Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy, 1874

Thomas Hardy’s novel of Bathsheba Everdene, a spirited young woman who inherits a farm in Wessex, and of the three men who court her: the shepherd Gabriel Oak, the farmer Boldwood and Sergeant Troy.

Start reading58 chapters, about 139,000 words

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Or, to state his character as it stood in the scale of public opinion, when his friends and critics were in tantrums, he was considered rather a bad man; when they were pleased, he was rather a good man; when they were neither, he was a man whose moral colour was a kind of pepper-and-salt mixture.
Chapter IIn context
- Character
- Morality
Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness. Marriage transforms a distraction into a support, the power of which should be, and happily often is, in direct proportion to the degree of imbecility it supplants.
Chapter IVIn context
- Love
- Marriage
“All romances end at marriage.”
Chapter XLIIn context
- Love
- Marriage
It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.
Ch. 51In context
- Talking
- Women

Preface
Chapter IDescription of Farmer Oak—An Incident
Chapter IINight—The Flock—An Interior—Another Interior
Chapter IIIA Girl on Horseback—Conversation
Chapter IVGabriel’s Resolve—The Visit—The Mistake
Chapter VDeparture of Bathsheba—A Pastoral Tragedy
Chapter VIThe Fair—The Journey—The Fire
Chapter VIIRecognition—A Timid Girl
Chapter VIIIThe Malthouse—The Chat—News
Chapter IXThe Homestead—A Visitor—Half-Confidences
Chapter XMistress and Men
Chapter XIOutside the Barracks—Snow—A Meeting
Chapter XIIFarmers—A Rule—An Exception
Chapter XIIISortes Sanctorum—The Valentine
Chapter XIVEffect of the Letter—Sunrise
Chapter XVA Morning Meeting—The Letter Again
Chapter XVIAll Saints’ and All Souls’
Chapter XVIIIn the Market-Place
Chapter XVIIIBoldwood in Meditation—Regret
Chapter XIXThe Sheep-Washing—The Offer
Chapter XXPerplexity—Grinding the Shears—A Quarrel
Chapter XXITroubles in the Fold—A Message
Chapter XXIIThe Great Barn and the Sheep-Shearers
Chapter XXIIIEventide—A Second Declaration
Chapter XXIVThe Same Night—The Fir Plantation
Chapter XXVThe New Acquaintance Described
Chapter XXVIScene on the Verge of the Hay-Mead
Chapter XXVIIHiving the Bees
Chapter XXVIIIThe Hollow Amid the Ferns
Chapter XXIXParticulars of a Twilight Walk
Chapter XXXHot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes
Chapter XXXIBlame—Fury
Chapter XXXIINight—Horses Tramping
Chapter XXXIIIIn the Sun—A Harbinger
Chapter XXXIVHome Again—A Trickster
Chapter XXXVAt an Upper Window
Chapter XXXVIWealth in Jeopardy—The Revel
Chapter XXXVIIThe Storm—The Two Together
Chapter XXXVIIIRain—One Solitary Meets Another
Chapter XXXIXComing Home—A Cry
Chapter XLOn Casterbridge Highway
Chapter XLISuspicion—Fanny Is Sent For
Chapter XLIIJoseph and His Burden—Buck’s Head
Chapter XLIIIFanny’s Revenge
Chapter XLIVUnder a Tree—Reaction
Chapter XLVTroy’s Romanticism
Chapter XLVIThe Gurgoyle: Its Doings
Chapter XLVIIAdventures by the Shore
Chapter XLVIIIDoubts Arise—Doubts Linger
Chapter XLIXOak’s Advancement—A Great Hope
Chapter LThe Sheep Fair—Troy Touches His Wife’s Hand
Chapter LIBathsheba Talks with Her Outrider
Chapter LIIConverging Courses
Chapter LIIIConcurritur—Horæ Momento
Chapter LIVAfter the Shock
Chapter LVThe March Following—“Bathsheba Boldwood”
Chapter LVIBeauty in Loneliness—After All
Chapter LVIIA Foggy Night and Morning—Conclusion

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Contents