This in essence, is the story of the effect a beautiful woman has on three very different men. Set in the middle part of the nineteenth century, Bathsheba Everdene is the name of the
heroine ;not only is she beautiful, she is headstong, and although essentially good natured, mildly arrogant and at the beginning of the tale, careless of the impact she has on other people.
Bathsheba, through a sequence of events, becomes the owner of a farm in rural Wessex(the setting for many a Thomas Hardy tale). In her employ is the shepherd Gabriel Oak, a man of solid values; honest, dependable,generous and who sees that Bathsheba is proud and vain, but loves her all the same. Bathsheba who appreciates that Gabriel is a decent man but finds him unexciting,
initially rejects his proposal of marriage.
Bathsheba's vanity leads her to draw the attention of a neighbour, Farmer Boldwood who becomes disastrously obsessed with Bathsheba, while she in turn falls in love with the handsome and feckless adventurer, Sergeant Troy. The resulting chaos caused by these romantic entanglements, show the heroine the transient nature of passion and the impact of
beauty; that the qualities within a person are those that are of the greatest value and to ultimately be more careful with other people's emotions..
The book is an
unusual one for the time in which it is set as it gives us a not quite run-of-the-mill heroine; the emphasis, although initially on her beauty, by the end has revealed her strength of character and independence. This follows the recurrent theme in the book of seemingly not to not judge by outward appearance. The men in the book again are not heroes and play second fiddle to the dominant character of Bathsheba; again unusual for this period, for a book to suggest that a woman's role is not necessarily to be subservient.
A thoroughly enjoyable, thought- provoking and brilliant book overall.