Far From the Madding Crowd: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

The next day is the corn market at Casterbridge, full of burly men carrying saplings with which to poke pigs and sheep as they move throughout the room. Only one woman glides among them, and heads turn as she walks through. She starts with the two or three farmers she knows, but then moves on, gaining confidence to negotiate with others and show them her own sample bags. Her eyes are soft, though her face suggests defiance, determination, and savvy. She holds her own regarding prices, haggles adeptly, but her feminine elasticity softens these blows.

Other farmers ask who she is, and remark that it’s a shame she’s so headstrong, even if she does lighten up the exchange. But she’s handsome and will soon be married off. Still, she looks as powerful as a queen or a sister of Jove among these men. But there’s one exception among the farmers—one with full Roman features, an air of dignity and calm. Bathsheba’s convinced that he’s unmarried, though he is around forty years old.

After the market, Bathsheba tells Liddy that it was as bad as being married with eyes all on her. Liddy agrees that men always are likely to ogle women. Bathsheba asks about the one good-looking man who didn’t seem interested in her. Liddy exclaims that it’s Farmer Boldwood, who rides past them, his eyes fixed forward. Bathsheba says he’s interesting, and Liddy agrees that everyone thinks so. She says he met a bitter disappointment when young, jilted by a woman, but Bathsheba thinks that’s always what people say—he’s likely just reserved by nature, even if it’s more romantic to think he’s been treated badly. Perhaps it’s somewhere between the two, she thinks.