Introducción al estudio de la lengua inglesa antigua y su evolución
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THOMAS HARDY
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
ENGLISH LITERATURE
NATURALISM
Compare and contrast two examples of Hardy’s descriptive writing in Far from the
Madding Crowd, to show how the style of language used in each contributes to the
overall mood of the passages.
The book Far from the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy has a lot of parts which remind
us of the Naturalism movement. This movement started in the 1880´s and ended around
the 1940s. The Naturalism shows us the representation of natural appearances or natural
patterns of speech, manner and etc. The description of landscapes, the rural living and the
physical environment the is one of the most important aspects of Naturalistic books. The
precursor of Naturalism was Realism. Both are very similar but they differ in some aspects,
for instance, Naturalism goes further trying to analyze and explain the causes of person´s
actions or believes. Naturalism says that the actions and thoughts of person are
determined by some factors, like hereditary, social and environmental conditions. We are
going to see an example of the following passage of the book:
Chapter 2: Night- the Flock- An interior- Another Interior
“The poetry of motion is a phrase much in use, and to enjoy the epic from of that
gratification it is necessary to stand on a hill at a small hour of the night, and having first
expanded with a sense of difference from the mass of civilized mankind, who are
dreamwrapt and disregardful of all such proceedings at this time, long and quietly watch
you stately progress through the stars. After such nocturnal reconnoiter it is hard to get
back to earth, and to belie that the consciousness of such majestic speeding is derived from
a tiny human frame. Suddenly an unexpected series of thoughts began to be heard in this
place up against the sky. They had a cleanness which was to be found nowhere in the wind,
and a sequence which was to be found nowhere in nature. They were the notes of Farmer
Oak flute.”
The language used in this passage is related with nature and emotions. It is a deep and
philosophical language, because it is comparing a single man, Farmer Oak, as the
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, representative of all the mankind. Then, it tell us that even thought humans are so
advanced and have a lots of knowledge, they can´t control the laws of the universe. They
are just small things that can´t change the natural rules, but they can contemplate them
and learn from them. We can see this when the passage says: “And having first expanded
with a sense of difference from the mass of civilized mankind, who are dreamwrapt and
disregardful of all such proceedings at this time”. At the end of the passage, Farmer Oak´s
flute can be heard as a divine and magic melody which seems that it comes from the sky.
But, that is just a comparison to magnify Farmer Oak´s acts in the Universe, and to show us
that in a way he wants to be the owner of the his life and he wants to able to control the
actions and the fate.
Another significant passage which shows us also naturalistic tendencies is the following
one:
Chapter 38
Rain- One solitary Meets Another
“The rain came on in earnest and Oak soon felt the water to be tracking cold and clammy
routes down his back. Ultimately he was reduced well- night to a homogenous soup and
the dyes of his clothes trickled down and stood in a pool at the foot of the ladder .The rain
stretched obliquely through the dull atmosphere in liquid spines, unbroken in continuity
between their beginnings in the clouds and their points in him.
Oak suddenly remembered that eight months before this time he had been fighting against
fire in the same spot as desperately as he was fighting against water now- and for a futile
love of the same woman. As for her … But Oak was generous and true and dismissed his
reflections. ….
He was drenched, weary and sad, yet not as sad as drenched and weary, for he was
cheered by a sense of success in a good case.”
This passage is very significant because it comes after Gabriel and Bathsheba were out in
the storm. While they were trying to save the harvest from the wild thunder storm, Gabriel
talked with Bathsheba about their love and what happened when they both left the village
to go to Weatherbury. After the storm came the rain and Gabriel is portrayed as a poor
thing that has to bear the natural weather obstacles, like the heavy rain that is soaking,
after being rejected by Bathsheba. However he never complains about the weather
obstacles and he accepts it as a part of the Universe. Gabriel is also portrayed in the
passage as very unlucky man and, in a way, disgraceful; he cannot have the love of
Bathsheba, even thought he did all for having her love. In the passage we can see how
Gabriel remembers that eight months ago he saw Bathsheba again when he was fighting
against the fire that took place in some farms, and now he has to fight against the water,
and yet, without being able to have her love. It seems that the nature, or the Universe has
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