How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
A neighboring earl once said that he would give up a year's rental to have at his own door the view enjoyed by the inmates from theirs—and very probably the inmates would have given up the view for his year's rental. (40.39)
The word around Casterbridge is that the local poorhouse happens to have a very nice view—so nice that a nobleman from the area once said that he'd give up his own property to have such a view. But as the narrator sarcastically tells us, the inmates of the poorhouse would probably gladly take him up on his offer, since living in the poorhouse ain't exactly a beach party.
Quote #8
"Gable Oak is becoming quite the dand. He now wears shiny boots with hardly a hob in em two or three times a week and a tall hat a-Sundays and 'a hardly knows the name of smockfrock." (49.5)
Once Gabriel Oak starts to make good money, word spreads around town that he's begun walking around in fancy clothes. You wouldn't think that a down-to-earth practical guy like Oak would care about lookin' sharp. But like everyone else in the book, he does care about his appearance and about what people think of him… and he especially cares about what Bathsheba thinks of him.
Quote #9
Beyond a politic wish to remain unknown there suddenly arose in him now a sense of shame at the possibility that his attractive young wife who already despised him should despise him more by discovering him in so mean a condition after so long a time. (50.33)
Sergeant Troy wants to go home to Weatherbury to live in the comfort of his rich wife's home. But he can't bear the idea that Bathsheba would ever catch him working as a travelling performer, because Bathsheba thinks that travelling performers are essentially 19th century carnies.