How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I have come to speak to you without preface. My life is not my own since I have beheld you clearly. Miss Everdene—I come to make you an offer of marriage." (19.9)
Boldwood lives up to his name by being bold and marching straight up to Bathsheba's door to make an offer of marriage. No chitchat, no small talk. That's not his style. It's all business. He cuts to the chase. Hmm, maybe Boldwood would have been a little more successful with Bathsheba if he'd actually tried a little romance.
Quote #8
Boldwood as a means to marriage was unexceptionable; she esteemed and liked him: yet she did not want him. (20.3)
Ah, the age-old conundrum. Bathsheba likes Boldwood, but she doesn't like-like him. She's just not attracted to him in a romantic way. Sergeant Troy, on the other hand, is a dashing young man, and even though he's not the safest bet, he totally does it for Bathsheba.
Quote #9
"All romances end at marriage." (41.17)
It turns out that Sergeant Troy doesn't believe in romance after all, at least not after marriage. This, of course, comes as really bad news for Bathsheba, who married Troy because he was romantic. Maybe she shouldn't have been so superficial, because Troy turns out to be a total bust as a husband.