How Thomas Hardy Suggests that this is a Moment of Transformation Essay

How Thomas Hardy Suggests that this is a Moment of Transformation for Bathsheba Everdene Thomas Hardy is able to suggest to us that this is a moment of transformation for Bathsheba Everdene, due to a number of factors. Thomas Hardy uses both the elements as well as the actions of Sergeant Troy to help us understand the reasons behind Bathsheba's transformation and the way in which it comes about. Thomas Hardy uses the setting of Bathsheba and Troy's meeting to its full potential. Bathsheba goes to meet the sergeant at the bottom of a pit, which has a saucer like shape and is 'naturally formed, with a top diameter of about thirty feet'. There are ferns growing all over the hills near by, but at the bottom of the slope into the pit the ferns cease to grow and instead there is a 'thick flossy carpet of moss and grass intermingled'. The ferns play an essential part in the transformation of Bathsheba, and we are almost immediately introduced to their role within the chapter. The ferns are personified in a way that allows them to share some of Bathsheba's soft, sensual qualities. The ferns are described as 'radiant' and 'diaphanous', and the way in which 'their soft, feathery arms' caress Bathsheba as she makes her way through them informs the reader that this chapter will be one of seduction. Hardy also informs us that this chapter will be full of action by the way, in which the sky is described to have a sense of activity within. The sun is shown as 'bristling ball of gold' which has 'long, luxuriant rays' which sweep over the tips of the ferns. All of these elementary factors play an important part within this chapter, but the role that the light plays within this chapter is even more so. The light is... ...episode is a new experience fro Bathsheba and this makes her exploratory character enlivened with excitement. The fact that she is so effectively in danger, she finds it enthralling, fun and wild, predominantly because this is her first real affair, and her first kiss. We are kept in a large amount of suspense over the kiss, and the effects which the kiss have Bathsheba are immense, Her blood beats, and she feels powerless, and has many mixed emotions. She even cries and is unsure if what she has committed a sin. As one can see Bathsheba has changed a great deal during this encounter with Troy. She has had her world turned upside and feels very confused, and her strong unemotional barrier has been broken, she has fallen into the enchantment of a man, and is totally lost. This meeting will affect her forever more, and is a major incident of the novel.