FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Gabriel Oak is a young shepherd. He owns a sheep-farm. He falls in love with a newcomer, Batsheba Everdene, a proud beauty who arrives to live with her aunt, Mrs Hurst. She comes to like him well enough, and even saves his life once, but when he makes her an offer of marriage, she refuses; she values her independence too much. After a few months, she moves to Weatherbury.

An inexperienced new sheep dog drives Gabriel’s flock over a cliff, ruining him. He tries his luck at a work fair. On the way, he happens upon a dangerous fire on a farm. He puts it out. Batsheba, the new owner of the farm, comes to thank him. She has recently inherited the estate of her uncle and is now a wealthy woman. She hires him.

Meanwhile, Bathsheba has a new admirer: the lonely William Boldwood who is a prosperous farmer.

When her sheep begin dying from bloat, she discovers that Gabriel is the only man who knows how to cure them. She is forced to beg him for help. Their friendship is restored.