Summary Greenhill, the summit of a hill with an ancient rampart, was an ideal fair site. There were permanent buildings and also tents. Shepherds who had traveled with their flocks for days thronged in. The colors identifying the owners of the sheep formed a pleasing pattern. A pony wagon for […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 50Summary and Analysis Chapter 49
Summary Autumn passed and winter came. “Bathsheba, having previously been living in a state of suspended feeling which was not suspense, now lived in a mood of quietude which was not precisely peacefulness.” She kept the farm going, however, finally appointing Oak bailiff, a role he had, in fact, been […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 49Summary and Analysis Chapter 48
Summary Bathsheba accepted Troy’s absence with a mixture of surprise and relief. Sooner or later he would return, and she feared only the loss of the farm and the poverty which that would bring. To all else she was indifferent: “Perceiving clearly that her mistake had been a fatal one, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 48Summary and Analysis Chapter 47
Summary “Troy wandered along towards the south. A composite feeling, made up of disgust with the, to him, humdrum tediousness of a farmer’s life, gloomy images of her who lay in the churchyard, remorse, and a general averseness to his wife’s society, impelled him to seek a home in any […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 47Summary and Analysis Chapter 46
Summary One of the ugly gargoyles of the church parapet jutted out over the area newly assigned for charity graves. This stony land had been uncared for, and as a heavy downpour developed, water gushed forth, falling upon the grave of Fanny Robin some seventy feet below. The carefully planted […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 46Summary and Analysis Chapter 45
Summary “When Troy’s wife had left the house at the previous midnight his first act was to cover the dead from sight.” He then went upstairs to wait for morning. “Fate had dealt grimly with him through the last four-and-twenty hours.” He had taken the twenty pounds from Bathsheba and […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 45Summary and Analysis Chapter 44
Summary “Bathsheba went along the dark road, neither knowing nor caring about the direction or issue of her flight.” Finally she sank down in a brake of ferns. At daybreak, unsure whether or not she had slept, she felt calmer. Eventually Liddy found her, and the two women decided to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 44Summary and Analysis Chapter 43
Summary Bathsheba questioned Liddy again about Fanny. Liddy didn’t know any more, but said that Maryann had heard tales. Bathsheba refused to believe what Liddy whispered to her, arguing that there was but one name on the coffin. Feeling that she must draw strength from another to see her through […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 43Summary and Analysis Chapter 42
Summary The workhouse had a small rear door three or four feet from the ground. Here, at about three o’clock, a bright wagon containing flowers drew up. Joseph Poorgrass backed the wagon to the door, and a plain coffin was lifted into it. A man wrote on the coffin with […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 42Summary and Analysis Chapter 41
Summary Troy asked Bathsheba for money but would not say why he needed it. Bathsheba commented that his mysterious manner worried her. Troy responded: “Such strait-waistcoating as you treat me to is not becoming in you at so early a date.” He warned her not to pry too far. Bathsheba […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 41