Love
Love is a major theme of the novel; in fact, the plot revolves around Bathsheba trying to understand what love truly is, and what type of man is worthy of giving her love to. Each of her suitors represents a different kind of love. Boldwood offers a love that is intense, obsessive, and functions like a form of ownership; he tries to buy her love with luxurious goods and promises of sharing in his prosperity. Troy offers her a passionate, sexually charged love that is very pleasurable in the short term but quickly fades away, and is not substantiated with long-term devotion or compatibility. It is Gabriel who offers her a quiet, unassuming, but steadfast and reliable love that will endure through problems and challenges. As Bathsheba matures, she comes to realize what real love is, and that Gabriel is the best partner for her.
Independence
Bathsheba is determined to assert her independence; she knows that many people assume that because she is a woman, she needs to get married and have a husband to help her with the farm. Bathsheba rejects the idea of marrying out of social convention; when Gabriel first proposes, she makes it clear that she only wants to marry for love. Through hard work and intelligence, she is fairly successful at proving that she can successfully manage her own farm as an independent woman. However, Bathsheba’s ideal of independence is a bit of an illusion, since while she thinks she is taking care of everything, she is actually dependent on Gabriel’s help the entire time. If he had abandoned her or refused to help her during crises like the sheep getting poisoned or the storm breaking out on the night of the harvest supper, she could have been ruined.
Deceit
Deceit is an important theme since various characters create unfortunate situations through a lack of honesty. Bathsheba unleashes a long and tragic series of events through the simple and playful deception of sending Boldwood a valentine and misleading him about her feelings. Later, Troy repeatedly tricks and deceives characters around him, especially Bathsheba. He does not reveal the nature of his relationship with Fanny, and when he returns from America, he disguises his identity at the fair. The scale of deceit ranges from relatively harmless to very serious, and yet it always has negative consequences, showing that honesty and integrity are the ways to lead a happy life.
Reliability
The character who best exemplifies the theme of reliability is Gabriel. Whenever something goes wrong, he can be counted on to help out, and even though Bathsheba sometimes takes him for granted and mistreats him, he stands by her. Gabriel’s reliability is rewarded by the end of the novel in both his personal and professional life. His good reputation for his dedicated service to the Everdene farm allows him to lease Boldwood’s farm and hope for bright prospects as a farmer. Bathsheba realizes the value of his devoted love and agrees to marry him. However, Gabriel’s reliability is valuable because he is humble and giving. In contrast, Boldwood is also very consistent in his devoted love for Bathsheba, but he is demanding and insistent on trying to possess her, rather than being content to love and serve her faithfully even if she never returns his feelings.
Fate
While the novel explores the moral choices faced by various characters and the consequences of those choices, it is clear that not everything is under the control of individuals. Many of the characters seem to be ruled by fate and unable to escape from certain experiences or events. Even though Gabriel has made all the right decisions to advance his career at the start of the novel, he loses everything through a single ill-fated event. Bathsheba also experiences reversals of fate, as she goes from being financially destitute to being a wealthy heiress. Various chance encounters also bring the characters together, such as the accidental meetings of Gabriel and Bathsheba, and Bathsheba and Troy. This theme suggests that human lives play out amidst larger forces that they cannot control or predict.
Nature
Nature is a major theme in the novel, since the progress of the plot is closely tied to the passage of time, the change of seasons, and the rhythm of life on the farm. Cycles like the growing and harvesting of crops and the reproduction of the sheep structure the everyday lives of the characters and enable them to earn their livelihood. Gabriel's skill and success as a farmer stems from his ability to stay attuned to nature; other characters, like Troy, fail to appreciate nature and see it as something they can mostly ignore or exploit for profit.
Patience
Patience is shown as a virtue to be rewarded, even though it is not easy for characters to acquire. Gabriel takes a patient approach to his work, not being afraid of starting over and gradually progressing through his career. He also understands that doing farm tasks slowly and meticulously ensures they will be done well, and supports the success of the farm in the long run. He takes the same approach to his feelings for Bathsheba, remaining steadfastly loyal to her even though she sometimes takes him for granted and seems to have fallen in love with another man. Bathsheba does not naturally display as much patience since she likes to follow her impulses, but she gradually learns to appreciate a slower and more careful approach to life.
