Revisiting Chapter 23 of Far From The Madding Crowd: Eventide - A Second Declaration.

The men are seated outside the house of Bathsheba to attend the shearing supper.  She hosts this supper to celebrate the successful completion of sheep shearing. A long table was placed outside on the grass, with one end pushed through a wide open, parlour window. 

Bathsheba sits just inside the window, allowing her to head the table and interact with her workers without completely mingling with them. 

Following the meal the workers including Jan Coggan and Joseph Poorgrass drink, sing and tell stories. 

The gathering acts as a traditional community celebration of pastrol season ending.

Into this scene comes farmer Boldwood  to court Bathsheba and eventually moves inside to talk with her privately. 

Separation of men to the exterior of the house is a calculated move by Bathsheba to balance her roles as a woman, a mistress and a host in a rigid Victorian society. 

By sitting inside at the head of the table while the men are outside, she creates a physical barrier that preserves her dignity and command. It prevents the over familiarity that might happen if she were squeezed onto a bench next to her workers. 

At that time of Victorian propriety, it was considered improper for a refined young woman to feast directly with a large group of unrefined working class men, especially as the cider began to flow and the atmosphere becomes boisterous. 

Maids like Liddy are absent in the scene because they must have engaged in the drudgery of household chores. They are living in the hierarchy of 19th century farm. Shearing supper was specifically for outdoor workers. 

The window serves as a social filter: It allows the harmony of the farm to exist while keeping classes and genders in their places. 

Gabriel Oak enjoys a special position. He was her first suitor, though the fact is kept between themselves. In Chapter twenty she came to realise that she must retain him if she wants to retain the farm.