She asks Gabriel where her husband is, as he had promised “‘…that the stacks should be seen to…’” (p.

The storm awakens Bathsheba and she heads to the ricks to find Gabriel thatching. Chapter XXXVII covers the scenario in which a great storm approaches Bathsheba’s farm, where uncovered hayricks lie. Additionally, these elements allow Bathsheba’s true feelings to shine through as she spontaneously confesses that she “…care a little for good opinion…” for “it would be dreadful that should always think mistakenly of her”. The physical storm, as well as the storm that Troy causes in Bathsheba, inspires a greater sense of protectiveness in the already devoted Gabriel. In Chapter XXXVII, the storm serves as an overarching symbol of Troy’s destructiveness in Bathsheba’s life.

In both chapters mentioned, nature provides the outlet for certain character traits to be revealed. In Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy uses parallel episodes that pertain to nature, such as fire in the hut and hayricks and rain on the farm and at the grave to compare and contrast character motives and development, as well as to accentuate the overall themes in the novel. Throughout the novel, nature acts as a driving force or a symbol of a character’s actions and choices. His characters are very in touch with nature, especially the main characters, who are a shepherd and shepherdess. Hardy uses a third person omniscient narrator in order to provide the reader with insight into each character’s thoughts and situations. Though a time period is never specified, the reader assumes that the novel takes place during the late Victorian period, when Hardy lived and wrote. These places represent Hardy’s vision of the ideal rural setting. The novel is set in the fictional area of Wessex, England in the equally fictional shire, Weatherbury. Bathsheba and Gabriel seem to share the role of protagonist, but Gabriel is ultimately seen as the hero of the novel. The plot follows Bathsheba’s relationship with each of these men and climaxes with a physical meeting of the three suitors, in which one is shot dead. Each of these four characters faces internal conflicts with his or her own desires, motives, and emotions, in addition to conflicts with each other. The conflict of Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd centers upon Bathsheba Everdene’s battle with and between her three suitors, Gabriel Oak, William Boldwood, and Francis Troy – and the battle involving the suitors themselves. In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy uses nature to influence the actions of his shepherd and shepherdess protagonists, Bathsheba Everdene and Gabriel Oak, in two separate episodes involving rain storms.

Far from the maddening crowds