Thomas Hardy’s style in Far From the Madding Crowd is wordy and formal. Hardy intertwines his style with an irreverent sense of humor, experiments with dialect, and keen imagery.
The reader can find an example of Hardy successfully mixing humor into his style in his description of the maltster:
Indeed, [the maltster] seemed to approach the grave as a parabolic curve approaches a straight line—less directly as he got nearer, till it was doubtful if he would ever reach it at all.
It is immediately apparent that Hardy writes in the style of his period—that is, he uses long, formal sentences. The winking nature of this description echoes a common technique across the novel, in which Hardy undercuts moments of sincerity or lightens up straightforward descriptions with a little humor.
Hardy also usually writes in the third person, following the interiority or perspective of several characters very closely. The reference here, interestingly, is a little highbrow for the subject (that is to say, the maltster would never put it this way himself), but it speaks to Hardy’s anticipated audience. Hardy sympathetically explores the lives of the poor and working class. However, he writes for a middle class audience, as the numerous classical and literary references throughout the novel attest.
Hardy often uses imagery to depict his characters’ emotional states, usually by reflecting them onto the landscape of Wessex. He also uses fine, detailed imagery to capture individual characters, enhancing the sense of world he builds throughout. Consider this brief description of Billy Smallbury:
“’Twould do a martel man no harm to have what’s under her bonnet,” said Billy Smallbury, who had just entered, bearing his one tooth before him. “She can spaik real language, and must have some sense somewhere. Do ye foller me?”
Hardy’s humor and irreverence sparkles here as well, as he offers the most meaningful detail of Billy’s appearance (his “one tooth”). In this moment, Hardy's use of dialect communicates the distinct southern accent many of his characters have. In this way, the dialect and detail in Hardy’s writing become the building blocks of Wessex itself.
