The idyllic chronotope in Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Abstract The paper presents the idea of the chronotope in the novel Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, with special attention paid to idyllic time and space. The research is mainly based on the theory of chronotopes according to Mikhail Bakhtin, who distinguishes various types and motifs within this notion. The author presents here the features of an idyllic chronotope, among them vast descriptions of nature and its connection with human life, as well as the destruction of an idyll, unhappy love and the motif of a road or path, which seems to be one of the most significant motifs in the work. The paper also presents the importance of coincidence and the sudden decisions of characters in the process of constructing the whole story of Gabriel and Bathsheba.