Thomas Hardy

[piglet]

Hey, does anyone know or anywhere I can find (or know of) religeous texts or quotes from sources that relate to Thomas Hardy's 'Far from the Madding Crowd'?
Thanks in advance for any help

[Janine]

Hardy was an professed atheist; so I am not sure there are any. I know the book well and I don't recall anything which relates to religious texts; I will have to think about this further. Perhaps you are thinking of Jude the Obscure. That deals with religious beliefs, which are rejected by the main character in the end.

Piglet, welcome to this forum. I hope someone else answers you question as well.

[piglet]

Thanks anyway
I was told to find quotes from either Hardy or 'other sources' and the Bible that relate to 'Far from the madding Crowd' especially the characters Bathsheba and Oak. I haven't actually read the book yet so was just seeing if anyone had any help as I'm not really sure on the plot of the story.
Thanks for the welcome as well.

[wessexgirl]

Hey, does anyone know or anywhere I can find (or know of) religeous texts or quotes from sources that relate to Thomas Hardy's 'Far from the Madding Crowd'?
Thanks in advance for any help

What about their names? Isn't Bathsheba from the Bible, and Gabriel is an angel, pretty much as he is in the book? I'm trying to think of the name of one of the characters too, who I think may quote from the Bible a lot, but I may be wrong, and confusing him with someone else. The title is from Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, which may be useful too, for some religious background. Although Hardy was an atheist, the Church was still important to him as both a source for his architecture, and in the books. Fanny goes to the wrong church, thereby sealing her fate, and the gargoyle from the church which spouts water on to her grave is very symbolic. I'm sure there's lots which you could track down. Enjoy the book, it's wonderful.

[kiki1982]

There is a fine line between not liking the Church because of its narrow-minded doctrine and not believing...

Was it not Joseph Poorgrass who used to quote? For the rest there were Jacob, Jan Coggan, Laban Tall (Susan Tall's husband poor man), Henery and Mark Clark.

And Cain (Ball) who got named Cain because the mother wanted to call him Abel but the two names got mixed up...

[Janine]

What about their names? Isn't Bathsheba from the Bible, and Gabriel is an angel, pretty much as he is in the book? I'm trying to think of the name of one of the characters too, who I think may quote from the Bible a lot, but I may be wrong, and confusing him with someone else. The title is from Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, which may be useful too, for some religious background. Although Hardy was an atheist, the Church was still important to him as both a source for his architecture, and in the books. Fanny goes to the wrong church, thereby sealing her fate, and the gargoyle from the church which spouts water on to her grave is very symbolic. I'm sure there's lots which you could track down. Enjoy the book, it's wonderful.

wessexgirl, how short-sighted of me to give the wrong information to piglet. I am so sorry, piglet. Of course, there is lot of religious symbolism in all of Hardy's works; even though he said he was an atheist; your assessment above, wessex, is absolutely accurate. I also think of Gabriel as being the humble sheppard - how appropriate is that? I haven't read this book for awhile; but it's truly one of my Hardy favorites and I have no excuse in forgetting about the biblical references, since I own two versions of the book on film. Yes, Gabriel and Bathsheba - both are significant biblical names indeed and fit their roles. Good point about Fanny. I had not actually thought about that before....interesting...

[piglet]

What about their names? Isn't Bathsheba from the Bible, and Gabriel is an angel, pretty much as he is in the book? I'm trying to think of the name of one of the characters too, who I think may quote from the Bible a lot, but I may be wrong, and confusing him with someone else. The title is from Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, which may be useful too, for some religious background. Although Hardy was an atheist, the Church was still important to him as both a source for his architecture, and in the books. Fanny goes to the wrong church, thereby sealing her fate, and the gargoyle from the church which spouts water on to her grave is very symbolic. I'm sure there's lots which you could track down. Enjoy the book, it's wonderful.

Thanks for the reply. Yes they are Biblical names, I think I will look into that and hopefully find Bible quotes. Also thanks you for pointing out the symbolism, I have watched a version of the film and didn't notice that. I'm sure I will enjoy the book.

Also Janine thank you again for replying and don't worry about providing the wrong information, I don't think I was clear about what I needed.

All of you have been helpful