The Fern Hollow
After Bathsheba realizes that Troy is the father of Fanny’s baby, she flees her house and spends the night in a hollow area amidst ferns, but next to a swamp. Both the place where she spends the night and the swamp are described using detailed imagery of what these places look, sound, and smell like. The imagery evokes the way in which nature provides a safe haven for Bathsheba at one of her most vulnerable moments. By fleeing her house, she symbolically rejects a system of human customs and rules that lead to lies and deceit. Instead, she seeks out a place where the plants and water are untamed and uncontrolled, and don’t appear to be anything other than what they are. The imagery suggests that while culture and society lead to deception by imposing rules (such as the social stigma against Fanny’s illegitimate pregnancy), nature is accepting and honest.
The Thunder and Lightning of the Harvest Storm
When the storm breaks loose on the night of the harvest-supper as Bathsheba and Gabriel struggle to protect the harvested crops, Hardy uses vivid imagery to describe the intensity of the thunder and lightning. This imagery serves a practical purpose by highlighting that Gabriel made the right choice: the storm is so powerful that it would have been disastrous if he had not taken the initiative to protect the crops. The imagery also highlights that Bathsheba and Gabriel are now in a dangerous situation, since they are unprotected from the lightning. On a more symbolic level, the lightning imagery reflects the potential sexual tension between the two of them as they work together and it becomes clear that they have a similar approach to taking charge of situation.
The Shearing Barn
When he introduces the scene in which the sheep are being sheared, Hardy spends a long time using vivid imagery to describe the old barn in which the shearing takes place. He describes small architectural details and the overall effect of the imagery is to compare the barn to something much grander, such as a cathedral or an ancient palace. A barn would usually not be considered worthy of elaborate description, but Hardy wants his readers to appreciate how even a humble place can still be important and valuable to people when it is a central part of their lives. The barn is also going to be a setting where complex emotions play out amongst different characters, and therefore its significance is greater than one might expect.
The Night Scene at Gabriel’s Hut
Early in the novel, on the night that Gabriel discovers Bathsheba and her aunt tending to a sick cow close to his own hut, Hardy offers a vivid description of a peaceful winter’s night in the countryside. By describing the stars, the cold temperature, and the haunting sound of Gabriel’s flute, Hardy gives his reader a vivid sensory picture of the setting for the action that is to come. Many of Hardy’s readers would not have lived in the country themselves, and would have enjoyed reading a description of this kind of setting. Also, since the plot for much of the novel is relatively focused on the inner lives of characters and their emotions, descriptions of the setting become a significant part of the novel’s content.
