Reframing the gaze. Concepts of identity and focalization in Vinterberg’s adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd

The current article provides an analysis of the most recent visual adaptation of one of the most popular novels by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), Far from the Madding Crowd, released in 2015. The paper draws on two main ideas. First, that Hardy is considered a writer whose work is quintessentially English; and second, that his characters’ identities are construed from multiple perspectives. Drawing on these premises, the paper analyzes the identity of heroine Bathsheba Everdene in the fictionalized landscape of Wessex, focusing on dialogues and the use of focalization in the film adaptation. Particular attention is devoted to how multiperspectivity is translated to the screen and what changes this adaptation entails in Bathsheba’s identity.