MovieChat Forums > Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) Discussion > Gabriel deserved much better

Gabriel deserved much better

posted 7 years ago by Shania112
10 replies | jump to latest

Gosh this movie was frustrating for me, never have read the book I probably would have enjoyed it more.

Okay tbh if I was Bathsheba I would totally be caught of guard with Gabriels proposal but I wouldn't reject him, I would get to know him and then see. Bathsheba was a very confused character to me she wasn't strong she was just all over the show. Clearly not a very good judge of character and she came across a bit snooty to me too as if she knows best and blah blah blah. Also I HATED how she just got her way all the damn time.

Gabriel was perfect a little intense like with the proposal but just a decent person with a good heart and integrity.

The main thing that really ticks me of though is the fact that she barely knew the fricking solider yet she said yes to him almost immediately so like what the hell. He was a huge jerk which tbh serves her right.

Sorry I'm ranting I did enjoy the scenery, music, costumes and the supporting cast. It was the main character that I really couldn't stand plus it doesn't help that I hate Carey Mulligan, it could be her style of acting or the fact that I dont think she can act at all. Plus the way everyone was literally falling in love with her upon meeting her was not realistic at all, I'm not judgemental but if you're picking an actress whose character is meant to be drop dead pick a good one. I felt the actress who played Libby was beautiful. She could've made a better Bathsheba in my opinion. Anyone else could actually.

[–] Stovepipe99 7 years ago

I'm repeating a little of what I said in an earlier thread, but just to respond to a few of your points.

1) One of the ideas in the book is that two of Bathsheba's suitors (Gabriel at first and Boldwood the whole time) can't get away from talking about marriage as a business deal. Look at all the stuff I can give you. Bathsheba is kind of put off by that, and when she expresses hesitation at the idea of giving away all of her rights/property, Gabriel says that's "stupid". Then, just shortly after, Bathsheba is in a position financially where she doesn't need the material goods being offered by her suitors.

Bathsheba doesn't think that Gabriel is a bad person--she just isn't sure she wants to marry him. Knowing someone is a good guy and wanting to give up all your rights/property and spend the rest of your life with him are two very different things. The fact that she offers Gabriel a really important (and highly paid!) job at her farm shows that she trusts him and thinks highly of him.

2) Bathsheba "gets her way", but she works damn hard for it. She is a fair, even generous, employer. She shows kindness and charity (arranging for the burial), and she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty helping out on the farm.

3) Bathsheba has strong opinions and acts decisively, but a lot of that comes from not wanting people to see that she is weak. She is very defensive in the beginning of the story, but by the middle/end, she is able to own up quickly and decently to her mistakes. She apologizes very clearly and sincerely to Boldwood for the Valentine. She immediately tells Gabriel that she's been an idiot when she marries Troy. Bathsheba has to learn how to be strong without being defensive--it's a big part of her growth as a character.

4) Troy seduces Bathsheba. I've made this point in other threads, but the one thing that Bathsheba doesn't have is love/sex. Unlike her other suitors who keep offering to buy her a piano ("I already have a piano"), Troy actually offers her something that is missing in her life. Bathsheba agrees to marry Troy because he successfully manipulates her into being jealous while they are away on vacation together. As soon as Bathsheba is back on her home turf, she knows she made a mistake. It's not like she's in denial about it. But what can she do? She literally has no way out.

In an interview about the movie, the director said that Gabriel is a good man, but he needs to learn how to listen. There is a critical line in the movie (and the book), where Bathsheba says that it's hard for women to express their feelings in language mostly designed by men to express theirs. Bathsheba wants to hear that she is loved and respected, not that someone can buy her little treats like a spoiled house pet. I think that the mutual respect and love that Gabriel and Bathsheba develop over the course of the movie is really cool and fun to watch. And the silly things that keep them from admitting it (his pride; her sense of having missed her chance) make them both likably flawed.

[–] Shania112 7 years ago

Hi,

1. I haven't read the book which is maybe why this didn't really didn't come across to me as well, Gabriel didn't seem to be treating anything like a business deal in the movie. I don't think he was offering her his lands and property as a means to insult her, but this is the thing with Bathsheba she takes every thing a man does or says as personal dig.

2. In my opinion based on only what I saw in the film she didn't seem to be working THAT hard. She only got into the water to wash the sheep to prove Gabriel wrong. Plus if she hadn't sorted the burial out her employees might have lost respect for her as Fanny was an employee once too. I think she only did it because Francis would have lost it if she hadn't.

3. This is the thing though Bathsheba is meant to be this smart, in control, mature woman yet she married a man who she knew would never treat her right just because he was able to make her jealous and then on top of that moans about it to the first guy who proposed to her and is clearly in love with her. She's pathetic in the most annoying way.

4. Lets just get this clear. Just because a man doesn't offer intimacy to you before marriage doesn't mean it's not going to happen after. I actually would be totally put of by Troy if I was Bathsheba because he was so arrogant. Yes if she had never had that kind of relationship in her life I understand how attractive that would've been but again it's annoying because it's in her personality to take control so why is it different with a nice man. She only really got with Troy because he took control of her like with the kiss but that's everything she's always fighting against. That's what irritates me, she's trying so hard to be different in a time where women are not allowed to be independent but she literally marries the first guy who is a jerk to her.

Oh yeah if Gabriel had declared his undying love for her when he had proposed it would've been a huge lie which is another thing I respect him for. And exactly they grew to love one another in the end but if she had said to Gabriel at the start I want be independent for a while, run my uncles farm alone and whatever else she wanted to do- he would've understood then love would've grown like it did anyway. She just dragged him along her confused little life and because he liked/loved her, he followed. Who wouldn't. Love can make anyone a fool.

[–] gveronica 7 years ago

I literally just finished watching this on cable and this is how I view Bathesheba and her reactions to and interactions with the various men in her life and with society in general. It was a much different world for women back then, very much a man's world, and she was trying to do the best she could in it.

One thing I'm confused about is why Boldwood shoots Frank when he shows up alive.

Anyway, I plan to read the book now to get a more detailed story.

[–] Stovepipe99 7 years ago

One thing I'm confused about is why Boldwood shoots Frank when he shows up alive.

Boldwood has become overly invested in the idea of marrying Bathsheba. I think that he likes her more as a concept than as a person, but whatever. (I think the closet full of clothing for her is a little "dressing my new doll" creepy, but I can see how someone else might think it's romantic. Sort of.).

Anyway--when Troy shows up it's basically throwing a wrench into Boldwood's plan to marry Bathsheba. He snaps.

If you read the book (which I highly recommend), *I'm keeping this vague so no spoilers for the book* you will see more interactions between Troy and Boldwood and I think you'll understand even more why Boldwood would have such a strong reaction. Troy is very manipulative of Boldwood and this is kind of the culmination of it all.

[–] g-veronica87 7 years ago

Thanks, Stovepipe99. I'll definitely read the book.

[–] loislane703 7 years ago

I too, like you Shania, haven't read the book and don't see myself reading it any time soon either (I have a mostly hate relationship with Hardy ). But I do agree with the points made in Stovepipe's post.

Okay tbh if I was Bathsheba I would totally be caught of guard with Gabriels proposal but I wouldn't reject him, I would get to know him and then see.

I do believe that Bathsheba was caught off-guard by Gabriel's proposal. But the thing is, if she didn't reject him then, she'd be stringing him along and that wasn't the right thing to do in those days especially because of the repercussions on a woman's reputation (which meant everything at the time). She was a young girl who had not fallen in love before, didn't know how to react, what to expect, what was out there etc. etc. I believe that she was really happy to see him again when he saves her farm from the fire and so, hired him on the spot. She relished the chance because she trusted his capable hands and now could also get to know him better. But their positions in society had changed or I should say, had reversed now. She couldn't marry him now even if he did ask again because she ranked higher than him after inheriting the farm from her uncle while he lost his.

Bathsheba was a very confused character to me she wasn't strong she was just all over the show.

I think she was quite forced to be strong, because if she wasn't, she wouldn't be taken seriously as a farmer or a mistress. She had to prove herself to all the people around her especially those who worked for her. It is hard doing that in such a male-dominated Victorian society as she lived in. We see a bit of her struggle when she had to sell her grain at that trade market (where Boldwood first sees her) but she held her ground. She's very young and inexperienced, yet is impulsive enough that it works to her advantage.

Gabriel was perfect a little intense like with the proposal but just a decent person with a good heart and integrity.

Yes, I think she sees that but like I said above, she was quite young when he first proposed and yearned to see what was out there; so she didn't want to be tied down. Once she inherits the farm from her uncle, they are at two different levels now in the eyes of society. She cannot marry him even if he did ask again because he was below her in position. She was mistress of a big farm while he was merely the Sheppard who worked for her. That's why Boldwood is a better match for her then; even Troy was a good match for her on paper being the younger son of a rich man.

The main thing that really ticks me of though is the fact that she barely knew the fricking solider yet she said yes to him almost immediately so like what the hell.

It was the first time she'd be in love with a man - the physically stirring kind of passionate lust. So I can't blame her for choosing the younger, hot-blooded, sexy man in uniform. 

To be fair Shania, she's a really young, naive woman at the start of the movie. And by the end, she's much more mature and weathered to the ways of the world.

[–] Stovepipe99 7 years ago

To be fair Shania, she's a really young, naive woman at the start of the movie. And by the end, she's much more mature and weathered to the ways of the world.

Exactly. Bathsheba makes mistakes at times, but she always owns up to them.

Part of the problem is that in both the book and in the movie, Gabriel is a bit of a Mary Sue-type character--almost too perfect.

I think it's funny that both the men in the book and a lot of people in real life get mad at Bathsheba for not doing what they want/what they would have done. A person does not have to marry someone just because he's a nice guy. It doesn't make Bathsheba evil or stupid to want to think about her options before signing away most of her rights and property.

I don't understand why people are so hostile to her character. I mean, Shania is suggesting that the only reason Bathsheba helped to bury Fanny is because she was worried about what people would say about her--turning an act of charity into some sort of sad bid to keep friends. Bathsheba helped to bury Fanny because it was the right thing to do. You don't have to think she's perfect, but making her out to be nothing more than a manipulative spoiled child seems like a pretty biased reading of the character.

[–] chungmusic 7 years ago

While I do not dislike or hate Bathsheba, I do second the thought that Gabriel deserved better. He was basically her third choice here and more of a consolation prize than her love. If I were him, I'd reject her at the end. 😡 And like you, I've never read the book.

One day in the year of the fox came a time remembered well...

[–] normkerr123 7 years ago

Interesting: from reading this thread it is apparent the director (and/or the actors) did not convey things as clearly as they were in the book!

[–] Stovepipe99 7 years ago

Interesting: from reading this thread it is apparent the director (and/or the actors) did not convey things as clearly as they were in the book!

I actually thought it was a very loyal adaptation--the motivations of the characters were very clear (even when we don't like their choices!) and made sense to me.

I think that the main problem is that the character of Gabriel is so handsome and charming that from the first second you're like "Um . . . that one. Winner. Jump on it, girl!!". I mean, it's Matthias Schoenaerts cuddling a lamb--I bet any straight woman or gay man was halfway pregnant by the end of his first minute of screentime. He's so crushable that it does make her initial rejection of him seem a little more strange--but quite frankly I thought that the dialogue made it really clear why she took offense at him just assuming she'd say yes and her hesitation at giving up all her rights/property.