How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Thank God I am not married: what would she have done in the poverty now coming upon me!" (5.17)
When all of his sheep fall off a cliff, Gabriel Oak knows that he's financially ruined. The one upshot of his situation is the fact that he's not married. As things stand, he has the option to roam the countryside looking for work. But if he'd had a wife or child, it would have been much more difficult to move around.
Quote #5
It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting out of love as there is for getting in. Some people look upon marriage as a short cut that way, but it has been known to fail. (5.2)
Falling in love can happen almost instantly. But falling out of love after someone has rejected you is a more difficult thing to do. Some people, the book tells us, think that getting married is a quick way to make yourself stop loving that person. But who knows? Maybe marrying somebody will actually make you love them more… if you're not totally cynical about it.
Quote #6
It may be said that married men of forty are usually ready and generous enough to fling passing glances at any specimen of moderate beauty they may discern by the way […] Bathsheba was convinced that this unmoved person was not a married man. (12.16)
When she walks through the market, Bathsheba realizes that nearly every man there is staring at her… all except one: Farmer Boldwood. Bathsheba knows that married men are even more likely to stare than unmarried ones, especially ones that have been married a long time.