How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I wish he had never seen you."
"Very well; then I will be the miserablest woman in the world, and not let him see me again. No, I won't have him!" (1.5.8-9)
This passage shows us a unique side to Thomasin – she's usually pretty calm and practical, and even wise beyond her years. But here she really flies off the handle with Damon (who is admittedly annoying) and acts like the upset, lovesick teenager that she is.
Quote #2
"I used to think [a marriage proposal] would be pretty and sweet like that; but how different!"
"Yes, real life is never at all like that." (1.5.43-4)
We see a definite role reversal in this scene as the usually practical Thomasin confesses to harboring idealistic fantasies and the often irrational Damon displays.
Quote #3
"Ay, when I think what she'll say to me now without a mossel of red in her face, it do seem strange that a' wouldn't say such a little thing then." (1.5.91)
First up, this is a great example of the Egdon dialect that Hardy uses for the speech of the "locals." Here, Timothy Fairway sums up marriage as an evolution, in which two people grow more comfortable together over time. Kind of sweet, really.
Quote #4
Fidelity in love for fidelity's sake had less attraction for her that for most women: fidelity because of love's grip had much. (1.7.15)
Eustacia has some rather interesting views on morality and here we learn that she's only a fan of fidelity, or loyalty, when it's part of a dramatic, passionate love affair. Loyalty in general is lame to her.
Quote #5
"I did not in the least expect that you were going to speak on such a thing when you followed me, because I had never thought of you in the sense of a lover at all." (1.9.7)
Thomasin's rejection letter to Diggory is pretty blunt in places, but this really takes the cake. We do give her props for not beating around the bush, but still. Ouch.
Quote #6
"I do not thank you for that. I should hate it to be all smooth. Indeed, I think I like you to desert me a little once now and then. Love is the dismallest thing where the lover is quite honest." (1.9.25)
Eustacia sometimes sounds like she's quoting something or saying things for shock value, and it can be hard to tell if she's completely serious or not. Here, we learn that Eustacia may be a bit of a drama queen.
Quote #7
Whenever a flash of reason darted like an electric light upon her lover – as it sometimes would – and showed his imperfections, she shivered thus. But it was over in a second, and she loved on. She knew that he trifled with her; but she loved on. (1.6.112)
It's really interesting that Eustacia's "reason" is described as a lightning bolt. Lightning is very fast and lights up things quickly before disappearing, and this implies that Eustacia's "reason" is very quick and fleeting. She spends the rest of her time in a sort of metaphorical "darkness" of denial and love.
Quote #8
"Do you love me now?"
"Who can say?"
"Tell me; I will know it!"
"I do, and I do not," said he mischievously. "That is, I have my times and my seasons." (1.6.41-4)
This is pretty much Eustacia and Damon in a nutshell – she's kind of demanding, and he's insensitive.
Quote #9
What a strange sort of love, to be entirely free form that quality of selfishness, which is frequently the chief constituent of the passion, and sometimes its only one! (2.7.51)
Hardy deliberately links passion to selfishness here, which is definitely something to keep in mind when considering the various lovers in this novel. But Diggory escapes this indictment, or judgment, and has his own love characterized as selfless, by Eustacia at least. What does the narrator think of Diggory's love for Thomasin? Is there some selfishness in his feelings for her?
Quote #10
"In what way is that? You have been thinking you wished you did not love me."
"How can a man wish that, and yet love on? No, Eustacia."
"Men can, women cannot" (3.4.18-20)
We don't have a ton of instances of gender debates in this novel, at least not very explicit ones, but the ones we do have that are stated outright are definitely worth noting. Here, Eustacia insists that men can stop loving easier than women can, and she's likely influenced by her experience with Damon.
Quote #11
"Don't mistake me, Clym: though I should like Paris, I love you for yourself alone. To be your wife and live in Paris would be heaven for me; but I would rather live with you in a hermitage here than not be yours at all. It is gain to me either way, very great gain. There's my too candid confession." (3.4.68)
This might be the most honest, or the most dishonest, thing Eustacia says in the entire novel. Yeah, it's confusing. She genuinely seems to love Clym and refers to any existence with him as a "very great gain" for herself. But she is also drastically understating her desire to go to Paris here by saying that she'd "like" it.
Quote #12
"Yes, I fear we are cooling – I see it as well as you," she sighed mournfully. "And how madly we loved two months ago!" (4.2.80)
Love is definitely fleeting in this book, as we see by Eustacia's reference to "two months." Details like this help to emphasize the whirlwind nature of Clym and Eustacia's romance.
Quote #13
"I meant nothing by it," replied Wildeve. "It was a mere interlude. Men are given to the trick of having a passing fancy for somebody else in the midst of a permanent love, which reasserts itself afterwards just as before." (4.6.32)
Damon Wildeve gives men everywhere a bad name. Here he manages to downplay his unfaithful nature, first by referring to "men" in general (the equivalent of citing the always vague "they") and then using words like "trick" and "passing fancy," which implies that dating two women at once is just a silly game.
Quote #14
She loved him partly because he was exceptional in this scene, partly because she had determined to love him, chiefly because she was in desperate need of loving somebody after wearying of Wildeve. (2.6.38)
We love it when the narrator is blunt like this. But that's not to say that there's nothing to analyze here. The narrator gives it to us straight, but we are left with a lot of crucial information about Eustacia's character. Basically, Eustacia is desperate and determined to fall in love and thereby liven up Egdon. But why is she driven to this emotional state in the first place? This passage definitely begs the question.
Quote #15
Of love it may be said, the less earthly the less demonstrative. In its absolutely indestructible form it reaches a profundity in which all exhibition of itself is painful. (3.3.108)
Hardy is describing the relationship between Mrs. Yeobright and Clym here, which borders on being creepy, given how intense it is. But this idea of "true" love not revealing itself outwardly is very interesting, and perhaps somewhat misleading. In all the relationships in this novel, love demonstrates itself, though often not in very nice ways. The "painful exhibition" of love is unavoidable.