leaning against forms and chairs in every conceivable attitude except the perpendicular, were the wretched persons of all the workfolk, the hair of their heads at such low level being suggestive of mops and brooms. (36.32)
When Gabriel realizes that Bathsheba's crops will be ruined by rain, he runs to find the workmen to help him cover the crops. But he discovers them all passed out after a night of partying with Sergeant Troy. Not a single one of them is reliable except for Oak, who takes it upon himself to do the work of ten men and save Bathsheba's crops.
Quote #5
Sergeant Troy had so strenuously insisted, glass in hand, that drinking should be the bond of their union that those who wished to refuse hardly liked to be so unmannerly in other circumstances. (36.41)
Sergeant Troy likes to drink so much that he's willing to throw his wife out of her own wedding party so that he can get drunk with all the workmen. On top of that, he demands that everyone around him get just as drunk as he does, even threatening to fire some people who won't drink. How's that for peer pressure?
Quote #6
"They are all asleep in the barn, in a drunken sleep, and my husband among them. That's it, is it not?" (37.30)
Bathsheba isn't one bit impressed by the way her husband and all of her workers have gotten drunk, especially considering how a thunderstorm is about to ruin their entire year's work if someone doesn't cover the crops.
Quote #7
"I've been drinky once this month already, and I did not go to Church a-Sunday, and I dropped a curse or two yesterday, so I don't want to go too far for my safety." (42.33)
Joseph Poorgrass knows that he's walking on thin ice as far as his good behavior has gone lately. He admits that he's been drunk and has missed church, and he really wants to get back on track sooner rather than later.
Quote #8
The minutes glided by uncounted, until the evening shades began perceptibly to deepen, and the eyes of the tree were but sparkling points on the surface of darkness. (42.44)
As Joseph Poorgrass gets drunk in the pub, he totally loses track of time. It's not until Gabriel Oak barges in and reminds him that he's got a job to do that he snaps back to attention. By now, it's too late though. He has already missed the deadline for getting Fanny Robin's casket to the cemetery for a funeral.
Quote #9
Do hold thy horning, Jan! […] As for you Joseph, who do your wicked deeds in such confoundedly holy ways, you are as drunk as you can stand. (42.51)
Gabriel Oak doesn't mind when his workmen take a break to drink when they're on their own time. When they're supposed to be working, it's a whole different story. And Gabriel isn't just mad at Poorgrass for getting drunk. He's just as mad with Jan Coggan for applying peer pressure.
Quote #10
"I feel too good for England: I ought to have lived in Genesis by rights, like the other men of sacrifice, and then I shouldn't have b-b-been called a d-d-drunkard in such a way!" (42.54)
When he tries to defend himself, Joseph Poorgrass says that the only reason he's drunk is because he lives a crummy life in England that isn't good enough for him. If he'd been lucky enough to live in the Garden of Eden, he wouldn't have any cause to drink. But with life the way it is, he wants to escape from it all every now and then.