This poem is called "meditative" for the narrator meditates on thedestinies of the dead buried in the graveyard. The closing stanzas are said to be Grey's own fear about his destiny as a writer.
Read the poem. Then meditate on these questions and post:
Why would Hardy choose such a title for this novel?
What connections could he be making between what you have just begun to read, and Grey's meditative poem?
Hardy would choose this title because the girl is stuck in her small town. She has never seen life outside the farm and the country.The crazy, frantic life of the cities of this time is something she has never even thought about. As a reader we can look at her life as something simple, but because this is the only thing that she knows the main character will not see her life as simple, but as normal. Hardy is connecting the provincial life of people in the country to nature. He wants the people to be one with nature so by placing all of his characters in a rural setting they never have to deal with the environmental changes and technological advances. Like Tess the main character will also be in a "love triangle". She will have to choose one man. Hardy's strong view of nature is already prominent.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how this relates to Grey's "Elegy"? This post is more a rehashing of what we've looked at in class, mostly the critics Teisch and Daleski. What about the connection to the poem.
DeleteThe title of this book relates to the fact that she's used to her small town life style, that she's far from the bigger towns that are more developed areas. Shes in a remote area and not used to that type of living and the "madness" that comes along with big towns. The poem and the book relate a lot about that aspect of people in small towns don't realize what they miss about "big cities". While in the small town they think their life is normal, but if you look at it from the bigger picture most of the people live a very sheltered.
ReplyDeleteBefore determining why Hardy had chosen such a title for his novel, the meaning of the relevant lines in relation to the poem, as well as the general context of the poem. In the lines that read:
ReplyDelete"Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way."
It can be dissected down to say that the villagers plodded on faithfully, never straying from their lot in life as common people. The context of the poem depicts a country side (farmland) in which both people and animals survive off the land in a simplistic way of life. The simple folk of the land appear to only know this way of life, and appear unfamiliar with the evolving world. 'Madding' (or maddening) could be describing the attitude of the reader or the surrounding society in that they are appalled by the state of a simpleminded civilization on this remote countryside. 'Noiseless tenor of their way' just further emphasizes the quiet way of life in which this isolated civilization leads.
Essentially, it can be inferred that Hardy chose "Far From the Madding Crowd" as the title of his novel because the novel tells the tale of an isolated farm girl (a prime example of a member of the simple civilization on the countryside) who is isolated in a natural world away from the more modern and evolving civilization.
Some obvious connections to be made between Hardy's novel and Grey's poem revolve around themes. The theme to be brought to attention is regarding Nature. Hardy is very well known for his precise descriptions of nature and the natural world. When reviewing Grey's poem, it can be guessed that perhaps the title was not the only form of inspiration that Hardy gained from Grey's poem, but also perhaps Grey's style revolving around nature and setting.
I agree with the previous comments concerning that "Far from the Madding Crowd" shows her isolation of the larger developments. Her setting though slightly varies never leaves the simple farming communities. The poem before mentioning the "madding crowd" depicts a very rural community with people living simplistic lives. It describes living off the land with the "The cock's shrill clarion, or echoing horn" typical of country side/farm life. It also mentions the importance of religion in this lifestyle. So far in this novel the title definitely embraces the book's setting. Bathsheba has (in the novel) lived in two communities both rural were farming is the central way of life and everyone was very christian. How Bathsheba resents this life is slightly exposed with how she refuses to marry Gabriel Oak and fall into the normal pattern of things, later saying that he wasn't good enough for her. She also places herself in an abnormally high position for a rural women.
ReplyDeletePlease post comments to other comments under those comments. Just click the REPLY link under that comment and keep the thread in one location.
DeleteAlright, so this poem was written in 1750 and Far From the Madding Crowd was written in 1874, a good 124 years separates this book and poem. In class we talked about how, in Tess, Hardy use's real events that happened during his time and put in the book. Mr. Getty was saying how he wanted people to read that and think, "hey, this sounds familiar"; I personally think that he's unoriginal. From my view, he chose this title and poem because no one remembers it anymore and is using it as the plot for his story. With Mr. Getty view, he choose this title and poem to get people thinking about and remembering this old poem.
ReplyDelete*I'll finish this later* - If you read this poem, it's like your reading a story that rhymes. This poem has some resemblance to Far From the Madding Crowd
The first stanza resembles Oak working at his farm. The second stanza is when Oak leaves his farm and travels to another town. The next few stanzas describes nature and we know how big of a fan Hardy is to nature. A farmer, or shepherd, would be really close to nature and notice those details. The sixth and seventh stanza is when that building burned and Bathsheba gave Oak a job. The next three stanza describes Oak and what he thinks of Bathsheba. That's as far as I got so far, but the next stanza is about death; from what I've read and from this poem, then the next thing that's going to happen is someone dying, probably Fanny.
DeleteOne thing hardy does well is allusion. He expects his readers to be well read and uses their prior knowledge of texts to strengthen his own themes and perspectives. A problem with allusions is when the audience has not read the other works and this depth is lost. -- and poor, poor Fanny.
DeleteI completely agree with the above comments that this is referring to the rural setting. We already know Hardy is a fan of the country rather than the city, so it makes sense for him to refer to the city as the madding crowd. This speaks to Hardy's views of industrialization. Like Alanna said, he wants his characters to be one with nature. Tess also showed discomfort with city life, and this book reiterates the idea of nature and a simple life being healthier and better than Victorian high society,
ReplyDeletePlease post comments to other comments under those comments. Just click the REPLY link under that comment and keep the thread in one location.
DeleteI feel as though Hardy chose the title "Far From that Madding Crowd" because of the larger than life problems that Gabriel and Bathsheba will encounter later on in the novel. The failed proposal is much like with "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" when Alec proposed to Tess. This spiraled into a whole realm of problems. Then with the fated death of Gabriel's sheep and having him to be forced to find work in other places to pay off his extensive debt. His failed attempt at trying to marry Bathsheba will lead Gabriel to attempt to bring his love upon her even when she doesn't love him himself. This will cause a chase of Bathsheba to various parts of her town. He travels from his farm to another because he is in search for a job as well as his sadness of his failure to be-wife Bathsheba. This is almost him running away from his sadness, but in the end he will just return and force himself on her.
ReplyDeleteOther than the first three sentences, what does this have to do with Grey's "elegy"? You kind of lost me halfway through.
Delete