Fanny Robbin Character Analysis in Far From the Madding Crowd

The youngest servant at Bathsheba’s farm, Fanny has no friends or family to her name, though she was taken under Boldwood’s wing in order to be established at the farm. Fanny is in love with Troy, who has courted her and promised to marry her, though he waffles on that promise. Fanny runs away to marry Troy – a marriage that never happens – and slowly sinks into greater and greater desperation, especially once she becomes pregnant with Troy’s child. Fanny is in many ways a foil to Bathsheba, who can’t manage to decide whether to pity or hate her rival. Her death condemns Bathsheba’s marriage with Troy to failure, since it underlines to Troy how much he actually did love Fanny.

Fanny Robbin Quotes in Far From the Madding Crowd

The Far From the Madding Crowd quotes below are all either spoken by Fanny Robbin or refer to Fanny Robbin. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Epic Allusion, Tragedy, and Illusions of Grandeur Theme Icon

The one feat alone—that of dying—by which a mean condition could be resolved into a grand one, Fanny had achieved. And to that had destiny subjoined this reencounter to-night, which had, in Bathsheba’s wild imagining, turned her companion’s failure to success, her humiliation to triumph, her lucklessness to ascendancy; it had thrown over herself a garish light of mockery, and set upon all things about her an ironical smile. But even Bathsheba’s heated fancy failed to endow that innocent white countenance with any triumphant consciousness of the pain she was retaliating for her pain with all the merciless rigour of the Mosaic law: “Burning for burning; wound for wound; strife for strife.”

Related Characters: Bathsheba Everdene, Fanny Robbin

Page Number and Citation: 260

Explanation and Analysis:

Bathsheba has looked into the coffin and been given incontrovertible proof that Fanny was pregnant—between the color of her hair and the circumstantial evidence, she has guessed too that her own husband was the baby’s father. Bathsheba’s feelings for Fanny, nevertheless, remain very complex. On the one hand, she continues to feel pity for Fanny, who, like Bathsheba herself, suffered at the hands of Troy. Both women have felt alone and isolated in a world made by and for men. And yet on the other hand, Bathsheba recognizes Fanny as her full rival, especially since Bathsheba continues on some level Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae e

The persistent torrent from the gargoyle’s jaws directed all its vengeance into the grave. The rich tawny mould was stirred into motion, and boiled like chocolate. The water accumulated and washed deeper down, and the roar of the pool thus formed spread into the night as the head and chief among other noises of the kind formed by the deluging rain. The flowers so carefully planted by Fanny’s repentant lover began to move and turn in their bed.

Related Characters: Fanny Robbin, Sergeant Francis Troy

Page Number and Citation: 276

Explanation and Analysis:

Troy has just completed perhaps the first major selfless act of his life, buying a fancy engraved tombstone for Fanny and spending a long time planting flowers around it. But as he sleeps, the narration moves to a description of the church, where the spurt from an old, ugly gargoyle is positioned in precisely the right place to wash out all the work that Troy has done. For Troy, this act has been one of penance and retribution: he’s accepted, to a certain extent, his own guilt for what he has done, and hopes to account for it by this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At

Fanny Robbin Character Timeline in Far From the Madding Crowd

The timeline below shows where the character Fanny Robbin appears in Far From the Madding Crowd. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

As Henery rests, Laban Tall returns, remarking at more news: Fanny Robbin (Miss Everdene’s youngest servant) can’t be found. Mary-ann is worried something’s happened—Fanny was in... (full context)

...dusting bottles and can’t come down. The voice simply says he wanted to ask if Fanny Robbin had been found, and he leaves. (full context)

...than hire a new bailiff—this is met with amazement. Then she asks if anyone’s found Fanny: no one has, but Billy isn’t yet back from Casterbridge. (full context)

Billy Smallbury arrives, and says Fanny has run away with the soldiers. Her young man’s regiment has left for Melchester. He... (full context)

Conflict and the Laws of Nature Theme Icon

...asks for Sergeant Troy, and a suspicious voice identifies himself as such. It’s his wife, Fanny Robbin, the figure cries, as she calls his name (Frank) with emotion. (full context)

They speak in tones which are not that of husband and wife. Fanny asks Troy to come down, and he says he’s happy to see her, but cannot... (full context)

Boldwood enters the malthouse, and gives Gabriel a letter. He reads it: it’s from Fanny, who encloses the money she owes him, and says she’s happy to say she will... (full context)

...the son of a medical man who left the country in debt. He cries that Fanny is a silly girl—she’s lost her character, since Troy will never marry her. (full context)

...off, but Boldwood insists, saying he’s the only one who knows about Troy’s relationship to Fanny Robbin: Troy should marry her. Troy says he probably should, but in a trickster’s voice,... (full context)

...by this time. So he proposes that he’ll give Troy fifty pounds now, fifty for Fanny to prepare for the wedding, and 500 on the wedding day, as long as the... (full context)

...up, while he deals with the woman. After beginning to protest, Bathsheba obeys. Troy helps Fanny up and asks how she ever came here, in a gentle but hurried voice. She... (full context)

Troy tells Fanny to meet him Monday morning on Casterbridge Bridge: he’ll bring all the money he can,... (full context)

Fanny continues walking, her steps growing feebler. She stops to sleep by a haystack, then awakens... (full context)

Fanny passes a milestone, then a second, but is then exhausted again. She falls once again,... (full context)

Fanny becomes conscious again and a dog is licking her cheek. Hopefully, she points in the... (full context)

...a barrow of apples towards the house. Bathsheba asks him for the news. He says Fanny Robbin is dead. She belongs to their parish, so Boldwood is going to send a... (full context)

Suddenly, Bathsheba asks if Fanny walked on the turnpike road: she did, Poorgrass says, before remarking that Bathsheba looks pale.... (full context)

Going inside, Bathsheba asks Liddy what the color of Fanny Robbin’s hair was—it was beautiful golden hair, she says. Her young man was a soldier... (full context)

The village has learned the rumor of Fanny Robbin’s death, but thanks to Gabriel’s and Boldwood’s discretion, no one knows her young man... (full context)

...the body to be brought to the church, but then suddenly wants to care for Fanny, so she decides the body should be brought inside the house and treated thoughtfully. Mr.... (full context)

...room, but he lingers. He raises the cloth and sees the chalk writing: it says “Fanny Robbin and child.” He wipes out the two final words, then leaves. (full context)

...more, though Liddy offers to remain with the body herself. But first Bathsheba asks if Fanny was sickly, or if anyone had noticed any delicacy: Liddy says no. Bathsheba murmurs that... (full context)

...her loneliness is different. A strange mix of emotions led her to insist on having Fanny’s body here: rebellion against her own prejudices and lack of charity towards a woman Troy... (full context)

...wearily gazes into the fire for hours. She can imagine a connection between herself and Fanny’s possible tragedy, which Gabriel and Boldwood could not suspect, since they didn’t know she met... (full context)

Bathsheba pauses in the hall and wishes aloud that Fanny could tell her her secret. After a few moments, she enters the room and, without... (full context)

...Bathsheba returns to reality, and begins to weep. This is the one act that transformed Fanny’s sorry condition into a grand one, her humiliation and failure to triumph and success. The... (full context)

...In a kind of atonement, she takes flowers from a vase and lays them around Fanny’s head. She forgets time. Suddenly, though, a coach door shuts, and Troy enters the hall,... (full context)

...realizing how similar all women are: he can’t believe this is his proud wife, as Fanny’s spirit seems to be there. But then his surprise turns to an imperious gaze and... (full context)

...swamp, and, teary-eyed, begins to question Bathsheba, who asks her not to. She asks if Fanny has been taken away yet: she’ll be taken away at nine, Liddy says. She fetches... (full context)

...he had put together 27 pounds and had driven to Casterbridge for his appointment with Fanny, and had sat down to wait, not knowing that she was being put into her... (full context)

...and as Troy sleeps on the church porch, the stream thickens and pours right over Fanny’s grave, drowning the carefully planted flowers and washing them away. Troy only awakens in broad... (full context)

...go. He’s only been thoughtful for one full day—the source of wanting to care for Fanny’s grave—and now he feels fate is jeering at him. He withdraws without doing anything to... (full context)

...disturbed grave. She follows his eyes and reads, “Erected by Francis Troy in memory of Fanny Robbin.” Gabriel sees her, and Bathsheba’s earlier emotion cedes to calm. She asks him simply... (full context)

...that he undressed meaning to dress again soon. Bathsheba wonders if Troy wanted to follow Fanny into the next world. She opens his watch case that night, and makes to throw... (full context)

...Christmas. She hears singing from the church and goes into the graveyard, where she reads Fanny’s tombstone, then the new letters below it saying that the remain of Francis Troy lie... (full context)

Fanny Robbin Character Analysis

Fanny Robbin Quotes in Far From the Madding Crowd

Chapter 44 Quotes

Chapter 47 Quotes

Fanny Robbin Character Timeline in Far From the Madding Crowd