Classics Retold

In Chapter 53 of Far From The Madding Crowd, Hardy writes of Bathsheba: She was in a state of mental gutta Serena, her mind was totally deprived of light at the same time no obscuration was apparent from without.  Gutta serena is a Latin medical term, meaning clear drop or serene drop. In early medicine, it referred to a form of blindness in which the eyes appear perfectly clear and healthy, yet the person could not see.  Physicians believed the blindness arose from damage to the optic nerve rather than from any visible clouding of the eye.  Hardy uses the term metaphorically. Bathsheba has not become physically blind.  But the shock of Troy's sudden appearance overwhelms her mind.  She is so stunned that she cannot thank or act.  She seems incapable of responding, outwardly she remains conscious and her eyes are open. Inwardly, her mind had momentarily lost its light.  The phrase is an excellent example of Hardy borrowing medical terms to  descri...

Chapter 53 of Far From The Madding Crowd is titled "Concurritur Horaemomento". The meaning of the Latin phrase is "the battle is joined in a moment of time." There is a difference of opinion whether the line is from Horace's Satires or from Virgil's Aeneid. The text is often attributed to both authors. The meaning of the expression is "people came running together in the space of a moment.  Hardy was fond of drawing phrases from Latin and this is quoted from Virgil or Horace. Both Virgil and Horace wrote in Latin and use similar vocabulary such as concurritur and horae momento.  Some older editions and secondary sources have mistakenly attributed Hardy's title to Horace's Satires.  Scholarly consensus is that Hardy's title is Virgilian fitting the epic tone of catastrophe in chapter 53.  Hardy often invokes Virgil at moments when ordinary rural events take on grandeur and inevitability of classical tragedy.  The chapter contains the shocking...

Christmas Eve.  Boldwood was to arrange a party, and it became the talk of Weatherbury.  Parties were not rare in the parish; but Boldwood was the giver made it a wonder.  The announcement was incongruous and abnormal as if  a croquet playing in a cathedral , or that some much respected judge was going on the stage.  The party was intended to be a truly jovial one.  A large bough of   mistletoe  had been brought from the woods that day and suspended in the hall of bachelor's house.  Holly and Ivy had followed in armfuls. From the early morning till past noon the huge wood fire in the kitchen roared and sparkled at its highest, the kettle and the saucepan and the three legged pot appearing in the midst of the flames like  Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego ; while in addition, roasting and basting operations were continued in front of the genial blaze.  As it grew later, the fire was made up in the large, oblong hall into which th...

In Chapter 52 of Far From The Madding Crowd has Troy compares himself as Alonzo the Brave.  This is an allusion that many Victorian readers might have recognised immediately.  Alonzo the Brave and Imogin is a famous Gothic Ballad adapted into English by Mathew Gregory Lewis, the author of The Monk.  Alonzo a famous knight goes to war. His beloved, Imogin believes him dead agrees to marry another man. During the wedding feast a mysterious armoured knight arrives.  The stranger reveals himself to be dead Alonzo, come from the grave. He claims Imogine as his bride and carries her away to the tomb.  The poem is filled with supernatural horror --- ghosts, grave, and the return of the dead.  The allusion is apt in the light of sergeant Troy's return, when almost everyone has believed him dead.  Like Alonzo, Troy appears dramatically after being thought lost.  Although Troy is literally not a ghost his sudden appearance has an eerie ghost-like effect on ...

An overcoat of Noachian cut is a literary phrase meaning an extremely old fashioned, ancient or outdated coat. The term origanates from Thomas Hardy's 1874 Victorian novel, Far From The Madding Crowd, where it is used to describe the disguise of the character Sergeant Troy.  Noachian refers directly to the biblical figure Noah and the Great Flood.  Describing a garment's cut as Noachian is a humorous exaggeration implying the style is so old it dates back to Noah's Ark.  In Chapter 52 of the novel sergeant Troy wears a heavy grey overcoat of Noachian cut, with cape and high collar.  The collar is described as stiff, upright, and rigid like a wall.  In the late19th century it was archaic but were common in the late 18th and early 19th century; but looked relics by the late Victorian era. 

Factotum is a man employed to do a wide variety of jobs, handling diverse tasks, responsibilities, and odd jobs for the employer. It essentially means a jack-of-all-trades.  Etymology:-  The word comes from Medieval Latin phrase "fac totum" meaning do everything (fac = do; totum = everything) Synonyms: right hand man, handy man, gofer.