What do you get when a single woman living in the 19th century decides that she's going to manage her uncle's farm all by herself? You get some disgruntled workmen and a whole lot of conversation about gender, that's what. At first, Bathsheba doesn't seem to sweat it. But unfortunately, her independence as a woman (a good thing) seems to be tied inextricably to her vanity (a bad thing). Or in other words, it's really tough for Thomas Hardy to teach Bathsheba a lesson about vanity without also teaching her not to stand up for herself as a woman. And that can lead to some pretty interesting discussions on the (outdated) idea of gender in Far from the Madding Crowd.
Questions About Gender
- Do you think Thomas Hardy's story is fair to Bathsheba, or is it too hard on her?
- Do you think that the book's ending celebrates Bathsheba's fall from independent woman into happy wife, or is the whole thing tinged with sadness? Why?
- Would Farmer Boldwood's aggressive marriage proposals be acceptable in today's society, or would the guy be charged with harassment?
- Do you think it's accurate for critics to call Bathsheba a feminist in this book? Why or why not?
Chew on This
In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy shows us just how hard it was for a woman to be independent and happy back in 19th-century England.
In Far from the Madding Crowd, we find that Bathsheba's vanity is always tied to the fact that she's a woman trying to prove herself in a man's world.