How important are quotes in an essay? How do I go about learning/applying them?

Learning and implementing quotations are and always will be a necessary evil in academic writing. However, whether it be from the primary source or a secondary critic, they are invaluable in supporting and validating your argument. POINT, EVIDENCE, ANALYSIS is a solid structure to work with when writing an essay, however it must be more sophisticated than at GCSE; all chosen quotes must be justified and explained clearly. Furthermore, a paragraph should never end on a quote. It may look impactive, but a paragraph should always end with your own concluding statement.

For example, writing an essay on Hardy as anti-feminist in 'Far From the Madding Crowd' I would point to his sexist portrayal of women :

Despite his sympathy for women's social plight, Hardy saw women as inherently weaker vessels, whose vanity and irrationality were a result of what Hardy called "woman's prescriptive infirmity". Such a term reflects Hardy's essentialist sexist attitude which saw women as naturally set up to fail in any male sphere. For example, although Bathsheba is a strong, economically independent woman, any success she has is seen as being in spite of her femininity, demonstrated by the narrator's condemnation that Bathsheba “had too much womanliness to use her understanding to the best advantage”. Bathsheba does step out of the traditionally domestic female role as the overseer of her own farm and its male workers; however, her management of the farm is marred by 'female' emotions and hot-headedness.

Secondary criticism is also a valuable means of further validating your claim, and producing a sophisticated argument. For example:

Bathsheba’s irrational dismissal of Oak supports Penny Boumelha’s observation that even when "women possess economic power, it is so closely bound up to this circumscribing sphere of the emotions” that they cannot help but act in a damagingly capricious manner.

However, memorising critic's quotes for exams can seem overwhelming and a bit too much to ask. Although any quote that you can memorise will strengthen your essay, para-phrasing a quote is just as valuable to an essay. Instead of getting stressed about quoting the critic word for word, being able to explain the critic's general idea/argument is worthwhile. For example, if I were to paraphrase Penny Boumelha's quote, I would write:

Bathsheba’s irrational dismissal of Oak supports Penny Boumelha’s argument that even independent women who were in positions of economic authority, would often make mistakes as a result of their overly-emotional, unpredictable female nature.

When it comes to actually learning and memorising quotes, repetition and categorisation are key. When trying to learn quotes from a text, organising them thematically is a must. For example, when revising 'Far From the Madding Crowd' you could organise quotes into themes of "gender"/"marriage"/"nature"/"class" etc. I would then recommend colour coordinating each theme, writing the quotes on post-it notes and sticking them on your bedroom walls. This way, you see them every day. A simple routine of reading them (if only some) when you wake up and before you go to sleep, will help to strengthen your memory of them over time. Trying to cram quotes into your brain in a short amount of time is a lot more stressful, and a lot less effective!