Far from the Madding Crowd, Chapter 46 summary

What happens

1. Heavy rain pours through a gargoyle onto Fanny Robin’s grave, washing out the flowers while Troy sleeps in the porch.
2. At daylight, Troy sees the destruction, loses his remaining confidence in himself, and leaves the village without repairing anything.
3. Bathsheba watches the churchyard light during the night and hears unusual water sounds near dawn.
4. Liddy reports that Laban Tall sees Troy on the Budmouth road, and Bathsheba decides to visit the churchyard.
5. Bathsheba finds Gabriel beside the damaged grave and reads that Francis Troy commissions Fanny’s memorial.
6. Gabriel fills the hole while Bathsheba replants flowers, requests a change to the drainage, and cleans the tomb.

In this chapter

What to notice

The ruined grave breaks Troy’s habitual confidence in being himself. His distress turns into withdrawal rather than further effort to repair the damage.

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