Jan Coggan Character Analysis in Far From the Madding Crowd

A farm hand who is friendly and cheerful, often serving as best man or godfather in marriages and baptisms around Weatherbury. Coggan is one of the regulars at Warren’s Malt-house and often is wont to veer off into tangents during a conversation. He represents general public opinion around the town.

Jan Coggan Character Timeline in Far From the Madding Crowd

The timeline below shows where the character Jan Coggan appears in Far From the Madding Crowd. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Conflict and the Laws of Nature Theme Icon

...the fire with his crook might be. No one knows, they say. One asks Jan Coggan, nearby, if he thinks the fire is safe—he says he thinks so (full context)

Epic Allusion, Tragedy, and Illusions of Grandeur Theme Icon

...Gabriel, who says he doesn’t need a clean cup. Mark Clark approves of this. Jan Coggan gives an older man, Henry Fray, some of his own cup to drink. Henry always... (full context)

Coggan calls over to Joseph Poorgrass, saying he hasn’t drunk anything. Joseph tells the group that... (full context)

...the mistress is like, but it appears that she’s only been here a few days. Coggan says he used to court his first wife Charlotte, a dairy maid, at Farmer Everdene’s,... (full context)

...and gentlemanly—but the husband lost hundreds of pounds in gold. He was a fickle husband, Coggan chimes in, whose will to be good wasn’t strong enough. Henery Fray remarks that Bathsheba... (full context)

...he saw him fluting at Casterbridge: Gabriel blushes and says he’s struggling to get by. Coggan asks Gabriel to play for them, and he does. A young man, Laban Tall (known... (full context)

Laban Tall is the first to leave, followed by Henery Fray. Gabriel leaves with Coggan, who’s offered him lodging. Then Henery returns, out of breath, to remark that Bathsheba has... (full context)

...a persistent, manageable feeling. He goes to see her at the sheepwashing pool, where Gabriel, Coggan, Moon, Poorgrass and Cain Ball are assembled. Bathsheba stands by them in a new riding... (full context)

...and still sheep-shearing season: the landscape is green and full of ferns and blooming plants. Coggan, Fray, Laban Tall, Poorgrass, Cain, and Gabriel are all in the Shearing Barn. Like a... (full context)

Temperance Miller, Coggan, and Laban Tall conclude that this means marriage. Henery Fray says that such a bold... (full context)

...the gate and Bathsheba asks him to take Gabriel’s spot: Gabriel moves readily. After supper Coggan sings a love song, followed by Poorgrass. A young Coggan son is beset by giggle... (full context)

...his bride. A buzz of pleasure greets the end. Pennyways has showed up uninvited, and Coggan and Poorgrass begin to berate him for stealing. Their talk masks a dramatic scene in... (full context)

A week or two after the shearing, Bathsheba is at her hayfields watching Coggan and Clark mowing when she sees Troy appear in the distance. He has come to... (full context)

...lead it out. She thinks it must be a gypsy man, and she rushes to Coggan’s, the nearest house. He calls Gabriel, and they find the horse gone. Then they hear... (full context)

Gabriel runs down to Boldwood’s and returns with two horses. He and Coggan ride to the hill, but the gypsies that had camped there are gone. They continue... (full context)

Coggan and Gabriel race to the toll gate, and, seeing Dainty and its driver approach, ask... (full context)

...remarks that it was a bad leg that let him read the Pilgrim’s Progress, while Coggan adds that his own father put his arm out of joint to court his future... (full context)

That evening, Gabriel is leaning over Coggan’s garden gate when he hears Bathsheba and Liddy’s voices from a carriage. Gabriel feels great... (full context)

Early the next morning, Gabriel and Coggan are reaching the fields when Gabriel thinks he sees something at an upper window of... (full context)

Coggan tells Gabriel that it’s better for him to be outwardly friendly to their new master.... (full context)

...heard: Poorgrass is cheered upon seeing it, and stops to go inside, where he sees Coggan and Clark. He tells them that his companion was beginning to chill him. He drinks... (full context)

...that moment Gabriel appears in the doorway, and cries that he’s ashamed of Poorgrass and Coggan. Clark asks him not to go on so; Coggan adds that no one can hurt... (full context)

...York and the Death of Black Bess,” retelling an 18th-century tale of a famous highwayman. Coggan and Poorgrass, among many others, jostle each other to enter the tent. At the back,... (full context)

...on Yalbury Hill between Weatherbury and Casterbridge, a number of men are gathered, including Poorgrass, Coggan, and Cain Ball. After a half hour’s wait, a judge arrives on a travelling carriage:... (full context)

...wedding. A few nights later, then, he sneaks out to fetch a license, and meets Coggan, whom he decides to trust with the secret that he and Bathsheba are getting married... (full context)

Coggan says that the wife of Laban Tall, who’s the new clerk of the parish, will... (full context)

...go to the porch and hear a great clang of instruments: Mark Clark and Jan Coggan have enlisted the village to perform. Clark wishes long life to the couple, and Gabriel... (full context)