Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd is set in Victorian England in the nineteenth century. The novel focuses on the life of Bathsheba Everdene and her relationships with three men - Gabriel Oak, William Boldwood and Frank Troy, and it explores the themes of rural life, friendship and love. Bathsheba refuses Gabriel’s proposal because he is a shepherd and she is interested in William, but when Frank arrives in the village and shows interest in her she gets married to him. William becomes jealous and tells Frank to give up Bathsheba but they are already married. As the novel progresses, Bathsheba begins to suspect that Frank does not love her, and her fears are confirmed when she finds out that Frank was to be married to Fanny Robin but the marriage did not take place due to a misunderstanding, and Fanny is pregnant with Frank’s child. Fanny and the baby die during childbirth, and Frank cannot forgive himself for the way he treated Fanny and he leaves Bathsheba and tries to commit suicide by drowning.
Frank is believed to be dead, and William proposes to Bathsheba and she accepts. But Frank is alive and when he gets to know about William’s proposal he comes back to claim Bathsheba as his wife. During a brawl, William shoots Frank dead and then tries shoot himself but fails. Bathsheba finally realises that her friend Gabriel is the right man for her and she accepts his proposal. The novel portrays the lives and relationships of individuals in a rural community.
