Note on the Title of Hardy's Novel Far from the Madding Crowd.

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Q. Write a note on the title of the novel Far from the Madding Crowd. A. In his masterpiece Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray describes the quiet and peaceful life of the people living in a village. In his poem occur the following lines: Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray; Along the cool sequestered vale of life They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. In this stanza Gray refers to the poor rural people who lived far away from the crowd of urban people struggling madly for power and pelf. The rural people carried on their activities peacefully in the course of life. From Gray's poem Hardy borrowed the phrase ‘far from the madding crowd’ and used it as a title for this novel. The ‘madding crowd’ represents the crowded, congested, suffocating urban life. Like most of his other novels, the background of this novel too is countryside called Wessex. Hardy wishes to imply that the life of the country people is peaceful and calm and free from the tumult, the turmoil, and the strife which characterise the urban life. As said earlier, the rustic characters in this novel - Joseph Poorgrass, Jan Coggan, Henry fray, Mrk Clark, Jacob Smallbury, William Smallbury, Mathew Moon, the old maltster, Laban Tall and Cain Ball – all lead a quiet and simple life. They spend their time doing their duties, chatting in the local Malthouse, and drinking. They have neither any aspiration nor ambition. So they hardly have any worry or anxiety. Gossip of all kinds is their prime entertainment. They have no political intrigues, no business disputes and rivalries, no acts of cringe, no emotional storms in their lives. The course of their life is, indeed, peaceful and tranquil. They are quite satisfied with the lot and the situation they are in. Their main occupations are sheep-washing, sheep-shearing, harvesting,

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