Summary
While passing along the deserted beach near Budmouth, Troy decides to try and settle his emotions by taking a swim. He leaves his clothes on the beach and paddles out, only to get caught in a powerful current and dragged out to sea. At the last moment, he is saved by a boat of soldiers. When they row him back to shore, his clothes and money are gone; when the sailors invite him to join them on their upcoming voyage, Troy impulsively agrees.
Back at the farm, word comes to Bathsheba that her husband has drowned. She finds this hard to believe, but there is strong evidence since an eye witness saw Troy being swept out to sea, and his clothes were found to identify him with. For all intents and purposes, Bathsheba is treated as a widow, which raises the hopes of Boldwood that he might someday court her. In the short term, Bathsheba formalizes Gabriel’s position as the bailiff of the farm, and he is subsequently hired by Boldwood to manage the other farm as well. After some months have passed, Boldwood asks Liddy if there have been any hints of Bathsheba intending to remarry. Liddy tells him that Bathsheba once commented she intended to wait 6 more years before thinking about marriage, and Boldwood commits himself to waiting as long as it takes in pursuit of Bathsheba.
In the autumn, almost a year after Fanny’s death and Troy’s disappearance, Bathsheba and her workers go to the annual sheep fair to display their flocks and conduct business. They are not aware that Troy is also present at the fair, as a member of a travelling circus. Troy had sailed to America and spent some time there teaching sword fighting and boxing, but grew tired of living in poverty and instability. He returned to England planning to reunite with Bathsheba but then found the idea of having to cope with her anger unappealing and impulsively joined the circus instead.
Just before he is due to go onstage, Troy peeks out and is dismayed to find Bathsheba and Boldwood sitting in the audience. He improvises by increasing his disguise and refusing to speak during his performance, and manages to perform undetected. However, he notices with alarm that Bathsheba’s former bailiff Pennyways has sighted him, and he suspects Pennyways will seize this opportunity to upset his former employer. Troy sneaks around to the far side of the tent where Boldwood and Bathsheba are and cuts a hole to listen through. He sees Pennyways come over to deliver a message, which he knows reveals that Troy is present at the fair. Bathsheba, however, is annoyed with Pennyways and does not open the note immediately, letting it dangle in her fingers. Troy seizes the note through the hole in the canvas and takes off. He then finds Pennyways and arranges to meet with him in order to protect his secret.
Meanwhile, Boldwood and Bathsheba travel home together. Boldwood raises the question of her marrying again, and asks if she would consider marrying him. Bathsheba agrees first that she will not marry anyone else so long as Boldwood wants her, and then that by Christmastime she will answer whether or not she will marry him in 6 years’ time. Bathsheba later discusses the situation with Gabriel, who tells her he sees nothing wrong with her considering marrying Boldwood, though he would prefer to see her married to someone she genuinely loves. Bathsheba finds herself somewhat annoyed that Gabriel did not seize this opportunity to raise the possibility of her remarrying him rather than Boldwood.
On Christmas Eve, Boldwood hosts a large party at his home. Bathsheba is anxious, since she knows he will expect her to agree to an engagement. Boldwood is hopeful and optimistic, even though Gabriel cautions him that their engagement would be a lengthy one, and much could change. Meanwhile, Troy has been relying on Pennyways to provide him with information about Bathsheba and has learned that there are rumors she may be planning to marry Boldwood. He decides to go to the Christmas party in disguise.
Outside of the Christmas party, some of the farmworkers discuss the rumors that Troy has been sighted around the town, and debate whether or not to tell Bathsheba. They decide not to, since they do not want to upset her, and they know that Boldwood has planned the entire party in her honor. However, when they catch sight of Troy lurking outside of the house, they decide they must alert their mistress.
Inside, Bathsheba has quickly grown tired of the party, and withdraws in order to get ready to leave. Boldwood finds her and pressures her to agree to marry him. After protesting, Bathsheba agrees that she will marry Boldwood in 6 years, although she tries to object to him giving her a ring. Boldwood finally leaves her alone, and Bathsheba heads for the exit.
As she passes through the party, she interrupts a conversation between Boldwood and a group of men. Boldwood noticed the men whispering amongst themselves and wants to find out what is happening. Before the group can get to the bottom of it, Troy enters the room. He is heavily wrapped up so some people, including Boldwood, do not immediately recognize him. However, he quickly reveals himself and demands that Bathsheba leave with him. She is frozen and in shock. Troy tries to grab her, and when he does so, Boldwood shoots him. He then tries to turn the gun on himself, but one of the servants prevents him, and he simply walks out of the house. He goes to the local police office and turns himself in.
As news of the violence spreads, Gabriel hurries to the Boldwood farm. He finds Bathsheba calmly tending to Troy who is already dead. She sends him to get a doctor, but by the time Gabriel and the doctor return, she has taken Troy’s body back to her own house. The two men hurry to Bathsheba’s farmhouse to find that she has washed and prepared the corpse for burial.
Analysis
Although Troy seemed to show genuine remorse at the time of Fanny’s death, he quickly reverts to his self-centered and reckless behavior. By impulsively deciding to sail to America without sending any word of his whereabouts, Troy does not consider what impact this will have on Bathsheba’s life. He simply wants to run away from his problems and avoid unpleasant consequences. However, he still feels entitled to the social status and comfortable life Bathsheba’s spouse would enjoy. His hesitation around revealing his identity is rooted in his desire to maximize getting what he wants. He is not at all concerned with any problems or needs his wife might have.
Boldwood’s behavior is somewhat parallel to Troy’s in the way that he is utterly fixated on getting what he wants, and does not care very much about other people’s feelings. When Boldwood witnesses Bathsheba learning that Troy is assumed to be dead, he is not upset to see her suffering. Instead, he is hopeful that he now has a chance to marry her after all. He does at least wait a decent interval before beginning to enquire, and even though 6 years is a very long time, he is prepared to endure the wait. Still, Bathsheba’s hesitation and doubt should make it clear that she is not truly happy about the prospect of marrying him, and yet he still persists in nagging at her to give him an answer.
The way Troy treats her at the Christmas party highlights Bathsheba’s passivity and the way she is viewed as an object men can claim ownership of. He tries to literally seize her and drag her away while she seems frozen in shock. Even though everyone at the party also seems horrified, they do not intervene. The relationship between a man and his wife largely meant that he could treat her however he wanted, and in that sense Boldwood’s act of violence seems like a brave intervention. At the same time, he behaves in a radical and extreme way, and seems to need to vent his fury more so than protect a vulnerable woman.
Once Troy is dead, Bathsheba returns to being calm, collected, and able to take charge of a situation. In a sense, it is as if his death reverses everything that has happened since they met, and she goes back to being the strong-willed and capable woman from the earlier parts of the novel. She has always been suspicious of whether or not he was actually dead, and now with his corpse lying in front of her she can be sure once and for all that she is free from her unfortunate marriage. While this does seem to liberate her to become independent and active again, it is also clearly traumatic for her. Bathsheba’s fear has been for a long time that the rivalry amongst her suitors could lead to violence, and now this threat has come true.
