Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy is a masterful work of Victorian Literature about a woman named Bathsheba Everdene who is so beautiful she manages to attract the attention first of Gabriel Oak, a man who was wealthy at the time, and she refuses his offer due to how she wanted to be more independent. This was not particularly intelligent of her, as her latter offers are lower in quality. She receives a proposal from William Boldwood, a man who’s ardor was spurred by a valentine Bathsheba sent in jest, but Bathsheba rejects Boldwood many times throughout the story. Finally, Sergeant Troy wins Bathsheba’s heart through his charm and displays of swordsmanship, however his character is rather atrocious and deceitful. Fanny, a woman Troy had wronged but that he loved, dies in childbirth and prompts Troy to run away, and at Boldwood’s Christmas party Troy arrives, and Boldwood shoots him, causing Troy to be killed and Boldwood to go to prison forever, instead of the death penalty due to his insanity. Bathsheba marries Gabriel Oak after she realizes how kind and honest he is. Far From the Madding Crowd teaches us about social status, how marriage affects it, and the roles of women.
Social classes can be incredibly impactful on our ability to advance and to make our own mark on the world. A social class is a class that you are set in based on social and economic status, and it is most often determined by your parent’s wealth and how much you may inherit or how well you invest and what you do with your money, however, it’s important to remember that this does not affect your personality. In Far From the Madding Crowd, Gabriel was a loyal, honest, and helpful shepherd, but he was not the wealthiest man after he lost his herd, however, he always had honor and showed integrity. He was in the middle class, but fell into poverty after the loss of his herd. However, he married Bathsheba in the end because of his kind personality and it propelled him into the upper class. Troy, a poor, lower class man who attempted to flatter and charm his way into the upper class by marrying Bathsheba, lost his life because of his lack of honor, his abhorrence of honest work, and his dishonorable plans, and it shows how our character traits such as loyalty and courage helps us succeed in life. Social classes are a barrier to many, but the important thing isn’t material wealth, but mental mindsets that allow you to improve and learn more to help become more knowledgeable. Social classes can affect our lives by causing people to become less open, but it’s important to try to rise and improve rather than lament any bad fortune based on your social status.
In the Victorian Era, matches and marrying only inside of your social class was the norm, and only social climbers used marriage to improve their social status. A match was a very commonly accepted way of finding a partner, and not many people thought much of it, and went with the system to find marriage. In Far From the Madding Crowd, marriage normally happened in same class, so Boldwood's proposal to Bathsheba is normal, Oak's marriage is normal in the end, Troy's marriage is abnormal, and Bathsheba's love to Troy is completely unrealistic, causing her to become totally infatuated with Troy and unable to listen to the truth about how Troy was a scheming, deceitful person that she would be better off not knowing. It took Troy running away to break off her marriage because of how much she loved him. Eventually, she finally marries Gabriel Oak, a good match for her because of how he was formerly wealthy and also loyal and honest. Marrying inside your social class might be normal, but it can be unwise, especially if there are people you truly love that are outside of your social class, then you should still try to find true love. Our social class can affect our life by changing who we can marry, but it’s important to find love and happiness rather than wealth.
The roles of women in Victorian society can depend immensely on social classes, which is unfair because of how we cannot determine a social class immediately. Some people may be similar physically and mentally, but depending on their wealth, their similarities could be for naught and they may be unsuccessful simply because they don’t have enough money. In Far From the Madding Crowd, Bathsheba became immensely wealthy thanks to her inheritance, allowing her to become part of the market and start buying and accumulating wealth. She hired many workers, including Gabriel Oak, and stayed wealthy. But Fanny Robins, another intelligent, hardworking, and beautiful girl, was a much lower social class, and died in childbirth because she couldn’t even afford to do it right, so she lost countless potential opportunities, simply because she was poverty-stricken. Social classes are unfair and it affects the roles of women in the Victorian Era immensely, which is why we must try to stop this boundary as it can hurt people. Social classes impact the roles of women very much by causing them to have to either become reliant on others or on themselves, without giving them a choice.
Far From the Madding Crowd is a fantastic book that helps to teach people about social status, how marriage can be affected and also impact it, and even how social status can affect the roles of women in society and change what they can do and the opportunities they receive. Social status can be incredibly impactful on people, especially if their social class is low, because it makes it much more difficult to invest in their own success, to get an education, and to find a stable job. Marriage is a way for people to either boost their social status or to show their love, but it can also combine the wealth of two people, which is how social classes can restrict this because the wealth of two people don’t line up. It can also affect how women act, because being poor would cause people to be unable to try to gain money and focus on surviving. Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy is a riveting book and I recommend it for readers of all ages.
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