She seemed to prefer….and she shunned it.
These lines have been taken from the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.
Here Hardy represents the true nature of the young woman. She saved the life of Farmer Oak. But what she did was not something very heroic. Saving one’s life meant doing something great and difficult. This saving of Oak’s life could not be called that she had not done anything great to save him. So when Oak said that he had been saved by her, she did not like it. She did not like that people should talk about this simple affair as saving a life. So she thought that after all this suffocation would not have ended in death. She had not saved his life; his life was not in mortal peril. She did not like vainglory.
The only superiority…….subordinated man.
These lines occur in the novel “Far From the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy. It is a general remark by Hardy on the relationship between men and women. Women who are conscious of their superiority are not generally pleasing. Women who are actually superior and yet never conscious of their superiority are quite enchanting. The only case where conscious superiority is tolerated is in the possibility of her ultimate surrender. That is, a man may be pleased to know that the sense of superiority in a woman can be humbled and she in spirit of her superiority will marry him.
This general remark has a reference to the particular case of the conscious superiority of Bathsheba which Gabriel Oak liked only when he thought he would be able to marry her.
Love, being an extremely exacting usurer………….upon his chances.
In these lines Far From the Madding Crowd. Hardly is describing the stage of Gabriel Oak when he was deeply in love with Bathsheba. Oak waited by the road side every morning to have a glimpse of Bathsheba passing by that way. As a person thinks of the rise and fall in the money market always without any stop, so a lover also thinks always of the beloved. A usurer expects material profit, a lover expects some divine bliss. But the state of obsession is there in both. Gabriel Oak, too, was in a state of obsession.
It would’t do, Mr. Oak…I know.
“These lines have been taken from the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.”
In this passage Bathsheba explains why she cannot marry Oak. By nature Bathsheba is wild and independent and so she like those people who can dominate her. She, therefore, can marry only that person who has the ability to tame her as one tames a wild beast. Appeals to her will be vain if the man does not possess the hardness of authority. And from his very weak and soft nature. Bathsheba can guess that Oak cannot exercise any authority. And from his very weak and soft nature, Bathsheba can guess that Oak cannot exercise any authority. So there is no chance-for Oak. Here we find a subtle psycho-analysis of a female mind that knows itself. Wild nature loves the authority that tames it. Bathsheba is wild in that way. And in her self-knowledge and candid statement we find a powerful and intelligent woman who perhaps is only in need of proper guidance.
No man likes to see his emotions…………then I’ll ask you no more..
“These lines have been taken from the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.”
Here Hardy tells us how Oak at last gave up his attempt to make her accept him. Oak had said that he could marry her only if she liked him because he loved her intensely. Now Bathsheba was in a moral dilemma. She wanted to show that Oak really did not want her. So she put their cases clearly saying that she had no money and he wanted some lady with a fortune. Oak stepped into the trap: he admitted that he needed a rich lady. Thus he was caught. Bathsheba turned against him and said he ought not to have disturbed her then. This was unjust on her part because she knew as Oak knew that she would be of much help to him. Moreover, she had a rich uncle. So Bathsheba’s accusation was a mere pretext. She rather exploited his sincerity and simplicity. Yet there was no further chance for negotiations. When Oak pleaded for another meeting she laughed at him. He had strength enough not to allow his sentiments to be flirted with and so he promised not to ask her for marriage again. But when he accepted this turn of Fate, he looked gloomy like the writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes of the Bible who found everything in this universe to be full of vanity and vexation of the spirit. It appeared, Hardy said, that Oak would always study the Bible after this incident.
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He had sunk from his modest elevation……….when it does not.
“These lines have been taken from the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.”
In this manner his personality was purified into a serene and calm state. Oak was a farmer and therefore a man with an independent living. So he was as happy as a king though his position was a modest one. Then after the pastoral tragedy in which he lost all, Oak had to suffer economically. His life was as bad as that in the valley of Siddim after the battle between the kings. In the Bible it is said that after this battle there was only filth in the valley and life there was as bad as in Hell. Oak’s life in his monetary crisis was like this life in the valley. That was definitely a great loss, but it was not altogether so. He learnt a great lesson through this experience; his personality was purified. This purification came when he learnt to accept fate with fortitude-the tyrannous Fate that behaves quite illogically. This state of acceptance was subline. Usually people in such circumstances become criminal as they find that there is no reward for virtue. Only exceptionally few people develop this serenity of character more and more as they suffer. Oak was one of these few. His impulses were purified by suffering and there developed a sublime stasis in his character which became more balanced than it was formerly, Thus Oak lost something material out gained much more. Here Hardy presents Oak as a tragic figure with self-knowledge and a perfect acceptance of Fate.
Gabriel, like his dog, was….advance beyond this point.
“The above lines occur in the novel Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.”
Here Hardy draws a comparison between Oak and his young dog. The young dog was very thorough and sincere in its work and used to run after sheep as long as it could. The result was that the entire flock of Gabriel Oak met an untimely end. The dog was too good to be useful. The case with Gabriel Oak was just similar. He was so good that he did not conceal the fact of his previous life as a farmer. The result was that nobody liked to employ him as a shepherd and some people doubted his statement. Thus like his own dog Oak was a failure due to his inherent good and simple nature.
It is safer to accept………a chance of using it.
“The above lines occur in the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.”
Here Hardy generalizes about life. He says that it is better to accept anything that is available through chance and adapt oneself to it than to wait with a plan for some chance to use it. The reason is that in the former case one has not to wait, while in the latter case one has to wait indefinitely. This particular case was of Gabriel Oak. Oak was a pauper and in need of immediate employment. So it was foolish for him to wait. He ought to have accepted any joy and then adapt himself to it. But he spent the day in seeking the job of a bailiff and the evening in trying to be engaged as a shepherd. This step of Oak was definitely a mistake if Hardy’s generalization on life is accepted.
This information……..from night to noon. “These lines occur in the novel Far From the Madding Crowd.”
After night we usually get morning and not noon. But if suddenly we get noon after night we are much surprised. Oak was similarly surprised when he knew that Whottsford was quite near Weatherbury, the place where Bathsheba was living. He was at that time suffering very much mentally as well as materially. Life was the blackness of night for him. He did not like to think of Bathsheba any more for him. He did not like to think of Bathsheba any more and hope to see her again. Now suddenly a possibility presented itself-a possibility as the sudden advent of noon after night.
The bailiff was pointed……….preliminaries of hiring.
In this passage from “Far From the Madding Crowd” Hardy describes the feeling of Oak when he left the place of fire with the bailiff. Oak had met Bathsheba in unexpected circumstances. People had been telling strange tales about this mistress of the farm. The description of the distress presented here as just a double of Bathsheba. Now when Gabriel was in this mistress he found that the mistress was no other person than Bathsheba herself. The presentation by the people of Bathsheba was different from the Bathsheba of Oak’s dream just as Ashtoreth is different from Venus. That means the difference was negligible, for both Ashtoreth and Venus represent the same thing-the goddess of love.
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