Ending of Far from the Madding Crowd
Question
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Is the ending of the “Far from the Madding Crowd” look consistent? Reason your answer.
Answer
Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd” is somewhat gruesome and somber in tone with the novelist’s vision of human destiny and his concept of invincible Fate that intervenes and shapes joys and sorrows in the world of humans. It is one of the finest novels in the world of literature with the setting of pastoral landscape surrounded by woods, dales and heaths of Wessex-life. The main plot of the novel grows slowly and furthers towards tragic consequence in a way that heightens the impression of a perfect tragedy. But suddenly towards the end the vital tone resounding throughout the whole novel takes a sweeping turn to let the novel conclude with an ending that quite fits a happy comedy. The novel has been a subject of reasonable criticism due to its limitation to become a perfect tragedy at last. No one can deny the fact that it was Thomas Hardy’s foremost and intense intention to craft out a genuine tragedy out of the story of “Far from the Madding Crowd”. The ending of this grand novel is, therefore, often claimed to be inconsistent.
Almost in all the Wessex novels, as in case of “Far from the Madding Crowd” too, Hardy shows how in nature a universal design persists to control and govern the world of mortals. The very vital force working in the whole universe may be called by the name Fate and this powerful pattern is not is not only indomitable, but at the same time, its real nature and action are beyond man’s capacity to comprehend. In “Far from the Madding Crowd” Fate appears in the life of Weatherbury in disguise of chance and coincidence and due to its invisible whims everything gets here topsy-turvy. Like great Greek tragedies here in this novel too Fate dominates human actions and their results. The concept of Fate as demonstrated by Hardy in “Far from the Madding Crowd” demands an
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Is the ending of the “Far from the Madding Crowd” look consistent? Reason your answer.
Answer
Thomas Hardy’s “Far from the Madding Crowd” is somewhat gruesome and somber in tone with the novelist’s vision of human destiny and his concept of invincible Fate that intervenes and shapes joys and sorrows in the world of humans. It is one of the finest novels in the world of literature with the setting of pastoral landscape surrounded by woods, dales and heaths of Wessex-life. The main plot of the novel grows slowly and furthers towards tragic consequence in a way that heightens the impression of a perfect tragedy. But suddenly towards the end the vital tone resounding throughout the whole novel takes a sweeping turn to let the novel conclude with an ending that quite fits a happy comedy. The novel has been a subject of reasonable criticism due to its limitation to become a perfect tragedy at last. No one can deny the fact that it was Thomas Hardy’s foremost and intense intention to craft out a genuine tragedy out of the story of “Far from the Madding Crowd”. The ending of this grand novel is, therefore, often claimed to be inconsistent.
Almost in all the Wessex novels, as in case of “Far from the Madding Crowd” too, Hardy shows how in nature a universal design persists to control and govern the world of mortals. The very vital force working in the whole universe may be called by the name Fate and this powerful pattern is not is not only indomitable, but at the same time, its real nature and action are beyond man’s capacity to comprehend. In “Far from the Madding Crowd” Fate appears in the life of Weatherbury in disguise of chance and coincidence and due to its invisible whims everything gets here topsy-turvy. Like great Greek tragedies here in this novel too Fate dominates human actions and their results. The concept of Fate as demonstrated by Hardy in “Far from the Madding Crowd” demands an