# Far from the Madding Crowd

Far from the Madding Crowd is a novel by 19th century English novelist Thomas Hardy, published in 1874. The title is apt, as the life of the book's heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, living in the quiet rural village of Weatherbury is indeed disrupted by the "madding crowd". After shunning the first man to love her, the shepherd Gabriel Oak, she is courted by two others: the lonely and repressed farmer Boldwood, and the charming but faithless Sergeant Troy. The role of fate is clearly established, with each twist and turn in the book being more luck than the choice of one of the characters. The book is widely seen as Hardy's first masterpiece.Warning: template has been deprecated.

### Contents

* Preface
* Chapter I: Description of Farmer Oak -- An Incident
* Chapter II: Night -- the Flock -- An Interior -- Another Interior
* Chapter III: A Girl on Horseback -- Conversation
* Chapter IV: Gabriel's Resolve -- the Visit -- the Mistake
* Chapter V: Departure of Bathsheba -- a Pastoral Tragedy
* Chapter VI: The Fair -- the Journey -- the Fire
* Chapter VII: Recognition -- a Timid Girl
* Chapter VIII: The Malthouse -- the Chat -- News
* Chapter IX: The Homestead -- a Visitor -- Half-Confidences
* Chapter X: Mistress and Men
* Chapter XI: Outside the Barracks -- Snow -- a Meeting
* Chapter XII: Farmers -- a Rule -- in Exception
* Chapter XIII: Sortes Sanctorum -- the Valentine
* Chapter XIV: Effect of the Letter -- Sunrise
* Chapter XV: A Morning Meeting -- the Letter Again
* Chapter XVI: All Saints' and All Souls'
* Chapter XVII: In the Market-Place
* Chapter XVIII: Boldwood in Meditation -- Regret
* Chapter XIX: The Sheep-Washing -- the Offer
* Chapter XX: Perplexity -- Grinding the Shears -- a Quarrel
* Chapter XXI: Troubles in the Fold -- a Message
* Chapter XXII: The Great Barn and the Sheep-Shearers
* Chapter XXIII: Eventide -- a Second Declaration
* Chapter XXIV: The Same Night -- the Fir Plantation
* Chapter XXV: The New Acquaintance Described
* Chapter XXVI: Scene on the Verge of the Hay-Mead
* Chapter XXVII: Hiving the Bees
* Chapter XXVIII: The Hollow Amid the Ferns
* Chapter XXIX: Particulars of a Twilight Walk
* Chapter XXX: Hot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes
* Chapter XXXI: Blame -- Fury
* Chapter XXXII: Night -- Horses Tramping
* Chapter XXXIII: In the Sun -- a Harbinger
* Chapter XXXIV: Home Again -- a Trickster
* Chapter XXXV: At an Upper Window
* Chapter XXXVI: Wealth in Jeopardy -- the Revel
* Chapter XXXVII: The Storm -- the Two Together
* Chapter XXXVIII: Rain -- One Solitary Meets Another
* Chapter XXXIX: Coming Home -- a Cry
* Chapter XL: On Casterbridge Highway
* Chapter XLI: Suspicion -- Fanny Is Sent for
* Chapter XLII: Joseph and His Burden
* Chapter XLIII: Fanny's Revenge
* Chapter XLIV: Under a Tree -- Reaction
* Chapter XLV: Troy's Romanticism
* Chapter XLVI: The Gurgoyle: Its Doings
* Chapter XLVII: Adventures by the Shore
* Chapter XLVIII: Doubts Arise -- Doubts Linger
* Chapter XLIX: Oak's Advancement -- a Great Hope
* Chapter L: The Sheep Fair -- Troy Touches His Wife's Hand
* Chapter LI: Bathsheba Talks with Her Outrider
* Chapter LII: Converging Courses
* Chapter LIII: Concurritur -- Horae Momento
* Chapter LIV: After the Shock
* Chapter LV: The March Following -- "Bathsheba Boldwood"
* Chapter LVI: Beauty in Loneliness -- After All
* Chapter LVII: A Foggy Night and Morning -- Conclusion
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1928, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 95 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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