Thomas Hardy in the novel, Far From the Madding Crowd, explores complexities within love, egotisms, and class status. However, what I find to be the most interesting take away from the work as a whole is the narrator’s view on time. The line in particular which sparked my interest in the topic is stated as, “For it may be argued with great plausibility that reminiscence is less an endowment than a disease, and that expectation in its own comfortable form- that of absolute faith- is practically an impossibility; whilst in the form of hope and the secondary compounds, patience, impatience, resolve, curiosity, it is a constant fluctuation between pleasure and pain” (Hardy). Now, this excerpt does cover a lot of ground with a lot of it unrelated to time, but all the same, it is still referring to the ways in which we spend our time. Hardy is elaborating on how we are often trapped in the inner workings of our mind; so caught up in what could have been or what we suppose should have been that the present moment laid before us is disregarded as though to be dealt with at a different time. 

I find the saying about time only being understood backwards but only lived forwards to connect to this excerpt as this is a distinctly human desire to not only look back at the past, but want to revisit it. I find the perception of time among species to be an incredibly interesting and unique approach to tackling our inclination to do just that. For instance, the fact that bees can gauge time intervals has been proven by experiments in which their time perception was tested under different circumstances (in the dark, at the same temperature, etc.) and yet it is not as though bees have the same reminiscence disease that Hardy speaks of. While this is an obvious remark considering the differing levels of comprehension among species, it really makes me think about how this craving we have to travel back in time is hardly innate. If we were simply to have been told: this is your approximate life span, you can do whatever you want with your life, make the most of it; I highly doubt we would all be sitting around pondering the good old days. I believe it to be the very same disease of reminiscence which Hardy so eloquently describes. I think in accepting this, we can begin to unravel the mess of balance between pleasure and pain. In looking back at what once was, we develop expectations for what should be. This is an impossibility to live up to since we hold out hope in all its forms. It is a rather odd curiosity to wonder just how well our expectations could be met and how much we could tempt fate to work in our favor. 

The plot of Hardy’s novel revolves around the many hearts which Bathsheba Everdene takes control of before finding her match with a shepherd. The expectation which Bathsheba has in one of her suitors, Troy, is met with disappointment as she does not end up being the one to change his selfish ways and after amusing her curiosity on such matters, she is faced with reality and resolves to marry the shepherd. In doing so, she fluctuates between pleasure from being admired and having marital options accompanied by pain from not being truly loved by many of her suitors and having to make a hard decision for her future. Time is what teaches her lessons about the importance of emotional maturity in her relationships as her world is opened up to new people while in her new environment. Time depletes this absolute faith for her expectations and is overall beneficial for her growth. In this respect, while Hardy is speaking on the harm of living in memories, he is also paying homage to the necessity of time passing in order to gain perspective. As the reader is given a look into the transition of Bathsheba from an expectant young girl to a capable woman, the value of time for its transformative powers are portrayed with admiration. 

Although many of us cling to memories of the past and hopes of the future, Hardy appreciates this dilemma along with the blissful ignorance of youth toward nostalgia. In exchange for the impatience of unfulfilled expectations, we harness a patience toward everything as it truly is instead of how we wish it to be. While we may envy the ability of bees to watch time pass without fear, we must not forget the qualities of time which bring us new experiences, insights, and growth. In his fictional reflection of this through the character Bathsheba, Thomas Hardy urges us to revel in these qualities and optimize their significance in our lives as opposed to the sorrowful reminiscence which we are so often drawn to. 

Works Cited

Hardy, Thomas. Far From The Madding Crowd. New York: Doubleday, 1998.