Classics Retold

The Greenhill Fair is the great public event that Hardy introduces in Chapter 49 of Far From The Madding Crowd, and develops fully in Chapter 50.  It was one of the largest sheep fairs in the Southwest England during the nineteenth century. The venue of the fair was Greenhill in the Dorset village of Sturminster Newton.  Hardy's portrayal was based on a real local institution familiar to him.  Hardy gives us a view of the economic life of Wessex, in which farmers, shepherds, traders, entertainers, and villagers gather from many miles around. Farming, trading, entertainment, and gossip converge here. Farmers and traders mingle with circus performers and general crowds.  The fair brings back the "dead" sergeant Troy alive. Troy had been working with a travelling performance company, appearing in the spectacle of "Turpin's Ride to York"  and the "Death  of Black Bess" Greenhill Fair is the opposite of the quiet fields of Weatherbury, which represents ...

In Chapter 49 of Far From The Madding Crowd Boldwood finds relief in the Biblical story of Rachel and Jacob and decides to wait for the termination of Bathsheba's waiting period.  The Biblical Story  Jacob fell in love with Rachel and wished to marry her.  Rachel's father Laban, agreed on the condition that Jacob work for him for seven years. Jacob gladly accepted because of his love for Rachel.  However, after the seven years were completed, Laban deceived him and gave him Rachel's elder sister, Leah as his wife.  To marry Rachel as well, Jacob had to serve Laban for another seven years. Thus, Jacob served twice seven years for the woman he loved. In the novel Bathsheba never proposes to Boldwood. Instead, Boldwood secretly extracts Bathsheba's intention from her maid Liddy. Boldwood finds relief in this piece of information, and hopes that after twice the seven years Bathsheba would marry him.  Boldwood's waiting is based on his whim, and not based on any...

In Chapter 49 of Far From The Madding Crowd, Bathsheba says that she intends to remain unmarried for seven years.  The seven year period mattered so much in the 19th century England. A person missing for seven years was commonly presumed dead under English law.  Bathsheba, somehow was aware of this legal safeguard available to a person who remarry after the 7years period. Troy had disappeared and was presumed drowned, but there was no absolute proof. In the nineteenth-century a person missing for seven years was commonly presumed dead under English law.  Bathsheba's choice therefore corresponds to the traditional period after which all doubts about Troy's survival would effectively vanish.

The phrase "strut enough to be cut up into bantam cocks" was a part of Susan Tall's gossip about Gabriel Oak.  Bantam cocks is a small rooster, well known for its proud, swaggering chest-out manner.  "To strut like a bantam cock"  means to behave with excessive self-importantnce or vanity.  Susan is saying that Gabriel has become prosperous -- wearing polished boot and tall hat - and seems to carry himself with more confidence than before.  She humourously exaggerates: strut enough to be to be cut up into bantam cocks: that means, swagger round proudly so that he could be divided into many little swaggering roosters.  The image is comic and rustic.  Hardy is reproducing the colourful dialects of rural Wessex.  Susan's opinion is not entirely fair. Gabriel's circumstances have improved, but Hardy tells us that he still lives simply, mends his own stockings, and keeps his old habits. The villagers mistake his increasing success and self- possession ...

An idiom meaning using one's position, opportunities, or resources to enrich oneself, often in a selfish and dishonest style.  The image comes from a bird lining its nest with feathers to make it comfortable.  Applied to people, it  suggests someone is making their own situations comfortable or profitable at others expenses. In Hardy's novel Far From The Madding Crowd, the phrase usually carries a critical or disapproving tone, implying greed, self-interest, or abuse of trust. It is general opinion of the parish people that Gabriel Oak was feathering his nest using the resources of Boldwood and Bathsheba. 

Mosses (Bryophyta) are ancient non-vascular plants.  They lack true woody tissues, roots or circulatory system.  In woodland they thrive on decaying logs and tree trunks.  They utilise these surfaces syrictly for structural support and moisture, rather than drawing nutrients from the wood itself.  Wood dewlling mosses act as natural sponges.  They absorb and slowly release moisture into the microclimate.  They provide habitat for diverse woodland insects, amphibians, and fungi and create natural seedbeds for other plant life to germinate.

Far From The Madding Crowd Chapter 49 Open spaces or clearings within a wood or forest, often grassy and pleasant-looking, are called glades. The term comes from the landscape vocabulary of rural England.  A glade is not completely open, rather it is a break in trees where light enters, creating a sheltered, picturesque opening.  With glades Hardy creates mood and symbolism.  A glade can suggest a momentary opening among darkness and confusion.  It is a spot of beauty and tranquility.  The nature is being carpeted with dead leaves. Every part of the woodland was blanketed with fallen leaves.