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THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE
The Mayor of Casterbridge was originally published in a serial form in weekly
installments in a periodical. It was published in book form soon afterwards in 1886.
Robert Louis Stevenson admired the book for the remarkable delineation of the central
protagonist ‘Henchard’ and of the region ‘Dorchester’. James Payn the publishers’
reader warned Smith and Elder (Hardy’s publishers) that a novel dealing with no gentry
would not attract an audience. Having disappointed with the sales of the book, Smith
and Elder eventually offered Hardy a disappointing one hundred pounds for the two-
volume edition. But in the twentieth century, The Mayor of Casterbridge has been
prescribed for reading in schools and universities and made the subject of academic
monographs. It has also been brought out in different scholarly editions. Like Tess of
the d’ Urbervilles and Jude the obscure, it has also taken its place as one of Hardy’s
most successful novels.
The incidents narrated arise mainly out of three events occurred in the real
history of the town called Casterbridge and the neighbouring country. They were sale of
a wife by her husband, repeal of Corn laws and the visit of Royal Personage to the
aforesaid part of England. It was apparently in March 1884, some nine months after his
return to Dorchester that Hardy began reading systematically through back files of the
local weekly newspaper, Dorset County Chronicle and Somersetshire Gazette. He
seems to have begun with the issues of January 1826, and his “facts” notebook suggets
that by the summer of 1884, he had gone through the issues for late 1829 and early
1830. During this long intimate exposure to a particular period in the past of the country
town and the surrounding countryside he came across several items which he was able
to incorporate in the novel. Hardy noted down various contemporary happenings as the
young man, who tapped at night on his fiancée’s window and was stabbed through the
glass by the girl’s father, who thought that he was a burglar; the man who returned to
his native village after twenty-seven years of absence, found his wife married to a
second husband, and simply settled down again to live by himself in the same village.
Bankruptcies are, of course, common enough and in a letter of January 1903
Hardy was to recall that not long after the publication of The Mayor of Casterbridge a
“leading member of the town council here, in the same business as the Mayor, became
bankrupt just as he did."1 Hardy noted an item from the Dorset Country Chronicle of
July 9, 1829, about a man who had raised himself from common man to a respectable
tradesman by taking an oath not to taste any wine. It results in the story of Mayor of
Casterbridge when Henchard takes an oath not to touch wine for the next twenty-one
years. The scene in which Henchard bullies Abel Whittle was perhaps suggested by a
story in the issue of September 14, 1826 about a soldier who shot himself after having
been marched through the streets of Kilkenny without shirt, stockings and shoes.
In his 1895 "Preface" to The Mayor of Casterbridge Hardy points out:
The incidents narrated arise mainly out of three events, which chanced to range themselves in
the order and at or about the intervals of time here given, in the real history of the town called
Casterbridge and the neighbouring country. They were the sale of a wife by her husband,
the uncertain harvests which immediately preceded the repeal of the Corn laws, and the visit of a Royal personage to the aforesaid part
of England.
The existence of such practices as the story of wife-selling was well known and
common in contemporary society. At Buckland, a labouring man named Charles Pearce
sold wife to shoemaker named Elton for $5 and delivered her in a halter in the public
street.
Historically, the story of the novel pertains to the crucial years before the repeal
of the Corn Law. The Corn Law imposed heavy duties on the imports of foreign corn
and created financial difficulties for a British farmer. It was not until 1846 that this law
was repealed. Consequently, rich land-owners flourished at the expense of the poor and
indigent. The campaign to repeal the Corn Laws was long, bitter and violent. It includes
the ‘Peterloo Massacre’ of 1819 when a crowd had gathered in St. Peter’s Fields in
Manchester to protest against the laws. Many people were killed and wounded. The
Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in March 1839. It caused a
movement for free trade and an end to protectionism. The rebellion was very powerful in
the north of the country especially in Dorset. In 1845 a bad harvest and the threat of
famine in Ireland persuaded Prime Minister Robert Peel for a change and at last, in May
1846, the Corn Laws were repealed. These social happenings largely haunted the mind
of Thomas Hardy in his childhood. Meanwhile paternal, old and inefficient business
methods were replaced by new modern technologies of agriculture. The march of
progress introduced new machines taking the place of men and working more
efficiently. People were migrating from the villages to the towns. Small farms were being
absorbed by larger ones. These changes were more apparent in the rich farming lands
of South-West England the area which Hardy called ‘Wessex’ in his novels. One
historian has written, the debate about the Corn Laws raised “fundamental questions”
about “the place of agriculture in society, the relationship between consumers and
producers, the composition of Parliament, the competing claims of landlords and
industrialists and the proper role of government."2 By the time Hardy came to write
Mayor of Casterbridge, these questions had taken a different form but had not lost their
urgency.
To find out the rootless invaders in the novel, one has to go into the depth of the
theme. The Mayor of Casterbridge is a grim story of the life and deeds of a man named
Michael Henchard, the mightiest and perhaps, the most impressive and pathetic of all
the tragic heroes of Hardy. We are introduced to Michael Henchard walking with his wife
towards the village of Weydon-Priors in Upper Wessex:
One evening of late summer, before the nineteenth century had reached one third of its
span, a young man and woman, the latter carrying a child, were approaching the large village of Weydon-Priors, in Upper Wessex, on
foot. They were plainly but not ill clad, though the thick hoar of dust which had accumulated
on their shoes and garments from an obviously long journey lent a disadvantages shabbiness
to their appearance just now.3
The man is looking for a job as hay-trusser. His wife is carrying a baby- daughter.
A fair is going on at the village and though the buying and selling at the fair are almost
over because it is evening. The traveller enters a refreshment tent with his wife and the
infant. He orders two basins of furmity. After finishing his basin, the man calls for
another basin. He orders a large quantity of rum to be mixed with his furmity. The effect
of the liquor soon shows itself, and the man begins to talk aloud to other customers in
the tent. He is now quite intoxicated . He remarks that he too has almost ruined himself
by marrying at the early age of eighteen. His wife Susan tries to stop him from talking in
this way. But Henchard becomes more and more reckless till he offers to sell his wife for
five guineas to anybody who will offer that amount to him : "Here I am waiting to know
about this offer of mine. The woman is no good to me. Who’ll have her."4
A young sailor named Newson has by this time arrived in the tent. He agrees to
buy the woman for the amount mentioned by her husband. The woman warns her
husband that she and the child will go away with the sailor if her husband persists in his
foolish proposal. But Henchard is not in his senses. The result is that the bargain is
struck. The amount of five guineas is paid to Henchard by the sailor. The sailor then
walks out of the tent with Susan who also takes away the baby named Elizabeth Jane.
The second chapter describes the state of mind of Henchard when he wakes up
from his drunken sleep next morning and realizes his situation. Now he repents of the
folly that he had committed. He feels genuinely repentant and remorseful over his
foolish action. Now he takes an oath not to drink for a period of twenty one years :
I, Michael Henchard, on this morning of the
sixteenth of September, do take an oath before
God here in this solemn place that I will avoid
all strong liquors for the space of twenty-one
years to come, being a year for every year that
I have lived. And this I swear upon the book
before me ; and may I be strook dumb, blind,
helpless, if I break this my oath !5
After taking this oath, Henchard sets out to search his wife and daughter, but the
search proves futile.
Their relationship smacks of stale familiarity. "Hardy recognises the psychological
temptation of such a sale, the male longing to exercise his property rights over women,
to free himself from their burden with virile decision, to simplify his own conflicts by
reducing them to 'the ruin of goodmen by bad wives."6 Irving Howe in his book Thomas
Hardy analyses Henchard's intention in setling his wife. In selling his wife Henchard is
regarded to fulfil a masculine desire, "To shake loose from one's wife ; to discard that
drooping rag of a woman, with her mute complaints and maddening passivity ; to
escape not by slinking abandonment but through the public sale of her body to a
stranger, as horses are sold at the fair; and thus to wrest, through sheer a moral
wilfulness, a second chance out of life."7 Henchard tries to avoid responsibility and
blames his drunkenness and breakdown in reason for selling his wife. But there are
hints to show that auction of Susan has been premeditated. "On a previous occasion
when he had declared during a fuddle that he would dispose of her as he had done, she
had replied that she would not hear him say that many times more before it happened,
in the resigned tones of a fatalist."8 Henchard is disgruntled because he is ambitious
and thinks that his family has prevented him from making a fortune. He marries Susan
at nineteen and passes away two years repenting it. Being skilled in the fodder business
he thinks he could be richer than he is but regards his wife and daughter as obstacles
on his way to prosperity : "I haven't more than fifteen shillings in the world, and yet I am
a good experienced hand in my line. I'd challenge England to beat me in the fodder
business; and if I were a free man again I'd be worth a thousand pound before I'd done
O 't'."9 In the initial stages he appears as a ruthless materialist who gets rid of his wife
and daughter to fulfil his ambition.
In the third chapter we come to know that eighteen years have passed. Two
persons are seen walking along the road leading to the village of Weydon-Priors. This is
the same village where Henchard had sold his wife Susan to sailor. The two persons
now walking towards the village are Susan and a young girl, of about eighteen years. At
the village of Weydon-Priors, Susan inquires from the same furmity-seller about
Henchard and the furmity-woman who has also now grown very old, replies that the
man had gone to the town of Casterbridge. Here we also come to know that the young
girl’s name is Elizabeth-Jane and she is not the same girl whom we had met in the
opening chapter. She is certainly Newson’s daughter. She has not been told by her
mother anything about the incident of the sale.
The chapter V describes Henchard as a mayor attending a banquet at the king’s
Arms Hotel. The members of the municipality are also present there. Henchard is
interrupted by some of the tradesman who ask him what he proposes to do about the
bad wheat that he had supplied to them. Henchard replies that he himself had been
deceived by those from whom he had purchased the wheat. He promises to be more
careful in future. But he says that he may not be able to do anything about the wheat
which has already been supplied to them. Elizabeth-Jane now learns that the mayor
does not take liquor. She is told that the mayor is under an oath not to drink for twenty-
one years. Of this period, eighteen years have already passed. Susan feels somewhat
frightened to learn that Henchard has risen so high in life. She thinks that he would
refuse to have anything to do with her and might not even recognize her.
The chapter VI describes that the mayor receives a note which has been sent to
him by a stranger. The stranger is a Scotchman named Donald Farfrae. He has written
to the mayor that he knows a certain process by which bad wheat can be, improved.
Farfrae is described “as ruddy and of a fair countenance, bright-eyed and slight in
build.”10 The young man is a complete stranger to the town of Casterbridge. He enters
in the life of the mayor as an intruder endowed with different scottish attributes.
The chapter VII describe the meeting between Henchard and Farfrae at the hotel
called ‘The Three Mariners”. The meeting is one of the most crucial event in the whole
novel. Now, Henchard being influenced by Scotchman, offers to employ him as a corn-
manager in his own business. But the Scotchman denies to accept the offer because he
has different plans about his future, Henchard does his utmost to prevail upon Farfrae to
stay on in the town and accept the post but Farfrae remains firm in his refusal. This is
how Henchard puts the case to Farfrae.
In my business', tis true that strength and bustle build up a firm. But judgement and
knowledge are what keep it established. Unluckily I am bad at science, Farfrae; bad at figures- a rule o' thumb sort of man. You are
just the reverse – I can see that. I have been looking for such as you these two years, and yet you are not for me.11
These words shows contrast between the nature of Henchard and Farfrae. As
the novel proceeds, we shall discover more and more of this contrast between the two
men. Farfrae’s final words to Henchard in this chapter are; “I wish I could stay. sincerely
I would like to', he replied. But no-it cannet be! It cannet! I want to see the warrld.”12
This is how Farfrae agrees to stay in Casterbridge. Susan sends Elizabeth-Jane
to Henchard with a message. This message is that a distant relative of Henchard’s
Susan by name and a sailor’s widow is in the town and would like to meet him.
Elizabeth goes and delivers this message to Henchard. Henchard is surprised. Now he
remembers the wrong that he had done to Susan long ago and he would like to make
amends to her now. In the chapter XIII we note a marriage of Henchard and Susan.
Now Henchard is re-united with his long-last daughter, and he has got a splendid fellow
as his corn-manager and as a friend too. However, fate has something else in store for
him. His happiness will not last long.
Because of his efficiency and good nature, Farfrae now becomes a popular
figure in Casterbridge. In fact he becomes even more popular than Henchard. The
growing popularity of Farfrae makes Henchard somewhat jealous of the Scotchman. An
incident occurs which leads Henchard to speak to Farfrae in a somewhat angry and
bitter tone. The incident involves a labourer by the named Abel Whittle who is in the
service of Henchrad. Hardy beautifully describes the whole incident.
Get back home, and slip on your breeches, and come to work like a man! If ye go not, you’ll ha’e your death
standing there!’ ‘I, m afeard I must n’t! Mr. Henchard said.
I don’t care what Mr. Henchard said, nor-anybody else! Tis simple foolishness to do this. Go and dress yourself instantly, Whittle, Hullo, hullo! Said Henchard, coming
up behind. ‘Who’s sending him back.
All the men looked towards Farfrae.
‘I am’, said Donald, ‘I say this joke has been carried far
enough.
‘And I say it hasn’t! Get up in the wagon, Whittle.
‘Not if I am manager, said Farfrae. ‘He either goes
home, or I march out of this yard for good.13
This incident creates some unpleasantness between the two. In the next chapter
also, we note that Henchard is upset by the intimacy between Farfrae and Elizabeth. He
finds Elizabeth-Jane dancing with Farfrae during the celebrations. Henchard’s attitude
towards Farfrae undergoes a bigger change with the collapse of his entertainment
programme and the corresponding success of Farfrae’s project. The comments which
people make upon the importance of Farfrae to Henchard’s business greatly annoy
Henchard. Obviously, Henchard now wants to get rid of the Scotchman for whom at a
time, he used to feel a deep affection. The breach between the two men greatly upsets
Elizabeth-Jane who had developed a sentimental interest in the Scotchman. Henchard
writes a letter to Farfrae forbidding him to meet Elizabeth Jane. Farfrae behaves like a
perfect gentleman even though he has now started his independent business as a corn-
merchant and has to compete with his former employer. Farfrae avoids doing anything
that would look like trade-antagonism on his part towards Henchard. Hardy comments :
Character is fate, said Novalis, and Farfrae’s character was just the reverse of Henchard’s who might not inaptly be described as Faust
has been described as a vehement gloomy being who had quitted the ways of vulgar men without light to guide him on a better way.14
The business rivalry between Henchard and Farfrae is thus described by the
author :
It was, in some degree, Northern insight matched against Southern doggedness-the dirk against the cudgel- and Henchard’s
weapon was one which, if it did not deal ruin at the first or second stroke, left him afterwards
well-nigh at his antagonist’s mercy.15
It is to be noted that Henchard’s attitude towards Farfrae has hardened into one
of complete hostility and he forbids the mention of Farfrae’s name in his household.
Later on, Henchard receives a letter from the New Jeresy woman named Lucetta
whom he had once given a promise of marriage. Lucetta has now written to Henchard,
asking him to return to her all those letters which she had written to him during the
period of their friendship. In response to this communication Henchard ties up all letters
in a packet and carries it to the place which she had fixed for a brief meeting with him.
Henchard finds no trace of Lucetta at the appointed place. In this chapter we also note
death of Susan who has written something on a sheet of paper, and has put it in an
envelope. On the envelope she writes the following words : “To Mr. Michael Henchard.
Not to be opened till Elizabeth-Jane’s wedding day.”16
In the next chapter, Henchard tells Elizabeth-Jane that she is his daughter and
not Newson’s. This information comes as a great surprise to Elizabeth-Jane Henchard
asks her to change her name now and accordingly, she argues to call herself Miss
Elizabeth-Jane Henchard instead of Miss Elizabeth-Jane Newson. The same night
another incident occurs which comes as a shock to Henchard. Henchard finds Susan’s
letter and opens it. He finds a shocking disclosure that Elizabeth is not his daughter but
Newson’s. Now his love dies for her and Elizabeth-Jane means nothing to him. His state
of mind has been thus described in these lines :
Henchard’s wife was dissevered from him by death; his friend and helper Farfrae by
estrangement; Elizabeth Jane by ignorance. It seemed to him that only one of them could possibly be recalled and that was the girl.17
The letter left by Susan gives him a great shock. Some more light is thrown on
Henchard’s character when the author writes:
Misery thaught him nothing more than defiant
endurance of it. His wife was dead, and the
first impulse for revenge died with the thought
that she was beyond him. He looked out at the
night as at a fiend. Henchard, like all his kind,
was superstitious and he could not help
thinking that the concatenation of events this
evening had produced was the scheme of
some sinister intelligence bent on punishing
him. Yet they had developed naturally.18
These lines show that fate plays a vital role in human life of Hardy's characters.
The chapter 20 describes meeting of Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta and the latter
has just come to the town of Casterbridge in order to stay there. Elizabeth-Jane accepts
the offer of a job from Lucetta who needs a companion in the house which she has
taken for her residence. Lucetta’s circumstances have now changed and she is a rich
woman. Having learned that Henchard’s wife, Susan is dead, she thinks that now there
will be no hurdle in the way of Henchard’s marrying her according to his original
commitment. Elizabeth seeks Henchard’s permission to leave him.
Now the story takes a turn when the rootless destroyer, Scotchman comes to
Lucetta’s house. He has come not to meet Lucetta but to Elizabeth-Jane. Henchard has
written a letter to Farfrae permitting him to court the girl if he so desires. As a
consequence of that letter, Farfrae has decided to merry Elizabeth–Jane if she agrees
to his proposal. It so happens that Elizabeth –Jane is not at home when Farfrae comes.
The result is that Farfrae and Lucetta enter into a cenversation. This unexpected
meeting between Farfrae and Lucetta is very crucial. Lucetta feels so attracted by
Farfrae’s personality and manners that she falls in love with him. Consequently, when
Henchard comes to see her a little later, she declines to receive him, pretending that
she is having a headache. After this incident, Farfrae frequently visits Lucetta’s
residence.
The chapter XXV describes Lucetta’s indifference to Henchard. One day
Henchard visits Lucetta and he tells her that he is now ready to marry her and that she
should fix a date for the purpose. But Lucetta expresses her unwillingness to do so as
she remarks: “l won’t be a slave to the past. I, ll love where I choose!19 Both Henchard
and Elizabeth-Jane are now in a state of depression because both are feeling
disappointed in their respective plans of marriage. Henchard who is now keen to marry
Lucetta, finds her attitude completely changed and evasive. “for the present let things
be,' she said with some embarrassment. Treat me as an acquaintance and I, ll treat you
as one.”20 Henchard rightly understands what she means and says:
That’s the way the wind blows, is it?.... you come to live in Casterbridge entirely on my
account ; he said ‘Yet now you are here you won’t have anything to say to my offer !21
Farfrae had bewitched Lucetta. When Elizabeth comes to know about Lucetta’s
situation with regard to both Henchard and Farfrae, she can see that both these men
are desperately enamoured of Lucetta: “On Farfrae’s side it was enforced passion of
youth. On Henchard’s side the artificially stimulated coveting of maturer age.”22 Here
Elizabeth-Jane appears as a one who has no illusions of any kind and she does not
overestimate herself. Henchard now becomes extremely hostile to Farfrae. They had
been business- rivals before but now they have become rivals also because both want
to marry Lucetta. This is how Hardy describes:
But he was disturbed. And the sense of occult rivalry in suitorship was so much super added
to the palpable rivalry of their business lives. To the coarse materiality of that rivalry it added an inflaming soul.23
Henchard makes up his mind to destroy Farfrae’s business. He consults a
weather- prophet who forecasts bad weather. Relying on this forecast, he buys huge
quantities of wheat. He thinks that prices will go up on account of bad weather and thus
he will make large profit. But Henchard gets heavy loss because the prophecy proves
wrong. On the contrary, Farfrae has become very rich. In this part, we also note that he
dismisses his corn-manager Jopp who speaks the following ominous words to him :
“You shall be sorry for this, sir, sorry as a man can be.”24 Later these words will prove
right bringing the catastrophe in the life of Henchard. Lucetta requests Henchard not to
destroy her happiness but to return her letters. This is what she says to Henchard on
this occasion: “I have no other grief. My happiness would be secure enough but for your
threats. O Michael, don’t wreck me like this ! .... When I came here I was a young
woman, now I am rapidly becoming an old one”.25 Henchard’s heart is filled with pity on
hearing this appeal from Lucetta, He gives her a promise that he will return her letters,
but at the same time he reminds her that one day, Farfrae is sure to find out the secret
of the intimacy between Lucetta and himself. Lucetta says that she will prove herself to
be so devoted wife to Farfrae that he will forgive her for her past life.
The chapter XXXVI describes that Henchard hands over the packet of Lucetta’s
letters to Jopp and asks him to go and deliver it to Lucetta. But, Jopp has a certain
grudge against Lucetta as well as against Henchard. Having a vague suspicion in his
mind, he opens the packet and finds love- letters written by Lucetta to Henchard.
Having come into possession of such a precious secret he cannot resist the temptation
to read out some of the letters to a gathering of bad characters at Peter's Finger inn
situated in Mixen Lane. These bad characters thereupon resolve to take a skimmity-
ride which will expose the past love- affair of Henchard and Lucetta to the public eye. In
such a way Henchard commits a serious error of judgement in handing over the packet
of letters to Jopp and asking him to deliver it to Lucetta.
In the chapter XXXIX the makers of Peter's Finger Inn has decided to arrange a
skimmity- ride in order to expose the love affair which once existed between the ex-
mayor Henchard and the wife of present mayor. The incident described in this chapter is
almost sensational. The skimmity- ride is taken out and the past love-affair between
Lucetta and Henchard is thus exposed to all the onlookers. Lucetta herself, on seeing
the procession from a window, says to Elizabeth- Jane: “A procession- a scandal- an
effigy of me and him! .... Donald will see it! He is just coming home- and it will break his
heart- he will never love me anymore and O it will kill me – kill me!”26 Lucetta then falls
into a swoon and her condition becomes critical. Farfrae’s presence by Lucetta’s bed-
side is now essential and a man is therefore promptly sent to Budmouth in order to bring
him back. Lucetta’s condition at this time is most pathetic. Indeed, pathos is the key-
note of this chapter. Just as Henchard’s action in selling his wife had brought out its
punishment to him many years later, so Lucetta’s past love- affair with Henchard also
ruins her peaceful domestic life. Hardy points out that man is infact a puppet in the
hands of malvolent fate. From this point of view, both Henchard and Lucetta are
helpless and wretched before the power of their Destiny.
The chapter XL describes Lucetta’s tragic death. Farfrae eventually returns to
Casterbridge late that night. He finds that Henchard is right after all, he feels much
grieved. Lucetta’s condition has now become grave and her pregnancy has miscarried.
There is little hope of her survival now. She dies after disclosing to her husband the
secret of her past intimacy with Henchard.
Here in this chapter, Destiny again takes a turn against Henchanrd when
Newson, all of a sudden, appears to claim his daughter. Till now, it is regarded that
Newson had been drowned in the sea. But he is still alive. The re-appearance of
Newson in the story is like the re-appearance of the furmity woman. These are the
examples of chance or coincidence which plays an important part in the novels of
Hardy. Henchard’s mood is now one of great despondency. Now Elizabeth is his only
support in life because he has lost everybody. His mood is described by the author as
the leaden gloom of one who has lost all that can make life interesting: “There would
remain nobody for him to be proud of nobody to fortify him; for Elizabeth–Jane ... all had
gone from him, one after one either by his fault or by his misfortune.”27 The last phrase
in this quotation is important. Much of Henchard’s tragedy in life is due to his own faults,
and much of it due to his misfortune. Thus both character and fate combine to bring
about Henchard’s tragedy. Henchard tells a lie to Newson that his daughter is not alive.
But Newson appears on the scene again. He has learnt from some source that
Elizabeth is still alive and so he pays another visit to Casterbridge. Now he meets
Elizabeth who recognizes him as her real father. After this the marriage of Elizabeth and
Farfrae is decided upon with the full approval of Newson. Elizabeth feels much offended
with Henchard and now Henchard departs from Casterbridge in a state of extreme
disappointment. The re-appearance of Newson leaves Henchard with no alternative but
quit the town.
The chapter XLIV describes that the news reaches Henchard that Elizabeth is
going to be married. He is filled with a strong desire to see her on this happy occasion.
He buys a caged goldfinch as a wedding present for her because he can afford nothing
better. He then travels to Casterbridge on the day of the marriage. Now Elizabeth
accuses him of having deceived her and her father Newson. Henchard now leaves the
place, feeling disappointed. Henchard disappears leaving his present, the caged bird
outside Elizabeth's home.
The novel ends with the death of Henchard. The will which he leaves behind is
typical of the man and does not therefore surprise us. It runs thus:
That Elizabeth-Jane Farfrae be not told of my death or made to grieve on account of me.
& that I be not bury'd in censecrated ground. & that no Sexton be asked to toll the bell. & that no body is wished to see my dead body.
& that no mourners walk behind me at my funeral. & that no flours be planted on my grave. & that no man remember me.
To this I put my name ; Michael Henchard.28
The wording of the will shows how bitter Henchard had felt while dying.
Rosemary Sumner commenting on Henchard's will says, "Henchard's will is a striking
illustration of Hardy's insight into mental disturbance. His welcoming a state of complete
nothingness is the corollary of his drive for position, importance, love. Without these, he
feels he ceases to exist, His will gives complete expression to his sense of total
nullity."29 Elizabeth–Jane feels most unhappy to think how she had treated him on the
occasion of his visit on her wedding –day. However, knowing that Henchard had meant
every word of the will, she carries it out.
Hardy’s stories always take place in a particular setting of natural surroundings.
So in order to go into the depth of pshychology and mentality of his characters, one has
to study the background of the place. From the point of view, most of the action of the
present novel takes place in the town of Casterbridge. First of all, Hardy introduced the
name 'Wessex’ in Far from the Madding crowd. In his 1895 "Preface" to Far from the
Madding Crowd Hardy abserves :
The series of novels I projected being mainly of
the kind called local, they seemed to require a
territorial definition of some sort to lend unity to
their scene. Finding that the area of a single
county did not afford a canvas large enough for
this prupose, and that there were objections to
an invented name, I disinherited the old one.
In this Novel, he developed the presentation of Casterbridge and Budmouth. It
was only with Mayor of Casterbridge that he achieved a full realization of the Wessex
concept. Hardy has portrayed Casterbridge as the central point of the economic, social
and administrative capital of a whole region. Michael Millgate suggests :
... that Hardy achieved a full realization of the
Wessex concept, a realization which depended
on the establishment of Casterbridge
itself…….as the central point, the economic,
administrative, and social capital, of a whole
region.30
The novel incorporates the references of places which provide the setting for
other novels and stories. Hardy describes the carriers’ vans travelling to Casterbridge,
"from Mellstock, Weatherbury, the Hintocks, Sherton Abbas, Kingsbere, Overcombe,
and many other towns and villages round."31 Melchester, Shottsfard and Budmouth are
all mentioned with vivid minute details. Mixen Lane is not simply an appendage to
Casterbridge itself but "the Adullam of all the surrounding villages."32 The whole
structure of the novel with its exphasis on arrivals and departures Susan Henchards,
Farfrae’s, Lucetta’s, Newson’s and Henchard’s portrays Casterbridge as a focal point.
The sketch-map of Casterbridge also includes the hay and corn trade and the market
place as the novelist describes :
... Casterbridge was in most respets but the
pole, focus, or nerve-knot of the surrounding
country life; differing from the many
manufacturing towns which are as foreign
bodies set down, like boulders on a plain, in a
green world with which they have nothing in
common. Casterbridge lived by agriculture at
one remove further from the fountain-head
than the adjoining villages-no more. The
townsflolk understood every fluctuation in the
rustic's condition, for it affected their receipts
as much as the labourer's they entered into the
troubles and joys which moved the aristocratic
families ten miles round-for the same reason.
And even at the dinner-parties of the
professional families the subjects of discussion
were corn, cattle-disease, sowing and reaping,
fencing and planting; while politics were viewed
by them less from their own standpoint of
burgesses with rights and privileges than from
the standpoint of their country neighbours.33
Hardy himself belonged to Dorchester and in his novels, he wrote of that south-
western part of England which he renamed Wessex. Hardy has drawn real Dorchester
place names, such as The King’s Arms, Three mariners and Antelope Inns to fictitious
equivalents of the Golden Crown, The king of Prussia and The stag.
The minute details of the landscapes of meadow and wood, flowers, colourful
clouds, thunder and music of breeze immortalized the region. Nature serves as a
picturesque background for the play of human actions. In the very opening chapter
Hardy vividly described the road Henchard is using.
... a road neither straight nor crooked, neither level
nor hilly, bordered by hedges, trees and another
vegetation, which had entered the blackened-green
stage of colour that the doomed leaves pass through
on their way to dingy, and yellow, and red. The
grassy margin of the bank, and the nearest
hedgerow boughs, were powdered by the dust that
had been stirred over them by hasty vechiles, the
same dust as it lay on the road deadening their
footfalls like a carpet …34
Because of keen insight into the colour and form of nature, Hardy portrays
Casterbridge as an old-fashioned place in the midst of green fields with brick, chimneys,
towers and houses.
To birds of the more soaring kind Casterbridge must have appeared on this fine evening as a
mosaic-work of subdued reds, browns, greys, and crystals, held together by a rectangular frame of deep green. To the level of eye of
humanity it stood as an indistinct mass behind a dense-stockade of limes chestnuts, set in the midst of miles of round down and concave
field. The mass became gradually dissected by the vision into towers, gables, chimneys, and casements, the highest glazings shining
bleared and bloodshot with the coppery fire they caught from the belt of sunlit cloud in the west.”35
Sometimes, Hardy presents immanent will, invisible power in form of nature
dominating the human world. The weather, the time of morning, evening and their effect
on mood are included in his descriptions. The scenic and atmospheric effects have
been successfully brought out in the present novel. The unexpected rain destroys all
chances of reconciliation between Henchard and his manager and “Henchard had
backed bad weather, and apparently lost. He had mistaken the turn of the flood for the
turn of the web. His dealings had been so extensive that settlement could not long be
postponed, and to settle, he was obliged to sell off corn that he had bought only a few
weeks before at figures higher by many shillings a quarter.”36 The weather causes the
defeat of Henchard in the business war with Farfrae. Henchard goes to a weather
prophat who foretells bad weather. But the weather improves and the prices fall heavily.
Henchard suffers a heavy loss by selling his stock of wheat at a much lower rate.
Nature emerges as a living force with a purpose of its own. "Hardy recorded
nature primarily feature in his picture of the life of man. Human life, therefore, is an
essential feature in his picture of the natural world."37 It becomes the symbol of those
impersonal forces of Destiny with whom Hardy points out mankind as being in conflict.
Sometimes it appears as a leading character. A trapped fluttering against the tent-flying
“to and fro in quick curves.38 Has been mentioned. It denotes the poignant eagerness of
Susan to escape the unfortunate situation into which she strays like a bird. “the
murmured babble of the child”39 make Susan to forget her own sadness. The ringing of
church bell church and the playing of town-band emphasises the irony of circumstances
as it shows the victory of Farfrae over Henchard.
He heard, however, but few particulars beyond those known to him already, the incident of the
deepest interest on the journey being the soft pealing of the Casterbridge bells, which reached the travellers' ears while the van
paused on the top of Yalbury Hill to have the drag low-ered. The time was just after twelve o'clock. Those notes were a signal that all had
gone well; that there had been no slip 'twixt cup
and lip in this case; that Elizabeth-Jane and Donald Farfrae were man and wife.40
The place which Henchard selects for the meeting with his wife Susan is always
avoided by happy lovers. Consequently the forces of evil turn it to disastrous ends.
Hardy illustrates a fundamental discord between man and his environment.
Hardy’s character may be divided into two groups-changeless rustic dwellers
being fixed with local rustic environment and urban-dwellers who are higher and modern
in education and manners. These outsiders are those rootless human beings who are
not capable to accommodate themselves with agrarian culture. The inter-play between
these two kinds of character caused struggle and discord in the story. In Mayor of
Casterbridge Michael Henchard is also a part of rustic robustness, struggling against
the experience of pain or the disease of thought. He is a man of striking and outstanding
traits. He is a powerful, self-assertive and independent person who marks himself as
distinctive from other human beings. The sub-title ‘Life and death of a Man of Character’
shows importance which Hardy gives to Henchard. The sub-title focuses on the spiritual
and material career of Michael Henchard whose governing inclinations are tragically in
conflict with other. In the very beginning, we note him as a hay trusser who being
drunken sells his wife to a sailor at a country fair of Weydon Priors in Upper Wessex. It
is a disgraceful act which cannot be condoned. No doubt he genuinely feels sorry for his
blunders. Now he takes a vow not to touch liquor for next twenty-one years. The whole
incident takes place before the furmity woman. Next time, we note Henchard as a
mayor of the town ‘Casterbridge.’ He is a rich corn-and-hay merchant. Having got
information from the furmity woman about Henchard, Susan decides to search for him
because she has no financial support for her daughter. She has lost her supporter
‘Newson’ who is informed dead to her. Now on the sudden arrival of Susan, he does not
wave but shows his commitment to Susan by re-marrying her. As a father, he fulfils all
his duties to Elizabeth Jane. He may be arrogant but is also kind-hearted. He also says
to Susan,’ Do you forgive me, Susan ?"41 He does his best to atone his guilt.
Henchard is a man of strong likes and dislikes. He developes a strong affection
for Farfrae at their very first meeting and offers the Scotchman a third share in the
business for accepting the job of his corn-manager. Hardy writes.
“But, hearken to me,” Pleaded Henchard, “My business, you know, is in corn and in hay, but I was brought up as hay-trusser simply, and hay is what I understand best, though I now do more in corn than in the other. If you’ll accept the place, you shall manage the corn branch entirely, and receive a commission in addition to salary.”
'You're liberal-very liberal; but no, no-I cannot!” the young man still replied, with some distress in his accents.
“So be it!” said Henchard conclusively. “Now-to change the subject-one good turn deserves another don’t stay to finish that miserable supper. Come to my house; I can find-something better for ye than cold ham and ale.
Donald Farfrae was grateful-said he feared he must decline-that he wished to leave early next day.42
These lines clearly shows how much Henchard was impressed by Farfrae. He
becomes very intimate with him and even he discloses his life’s secrets to him. He is a
man of impulsive nature. He also develops strong attachment with Elizabeth Jane whom
he considers his own daughter. He cannot live without somebody as the center of his
affections. He loses Susan and his daughter because of his own folly but later Lucetta
comes as a ray of hope in his life. On the other hand, he is rash, rough and hostile. He
himself remarks," I am the most distant fellow in the world when I don’t care for a man”
he said “ But when a man takes my fancy, he takes it strong."43 Soon his love for
Farfrae turns into a strong apathy. He often suffers from fits of depression:
I sank into one of those gloomy fits I
sometimes suffer from, on account o' the
loneliness of my domestic life when the world
seems to have the blackness of hell, and, like
Job. I could curse the day that gave me
birth.”44
Because of the volcanic fires in his nature, he always changes his temper. When
he comes to know through the letter that Elizabeth is not his daughter, he becomes
indifferent to her. Elizabeth says to Lucetta about Henchard that he is uncertain in his
temper. When she decides to leave him in order to live with lucetta, he suddenly
remarks :
Look here, don’t ee go away from me. It may
be I’ve spoke roughly to you; I’ve been grieved
beyond everything by you-there’s something
that caused it.45
His impulsive nature is noticeable when he does not wait long enough to see the
change of weather and believes in prophet’s advice. The novelist observes :
If Henchard had only waited long enough he might at least have avoided loss, though he had not made a profit. But the momentum of
his character knew no patience.46
This thing on the other hand, points out that as a simple countryman, he also
believed in omens and predictions. He is a man of moods, glooms and superstitions.It is
clear that Henchard always oscillates between thought and feeling which totally
disabling in their effect on his response to cirumstances. His consciousness becomes a
disease while Newson and Farfrae seem almost untroubled by it. Finally Henchard
casts vote for unconsciousness by committing suicide in an emotional trauma. Abel
Whittle explains, "he couldn’t eat-no, no appetite at all- and he got weaker; and to-day
he died."47 No doubt, Henchard is a man of hyper sensitive nature. Lucetta sums up his
character to Elizabeth- Jane that He is a man of hot tempered nature and a little proud,
but not a bad man. We note his sympathy for Abel Whittle’s mother but he does not
disclose it to anybody. He receives faithlessness from Lucetta. Being frustrated, he
decides to destroy her domestic happiness with Farfrae yet he cannot do it. He has
fierce disliking for Farfrae but never adopts unfair means to ruin him in business. He
fights a duel with Farfrae but cannot bring himself to kill him. When Lucetta's life is in
danger as a result of skimmity ride in the town, he went running for miles in order to
bring Farfrae to her bed side.
We also see his scorn for women as he says "And, being by nature something of
a woman-hater, I have found it no hardship to keep mostly at a distance from the sex.”48
He is never flirter. His silent avoidance of contact with the female sex, is well known in
Casterbridge. Henchard is a true tragic hero. Like Tess, he is also a victim of his
misfortune. He suffers partly because of tragic flaw of his own character but partly
because of cruelty of his destiny. He is uncertain, reckless, jealous and intolerant but is
never cunning, political and wicked. In the end, he commits suicide. In trying to effect
unconsciousness of himself in others by 'that no man remember me’49 he deserves the
sympathy of readers. In a feeling of insecurity and depression, he tells a lie to Newson
about Elizabeth Jane that she died a year ago. After Newson's arrival he is driven into a
state of utter isolation. He is deprived of the only contact that seemed to sustain him. He
leaves Casterbridge in his workman's clothes as there is no place for him in the town.
Sitting down on the first milestone in a state of isolation and alienation he accepts his
social alienation : "...I---Cain--go alone as I deserve--an outcast and a vagabond. But
my punishement is not greater than I can bear !"50 His desolation and feelings of
alienation are keener when he goes to attend Elizabeth Jane's wedding and seek her
forgiveness. But he is not forgiven by Elizabeth as she has also become a prig like
Farfrae. He finally returns saying that he will trouble her no more, not to his dying day.
Thus, Henchard fails as a family man, friend and lover and isolates himself from society
and dies in a state of loneliness and rejection. Later he is amazed at what he has done.
He tries by all means to tell the truth to Newson but fails because of his luck. This act is
excusable and understandable. We regard Henchard for his capacity to endure
misfortune and his defiance of the forces that worked against him. From a hay-trusser
he rises to the position of mayor but again his destiny beings out his downfall. In the
background of countryside, nature serves as an agent of destiny bringing disaster to the
lives of its dwellers, for example, weather goes against Henchard causing his ruin
before the powerful hands of malvolent fate. Henchard’s struggle against the odds of life
proves Hardy’s belief in Schopenhauer’s philosophy that man is a puppet in the hands
of Destiny. His alienation from Elizabeth-Jane is the biggest loss in his life, perhaps he
stands at the threshold of another misfortune. Henchard is isolated from the people who
surround him and alienated from the community in which he lives. F.R. Southerington
says:
Hardy"...attempts to give a partial explanation
of his characters, either in term of environment
or of heredity, or of both. Thus Clym may be
partly understood as a product of his
upbringing on Egdon Heath, Eustacia by her
Mediterranean ancestry ; the same sort of
explanations occur in Tess and Jude. In these
works not only does the environment affect the
events in which the characters are involved,
but the very nature of the characters derives in
part from their environment. Yet when we first
meet Michael Henchard, and in all our
subsequent dealings with him, we find a hero
who is rootless, scarcely integrated - if at all
with the social environment, and totally without
antecedents.51
In the very beginning of the novel Henchard's behaviour is indicative of his
indifference. The silence of his family members and his neglectful attitude to them and
his pretension to read a ballad sheet show alienating features of his behaviour. In truth,
Henchard's social alienation is the consequence of his own actions and nature.
After the combined, premeditated sale of wife
and child Henchard is orphaned, without
mother or sisters, wife or daughter. He has
effectively severed all his bonds with the
community of women and re-enters society
alone - the new Adam, reborn, self-created,
unencumbered, journeying southward without
pause until he reaches Casterbridge. Henchard
commits his life entirely to the male community,
defining his human relationships by the male
codes of money, paternity, honour and legal
contract.52
Henchard achieves splendid success in Casterbridge. But socially he remains
isolated inspite of being the most powerful member of the Town Council. People reject
aggression implicit in his behaviour. His behaviour frightens people away. Farfrae does
not understand the passions and needs of Henchard.
In the present novel, Farfrae serves as a rootless character in the sense that he
becomes the cause of the downfall of Henchard. He is completely the opposite of
Henchard. He does not belong to Casterbridge. He is a Scotchman. We are introduced
to him in the chapter VI as :
The Scotchman, as he seemed to be, thanked
him, and strolled on in the direction of the king
of Prussia aforesaid, apparently more
concerned about the question of an inn than
about the fate of his note, now that the
momentary impulse of writing it was over.
While he was disappearing slowly down the
street the waiter left the door, and Elizabeth-
Jane saw with sence interest the note brought
into the dining-room and handed to the
Mayor.”53
He has come to Casterbridge as one endowed with special traits and new
knowledge. Moreover, being romantic and emotional, he sings very beautifully. During
his stay at Three Mariners inn, he entertains Coney, Mrs Cuxsom, Soloman Longways
and others through his melodious songs. Hardy writes :
“By this time he had completely taken
possession of the hearts of the king of prussia’s inmates, including even old Coney. Notwithstanding an occasional oddity which
awoke their their sense of the ludicrous for the moment, they began to view him through a golden haze which the tone of his mind
seemed to raise around him. Casterbridge had sentiment- Casterbridge had romance; but this
stranger’s sentiment was of differing quality. Of rather, perhaps, the difference was mainly superficial; he was to them like the poet of a
new school who takes his contemporaries by storm; who is not really new, but is the first to articulate what all his listeners have felt, though
but dumbly till then.”54
Because of his charming personality, he succeeds in drawing the attention of
simple homely Elizabeth-Jane. He is a man of practical wisdom. He has a good
business and commercial head. He introduced himself as :
“No, indeed ? said the young man. “My name is Donald Farfrae. It is true I am in the corren
trade-but I have replied to no advertisement, and arranged to see no one. I am on my way to Bristol - from there to the other side of the
warrld to try my fortune in the great wheat-growing districts of the West ? I have some inventions useful to the trade, and there is no
scope for developing them heere.55
He is prudent, alert, calculating and shrewd. Because of all these Scottish
qualities, He makes an impression on Michael Henchard. Henchard offers him a post of
corn-manager in his business. He has an exceptional executive ability and under his
management, Henchard’s business flourished successfully. Henchard said about him :
The face of Mr. Henchard beamed forth a satisfaction that was almost fierce in its
strength. 'Now you are my friend !' he exclaimed. 'Come back to my house; let's
clinch it at once by clear terms, so as to be comfortable in our minds.'56
Henchard’s system depends upon the old pattern in which bargains were made
by the tongue alone and everything depends on memory. But Farfrae introduced letters
and ledgers in bargaining. In Casterbridge Henchard is in harmony with melancholy and
lonely things like the Roman ruins, the ancient landscapes and he feels intimacy with
the Amphitheatre. Whenever he is in crisis, he seeks refuge in more remote places of
the town. The Casterbridge society does not comprehend Henchard. In his first
appearance as mayor he is seen as an object of bitter criticism. Common people of the
town seem to be dissatisfied with the ways and methods of Henchard against whom
they express their opposition without any hesitation :
But what are you going to do to repay us for
the past ?" inquired the man who had before
spoken, and who seemed to be a baker or
miller. "Will you replace the grown flour we've
still got by sound grain ?57
Henchard's face had become still more stern at these interruptions, and he drank
from his tumbler of water as if to calm himself or gain time. Instead of vouchsafing a
direct replay, he stiffly observed "If anybody will tell me how to turn grown wheat into
wholesome wheat I'll take it back with pleasure. But it can't be done."58 Henchard was
not to be drawn again. Having said this, he sat down.
This rebellion against Henchard shows that he is not in tune with the
Casterbridge society. The Casterbridge society belongs to Farfrae. The society of
Casterbridge is a society wherein calculators and economists like Farfrae succed more
than persons like Henchard whose presonality traits can be defined as rugged
manhood, recklessness and fidelity to past.
Farfrae's character combines ingredients of musical sensivity, shrewdness and
strong liking for romantic attachement. Henchard has great reverence for Farfrae’s
ability and sharpness and even consults his private matters with him. After using a
technical and methodical handling of business, Farfrae rises as an independent corn-
merchant in Casterbridge :
Meanwhile, Donald Farfrae prospered, He had
purchased in so depressed a market that the
present moderate stiffness of prices was
sufficient to pile him a large heap of gold where
a little one had been.59
Farfrae is very cautious in his buying and selling while Henchard’s rashness
brings out his ruin. He introduced in Casterbridge a new machine for sowing seeds :
Donald Farfrae was in the minds of both as the
innovator, for though not a farmer he was
closely leagued with farming operations. And
as if in response to their thought he came up at
that moment, looked at the machine, walked
round it, and handled it as if he knew
something about its make.60
In this sense, Farfrae is an innovator who introduced new ways and new ideas of
business. He says:
It will revolutionize sowing heer about! No more
sowers flinging their seed about broadcast, so
that some falls by the wayside and some
among thorns and all that. Each grain will go
straight to its intended place, and nowhere else
whatever !61
He stands against the orthodox ways of farming. Hardy has introduced him as an
intruder who snaches away all the pleasure and prosperity of Henchard's life :
The room in which debtor and creditors had assembled was a front one, and Henchard,
looking out of the window, had caught sight of Elizabeth Jane through the wire blind. His examination had closed, and the creditors were
leaving. The appearance of Elizabeth threw him into a reverie; till, turning his face from the window, and towering above all the rest, he
called their attention for a moment more. His countenance had somewhat changed from its flush of prosperity; the black hair and whiskers
were the same as ever, but a film of ash was over the rest.62
His financial position is so critical that his house, hay barns, furniture and corn-
store are all purchased by Farfrae in auction, “...he passed the ridge of prosperity and
honour, and began to descend rapidly on the other side. It was strange how soon he
sank in esteem."63 Even he is compelled to give his golden pocket watch to his
creditiors, Now he retires to the humble quarters of Jopp whom he has appointed his
assistant. The story of his past narrated by the furmity woman spreads rapidly in the
town causing humiliation and disgrace for the mayor. “When everything was ticketed
that Henchard had owned, and the auctions were is progress, there was quite a
sympathetic reaction in the town, which till then for some time past had done nothing
but condemn him.”64 Henchard now becomes total bankrupt. Farfrae not only causes
his financial downfall but also gives him a shock by taking his Lucetta. Lucetta marries
Farfrae and soon Farfrae and Lucetta move into the house where Henchard previously
used to live. On knowing this information, Henchard remarks : “My Furniture too ! Surely
he’ll buy my body and soul likewise."65 He has not touched liquor since twenty one
years. But now he starts drinking. He also decides to leave Casterbridge. Farfrae soon
becomes a popular man in the town as he may be elected the mayor of the town.
Henchard being disappointed remarks : “A fellow of his age going to be Mayor, indeed!
.... Here be I, his former master, working for him as man, and he the man standing as
master, with my house and furniture and my what you may call wife all his own.”66 Time
takes a turn and Henchard is now working as a labourer in the pay of Farfrae just as
Farfrae was an employee in the pay of Henchard. Henchard sees Elizabeth-Jane as a
last ray of hope in his adversity but she also likes Farfrae and ultimately marries him.
This is Farfrae who has deprived Henchard of everything. Henchard develops a
feeling of bitterness against Farfrae when Farfrae supports Abel Whittle who has been
punished severely for being late by Henchard. He is also jealous to see intimacy
between Farfrae and Elizabeth Jane.
He undergoes a bigger change after hearing the comments about Scotchman as:
Where would his (Henchard’s) business be if it were not for this young fellow ?’ Twas verily
fortune sent him to Henchard ! His accounts were like a bramblewood when Mr. Farfrae came.67
These lines clearly shows how Farfrae’s position amongst the people of
Casterbridge causes demotion in the position of Henchard. A royal personage happens
to visit Casterbridge. Henchard desires to walk with the members of city corporation to
welcome distinguished personality as an ex-mayor of the town. When Henchard
advances to greet the royal personage. Scotchman who is now the mayor, quickly
pushes Henchard to one side. Henchard withdraws from the picture in a sullen mood.
Hardy has referred Michael Henchard as a specific rural order whom the Scotchman
embodied as new scientific mechanical technology, has disturbed.
A contrast between the old crude way of doing things and the modern scientific
way of agriculture has been brought out by Thomas Hardy in Mayor of Casterbridge.
Strong-natured country workers of deep local
commitment are brought into relation with
figures from outside the rural world. The
contact occasions a feeling of menace; and as
the landscape, the agriculture, the work, and
the past, make themselves felt more strongly,
the story assumes some form of conflict, and
the invasion wreaks its havoc. Each novel
makes a different life and movement from this
cell, and it's a mistake to stereotype the
formulation. In that spirit I used to identify
Farfrae as the Invader, but I can no longer read
The Mayor in that way. Farfrae comes from
outside, but he joins; he is for the agricultural
community, not a disrupter; he holds a hope of
renovation in his skills and intelligence; created
perhaps out of Hardy's truthful
acknowledgement of local inadequacies.
But the force of Lucetta's invasion cannot be
mistaken. There have been hints of a theme
centred on 'rising in the world' on one side; and
a theme centred on 'education' and 'insight' on
the other. They seem alternative ways forward,
or a way and false attraction. These hints now
gather insistence. When the Lady acquires the
Hall, the idea of the Leisure Class imposes its
terms unmistakably.68
Lucetta being a complete sophisticated character, also represents the new world.
She is a daughter of an army officer with no mother to look after herself. She is a
charming young woman with accomplished mannerism. She can speak French and
Italian fluently. She belongs to high-class and assumes poses. She is unconventional
and well-educated. New Jeresy woman suddenly comes into the possession of a lot of
money left to her by a rich aunt who has recently died. Now she decides to stay at
Casterbridge. One day, she writes a letter to Henchard to come and meet her in the
absence of Elizabeth Jane. On the contrary, The Scotchman intending to meet
Elizabeth-Jane comes there and meet Lucetta. She has love-affair with Henchard. But
next-time, she falls in love with Farfrae and also marries him. She says to Henchard :
….don’t – don’t be cruel! I loved him so much, and I thought you might tell him of the past-and that grieved me. And then, when I had
promised you, I learnt of the rumour that you had-sold your first wife at a fair, like a horse or cow. How could I Keep my promise after
hearing that ? I could not risk myself in your hands; it would have been letting myself down to take your name after such a scandal. But I
knew I should lose Donald if I did not secure him at once-for you would carry out your threat of telling him of our former acquaintance, as
long as there was a chance of keeping me for yourself by doing so.”69
Farfrae captures her heart. But she also becomes an unfortunate victim to the
ironies of fate. The Skimmity-ride arranged by the group of bad characters killed
Lucetta. Her death is indeed tragic. She is also an outsider amongst the group of
rustics.
Thus in the present novel, Frafrae, Lucetta and Newson can be placed in the
category of those rootless characters who caused disharmony, upheaval and
restlessness in the peaceful rural surrounding of Hardy’s novels. Newson is always
introduced as an object of trouble and unhappiness for Michael Henchard. This is
Newson who in the very beginning appears and takes away his wife Susan and
daughter and later, also, he comes to claim Elizabeth-Jane, the last ray of hope of
Henchard.
REFERENCE
1. Hardy to Douglas, January 28 1903, in W.M. Parker, "Hardy's letters to sir
George Douglas" English, 14 (1963) p. 222.
2. Asa Brigges, The Age of Improvement, 1783-1867, (London : 1959) p. 201.
3. The Mayor of Casterbridge, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, p. 1.
4. Ibid, p. 10.
5. Ibid, p. 16.
6. Elaine Showalter, "The Unmanning of the Mayor of Casterbridge" in Critical
Approaches to the Fiction of Hardy ed. Dale Kramer, London : Macmillan, 1979, p. 102.
7. Irving Howe, Thomas Hardy, London : Macmillan, 1985, p. 84.
8. The Mayor of Casterbridge, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, p. 15.
9. Ibid, p. 9
10. Ibid, p. 31
11. Ibid, p. 39
12. Ibid, p. 40
13. Ibid, p. 77
14. Ibid, p. 89
15. Ibid, p. 89
16. Ibid, p. 91
17. Ibid, p. 94
18. Ibid, p. 97
19. Ibid, p. 136
20. Ibid, p. 135
21. Ibid, p. 135
22. Ibid, p. 136
23. Ibid, p. 139
24. Ibid, p. 144
25. Ibid, p. 190
26. Ibid, p. 211
27. Ibid, p. 223
28. Ibid, p. 251
29. Thomas Hardy : Psychological Novelists, London : Macmillan, 1981, p. 66.
30. Thomas Hardy : His Career as a Novelist, London : The Bodley Head 1971, pp. 235-43.
31. The Mayor of Casterbridge, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, p. 48.
32. Ibid, p. 192
33. Ibid, p. 49
34. Ibid, p. 6
35. Ibid, p. 23
36. Ibid, p. 143
37. David Cecil, Hardy the Novelist : An Essay in Criticism London : Constable & Co.
Ltd., 1943, p. 29.
38. The Mayor of Casterbride, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, pp. 6-9
39. Ibid, p. 6
40. Ibid, p. 243
41. Ibid, p. 59
42. Ibid, p. 47
43. Ibid, p. 51
44. Ibid, p. 61
45. Ibid, p. 112
46. Ibid, p. 145
47. Ibid, p. 251
48. Ibid, p. 61
49. Ibid, p. 251
50. The Mayor of Casterbridge, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, p. 236
51. Hardy Vision of Man, London : Chatto & Windus, 1971, p. 96.
52. Dale Kramer, Critical Approaches to the Fiction of Thomas Hardy, London : Macmillan, 1971, p. 103.
53. Ibid, p. 32
54. Ibid, p. 43
55. Ibid, p. 37
56. Ibid, p. 51
57. Ibid, p. 31
58. Ibid, p. 31
59. Ibid, p. 190
60. Ibid, p. 128
61. Ibid, p. 129
62. Ibid, p. 166
63. Ibid, p. 166
64. Ibid, p. 167
65. Ibid, p. 171
66. Ibid, p. 174
67. Ibid, p. 83
68. Douglas Brown, Hardy : The Mayor of Castebridge, London : Edward Arnold, 1962, p. 31.
69. Mayor of Casterbridge, London : W.W. Norton Company, 2005, pp. 160-61.
