Bathsheba Everdene Timeline and Summary

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• We first see Bathsheba through the eyes of Gabriel Oak. When she thinks she's alone, Bathsheba takes out a little pocket mirror and starts at herself out of sheer vanity. That doesn't stop Gabriel Oak from desiring her, though, since she is very attractive.
• Bathsheba goes to stay with her poor aunt because she has nowhere left to go.
• One night, Bathsheba notices smoke coming out of a hut and runs inside to save a man—Gabriel Oak—from dying of smoke inhalation. He wants to know her name, but she won't tell him.
• A little while later, Oak shows up at Bathsheba's house and asks to marry her. She refuses, though, because she thinks she's too good for him.
• Shortly after rejecting Oak's marriage proposal, Bathsheba moves to the town of Weatherbury to take over her deceased uncle's farm.
• Right after taking control of the farm, Bathsheba finds out that part of her farm is on fire. She goes to check it out and watches as a stranger risks his life to put the thing out and save the farm. She decides to give him a job as her shepherd, and finds out moments later that the man is Gabriel Oak.
• She soon finds out that the farm's manager is stealing from her and fires him. After that, she announces to her workers that she'll be running the farm herself.
• One Valentine's Day, Bathsheba decides to be weird and sends an anonymous Valentine saying "Marry Me" to her neighbor, Farmer Boldwood. Of course the dude falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. But she rejects him and breaks his heart.
• A little later, Bathsheba runs into a man on the road one night. The man is named Sergeant Troy, and with his good looks and charm, he soon wins her over. A little while later, they're married.
• Marriage with Troy, though, doesn't turn out to be so great. The guy is totally dismissive of her and doesn't seem to care about her beauty at all.
• It's only after one of her former servants—Fanny Robin—dies that Bathsheba finds out that Troy used to be engaged to Fanny and had a child with her. Sergeant Troy takes off and fakes his death after this happens.
• Now that Troy's gone, Farmer Boldwood starts pestering Bathsheba again about marrying him. He forces Bathsheba to promise him that they'll become engaged at his Christmas party. She doesn't say yes, but doesn't say no either.
• At the Christmas party, Boldwood is just about to announce the engagement when Sergeant Troy shows up. Boldwood murders him in a rage and gets sentenced to life in prison.
• Alone again, Bathsheba feels like there's no one in the world to help her. When she finds out her loyal servant Gabriel is leaving, she begs him to stay. He says he will if Bathsheba marries him, and she does just that.