As is common throughout Hardy's works, there is a recurring themes of [[Social class]] and luck. Characters fortunes will quickly change, resulting in a sudden switching of class status. One day, Gabriel is a sheep farmer with good prospects, the next, he is unemployed and without a penny. Bathsheba goes from impoverished to wealthy in as much time. These changes in fortune have a huge influence on the social compatibility of characters, and the determining of the "appropriateness" of their relationships. | As is common throughout Hardy's works, there is a recurring themes of [[Social class]] and luck. Characters fortunes will quickly change, resulting in a sudden switching of class status. One day, Gabriel is a sheep farmer with good prospects, the next, he is unemployed and without a penny. Bathsheba goes from impoverished to wealthy in as much time. These changes in fortune have a huge influence on the social compatibility of characters, and the determining of the "appropriateness" of their relationships. |