# Far from the Madding Crowd — Character guide

> Key figures in Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

- [Bathsheba Everdene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/bathsheba_everdene.md): Bathsheba arrives in Weatherbury with more beauty and self-possession than her neighbors expect from a woman, and the agent's doubts about her youth and sex only sharpen her resolve to manage the Upper Farm herself. Her 
- [Gabriel Oak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/gabriel_oak.md): Gabriel begins as a small farmer with a watch that runs too fast or not at all, and he loses his flock and his prospects in a single stroke, falling to the position of bailiff on Bathsheba's land. He loves her without de
- [William Boldwood](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/william_boldwood.md): Boldwood is the most substantial landowner in Weatherbury, a man so self-contained that his neighbors treat his feelings as a closed book, until a joke valentine from Bathsheba cracks him open. His love turns possessive 
- [Frank Troy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/frank_troy.md): Troy arrives in Weatherbury as an educated soldier whose charm and swordplay dazzle a town hungry for spectacle, and he pursues Bathsheba with a confidence that Gabriel Oak immediately distrusts. He carries a prior entan
- [Fanny Robin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/fanny_robin.md): Fanny is a former servant at the Everdene farm, soft-spoken and unlucky, who loved Sergeant Troy before Bathsheba ever met him and was left to bear the consequences alone. Her poverty and her silence make her nearly invi
- [Liddy Smallbury](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/liddy_smallbury.md): Liddy has been with Bathsheba through her troubles and remains the one person in the household to whom the mistress speaks freely, whether about marriage, Troy, or the rumors drifting through Weatherbury. She is shrewd i
- [Jan Coggan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/jan_coggan.md): Coggan works the land at Weatherbury and lends his voice to the parish choir, moving easily among the men who gather at the maltster's for gossip and cider. When Sergeant Troy tosses a coin meant for Gabriel, Coggan catc
- [Joseph Poorgrass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/joseph_poorgrass.md): Poorgrass is the farm's resident worrier, a man so constitutionally bashful that even recounting his blushes brings him a mild, self-satisfied glow. His timidity and fondness for a drop of drink make him the butt of gent
- [Henery Fray](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/henery_fray.md): Fray works among the Weatherbury laborers but carries himself with a sense of injured merit, quick to complain that others are favored over him. His grumbling and readiness to voice what others only mutter make him a sou
- [Laban Tall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/laban_tall.md): Laban works the fields at Weatherbury but his real trials begin at home, where his wife Susan's sharp tongue and domineering ways leave him little peace. When Gabriel and Coggan need to send a discreet message, they must
- [Mark Clark](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/mark_clark.md): One of Bathsheba's farm workers, often seen in group scenes.
- [Benjy Pennyways](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/benjy_pennyways.md): Dishonest former bailiff of Bathsheba's farm, dismissed for theft.
- [Billy Smallbury](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/billy_smallbury.md): Elderly farmhand and father of Liddy, part of the Weatherbury community.
- [Matthew Moon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/matthew_moon.md): Aged farm laborer with a philosophical bent.
- [Cainy Ball](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/cainy_ball.md): Young farm boy who works as a shepherd's assistant.
- [Maryann Money](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/maryann_money.md): Female servant at Bathsheba's farm, helps with household chores.
- [Sam Samway](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/sam_samway.md): Farmhand who helps with sheep shearing and other tasks.
- [Susan Tall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/susan_tall.md): Laban Tall's domineering wife, known for her sharp tongue.
- [George](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/george.md): An elderly farm worker mentioned in passing.
- [Mrs. Hurst](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters/mrs_hurst.md): A neighbor woman who appears at the sheep-washing.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/far_from_the_madding_crowd_se/characters