Poetic Features Of Far From The Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy is one of the greatest novelists and poets in English literature. His novels are much influenced by and interact with his poems. There are fictional plots in his lyrics and poetic descriptions in his novels. Therefore, his novels overflow poetic flavor and vigor and display some poetic features.In his early novel Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy, with poetic touch and truehearted emotion, describes the economic and social order as well as the manners and customs in Wessex and expresses his beautiful ideal of society and life. He mourns the passing of these native customs and the changing character of the villages during England's rapid industrialization. He finds a way to preserve the old order by capturing it in his novels.In this novel, Hardy, through artistic techniques such as allusion, symbol and contrast, successfully portrays the images of Oak, Bathsheba and other characters. Oak embodies what are for Hardy the characteristic virtues of rural life. He is nature's son who is in harmony with the natural world. He is devoted to Bathsheba and his loyalty is marked by a patient acceptance, both of her faults and her need to mature. Bathsheba is an independent Shakespearean woman. Maturity and trial lessen her faults and create an admirable woman of character and dignity. Besides, Hardy's use of the rustics is effective. The peasants add strength and depth to this novel.This thesis, in three chapters, through analyses on image creation, scenery description, and structural arrangement in Far from the Madding Crowd, explores the poetic features and displays the boundless charm of the novel. The first chapter deals with the image creation of Oak, Bathsheba and other characters. The second chapter mainly explains the poetic feature in scenery descriptions, both plain scenery description and scenery description in relation to the characters'thoughts and action. The third chapter, in view point of structural arrangement, reveals how Hardy poeticizes the novel by passing of the seasons and shifting between day and night.