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Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML: From its astonishing opening scene, in which the drunken Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter at a country fair, to the breathtaking series of discoveries at its conclusion, The Mayor of Casterbridge claims a unique place among Thomas Hardy's finest and most powerful novels. Rooted in an actual case of wife selling in early nineteenth-century England, the story builds into an awesome Sophoclean drama of guilt and revenge, in which the strong, willful Henchard rises to a position of wealth and power, only to achieve a most bitter downfall. Proud, obsessed, ultimately committed to his own destruction, Henchard is, as Albert Guerard has said, "Hardy's Lord Jim...his only tragic hero and one of the greatest tragic heroes in all fiction.".… (more)
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The storyline is well-known. In a moment of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife Susan and daughter to a passing sailor at Weydon Fair. He then goes on to become a well-respected corn dealer in the nearby town of Casterbridge. Susan believes that the sale is binding and lives with the sailor as his wife. But when she learns the truth of the matter, she sets out to make things right with her husband, for the sake of her daughter. And thus begins a saga of deception, twisted relationships, and self-destruction.
Credit for the original comparison between The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) and Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (1862) goes to my friend ncgraham, whose passing observation on that score gave me a new perspective as I read. The parallels in this story to Les Misérables are really stunning. Toward the end, I noticed that Hardy calls some of the impoverished Casterbridge people "misérables." Intentional allusion? Both stories follow the life of a man who suffers from a foolish act all his life. Somehow this man becomes the guardian of a young girl not his daughter, and that girl is the light of his life. And in both stories, her romantic relationship pulls her away from her adopted father and results in a separation between them.
But unlike Valjean, Henchard never is redeemed. Elizabeth-Jane does not appear in time to speak with him on his deathbed as Cosette does with Valjean. And Henchard's life is not particularly inspiring and beautiful like Valjean's — in fact, it's quite the opposite. I think the difference is because God is not a character in His own right in Casterbridge as He is in Les Misérables. Everything is determined by human passion, by chance and coincidence, and we're left feeling as if the floor could give way at any moment. Step on a rotten bit and you'll fall through — and there's no one there to catch you. It's grim.
I am unsure what Hardy is really trying to portray in this story. One line in particular stood out to me, about "Nature's jaunty readiness to support unorthodox social principles" (312). Is Hardy supporting these unsanctioned relationships because Elizabeth-Jane was produced by them? Or are the social issues just a backthought to the engrossing character of Henchard? I felt a sense of futility as I read; there were so many chances for Henchard to give up his destructive course, but he never can.
As with the other Hardy books I've read, this isn't a novel that I will ever really love. It's a good story, but ultimately it left me feeling frustrated. I suppose that means I cared about the characters, but I don't know that I really did. This novel never even comes close to the overarching greatness that is Les Misérables, but it's worth a read at least.
This being my first Hardy novel, I must say that I was very impressed with him as a writer—a presumptuous remark, I know, but while some classics are famous for great stories rather than great craftsmanship, The Mayor of Casterbridge features both. Little touches struck me throughout, such as the fact that upon their reunion, Henchard gives Susan five guineas—almost as though he is atoning for his sale of her twenty years prior! Before he was a writer, Hardy was an architect, which means that his descriptions of the structures in and about Casterbridge are both believable and fascinating. Indeed, one of the novel's most haunting passages occurs when Henchard, having learned a fearful secret, walks out by himself to the ruins of a Franciscan priory, with a mill attached to it and the gallows nearby. I would not be surprised to learn, moreover, that during that period of Hardy's life he was much around "common" folk, because his portrayal of them in this novel seems very convincing. And yet he was also extremely well-educated and well-read, quoting Shakespeare, Greek mythology, scripture, and Sir Walter Scott (who may have been an influence, especially when it comes to the conversations among the working class) with ease.
Albert J. Guerard, who wrote the introduction to my edition, sees the Bible as primary literary parallel to Hardy's book, working off of Henchard's own comment "'Tis as simple as scripture history." There is a sense in which Henchard is a larger-than-life Old Testament figure, but nothing came to mind so much while I was reading as Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. At the beginning of both stories a man commits a terrible deed that will change the course of his life, then repents and tries to live a normal life (and also becomes a mayor!). And yet the outcomes are quite different, for while Valjean is able to overcome his obstacles and extend grace in turn, Henchard ultimately succumbs to the consequences of his "original sin," if you will.
There is a sense in which fate is against Henchard—he himself notes that everything he does, no matter how pure his motives, comes back to cause him some grief—but Hardy also quotes Novalis in saying that "Character is Fate," so Henchard does ruin himself as well. Part of his tragedy is that there are two sides of himself that he cannot reconcile. There is the passionate, arbitrary, almost animal Henchard that we meet at the beginning of the book. And then there is the persona he creates for himself by dint of hard work over twenty years, the "Man of Character" of the subtitle. The issue is that everything he does in this guise is characterized by duty, not grace or love (he marries Susan again because he feels beholden to her, and had planned to do the same for Lucetta when he thought Susan dead). For him, these two qualities can never merge and become one.
Despite Henchard's centrality to the tale, much of it is seen through Elizabeth-Jane's eyes, and it is she who dictates the central concepts of the novel. When she meets Farfrae she is attracted to him because "he seemed to feel exactly as she felt about life and its surroundings—that they were a tragical rather than a comical thing" and later she refrains from dressing too gaily because "it would be tempting Providence to hurl mother and me down, and afflict us again as He used to do." These are the sort of words one would expect to hear from Hardy, whose work has a reputation for bleakness, and yet by the conclusion Elizabeth-Jane has changed her mind a little about these things, as is evident from the novel's final words. It seems to me that Hardy is using her to say that despite the sins of our fathers, so powerfully encapsulated by Henchard, there is hope for the future.
In passing, I must commend Pocket Books for their Enriched Classics edition. Not only does it feature eye-catching and unconventional cover art, but the Reader's Supplement is a splendid companion to the text. As well as specific notes, it features a whole essay regarding the tale's backgrounds, and pictorial examples of some nineteenth-century fashions and architectural features that have since become obsolete.
Though (as my father says) one could not read Hardy back-to-back for the sake of one's good humor, I'm looking forward to trying more of his novels in the future, as well as the ITV adaptation of Mayor.
The book is finished. My heart is sore. In my grief I can't bear to put it back on the bookshelf yet. Let it stay beside me on the bedside cabinet just a little while longer.
How wrong was I in my original assessment of Hardy's prose. I
Hardy initially cut to the chase with alarming alacrity, and it almost put me off continuing as I felt he had divulged the plot before I was engrossed enough to care much for the characters. More fool me. That was merely the tip of the iceberg, for the tale that developed was to have more twists and turns than a doorknob.
And the characterisation - oh, like nothing I've read before. Mr. Henchard was the most unpleasant of protagonists - harsh, proud, stubborn, jealous, cold, pompous - yet the whole way through the novel I was rooting for him, willing him on, desperately hoping he'll say the right thing here, do the right thing there. In the same way that my husband's wayward driving compels me to pump an imaginary brake as a passenger, so too Henchard's repeated mistakes had me constantly silently screaming "Stop! Look out! Take care!".
I'm now 5 books into my 50 book target. How I fear the 45 others shall now pale by comparison.
The story starts in the 1800s with Michael and his young wife and child entering the fair at Wheldon-Priors just outside Castorbridge (real life Dorchester). Michael is a
The story then jumps 19 yrs until Michael is inexplicably Mayor of Castorbridge. No reasons are given for how this came to be. However it is clear that his rash judgement has recently involved him in a purchase of bad wheat, causing much resentment. A passing Scotsman, one Donald Farfrae has another inexplicable cure for this, and Michael persuedes him to stay on as his business manager. Donald is everything that Michael is not, cool headed, quietly spoken, prepared to take advice and consider positions carefully.
Although the story focuses on Michael it is no surprise that in all respects Donald, without meaning to, surpasses him in every way - each time it is carefully pointed out the faults of Michael's character that allow this to happen. The ending is not entirely unexpected, but tragically sad nethertheless. Michael's 'Will' being one of the more often quoted pieces of Hardy's work.
The other chief character is that of the young daughter from the opening chapter Elizabeth Jane. Timid and meek, as is perhaps true of most well bred girls at that time, she plays little part other than to be a source of affection for the various men thourghout the book.
The story is told in a dense prose that is however clearly intelligible. My edition had some 300 odd notes on the meanings of more obscure words that Hardy picks - many of which have fallen out of use as agricultural practise has changed. The meaning of many is obvious from context but the notes are sometimes helpful. Well written, if a little slow at times. Hardy took some liberties with the geography but is more or less based on the actual countryside and similar events of 18c England.
Casterbridge opens with a scene at an agricultural fair where Michael Henchard, his wife, Susan and baby daughter have stopped to rest while on a journey to find work. Henchard is a farm laborer and the family is very poor. In a fit of impulsive anger and drunkenness, Henchard sells his wife to a passing sailor. Wife-selling was a method among the poor of getting a divorce in rural England, but had become very uncommon by the early 19th century, and had actually been declared illegal as a means of divorce in the 18th century. Henchard’s wife was uneducated and so believed that the sale was binding. When Henchard came to his senses the next day, he tried unsuccessfully to find the sailor and his wife. By Chapter Three, about 18 years have passed and Henchard is a successful corn merchant and Mayor of the town of Casterbridge. Susan and her daughter, Elizabeth-Jane are destitute; the sailor being thought lost at sea, and come to Casterbridge to seek out Henchard.
Michael Henchard is a passionate, impulsive man. He loves intensely, but is quick to anger, and this leads to many problems in his life. Early on in the story, he develops strong and instant liking for a younger man, Farfrae, and hires him to be the manager of his business. Unfortunately this means the manager he had hired by letter, and who arrives a day later is turned aside, which has serious consequences later in the story. This is the same day that he discovers Susan and Elizabeth-Jane have come to Casterbridge to find him. Henchard stages a marriage with Susan so the townsfolk won’t know that she is actually his wife, and to protect Susan and Elizabeth-Jane’s reputations. Again, this leads to the unfortunate recanting of another marriage proposal Henchard had made to a woman on the isle of Jersey whom he had compromised in an affair before the return of Susan. This woman, Lucetta, arrives in Casterbridge after Susan’s death and falls in love with Farfrae, who had been paying court to Elizabeth-Jane. Subsequent tragedy ensues for all concerned.
Henchard’s passions and impulsive anger lead him to make many mistakes, both in his business dealings and his personal affairs. All of these mistakes bring him low in life, and he loses his business, his house and all those he loved.
Hardy’s telling of the story is beautifully done, with great poetry of language and use of scenic descriptions. He uses a lot of allusions to classical characters, and historic events that went over my head, but probably made sense to readers of his time. The edition I read was an Everyman’s Library edition, and contained no footnotes to help with these obscure references and with the language of the time. I read an annotated edition of Far From the Madding Crowd a couple of years ago, and wish I had had the same type of edition for this book. Even so, I greatly enjoyed the book and give it four stars.
How welcome it would have been if young Elizabeth-Jane had just taken off back to the seaside to live with Captain Newsome
That would have left her sad and deceitful ex-father and her tepid ex-love to sort life out between them.
This is the story of Michael Henchard, who sells his wife and infant daughter for five guineas while drunk at a local fair. The consequences of this one impulsive action haunt his life thereafter. Henchard is a tragic figure, doomed not only by the character flaws of which he is only too aware, but
Hardy's writing is breathtaking. The novel is full of stunningly beautiful descriptive language. Hardy paints vivid pictures with words, bringing both characters and setting to life. It's a novel full of memorable characters. Henchard is the most striking, but in their quieter way Donald Farfarie, the Scotsman who wins and then loses Henchard's affection, the good and long-suffering Elizabeth-Jane and the complex Lucetta are also compelling, as are the secondary characters who form the chorus.
This is an intensely sad novel. It had the same effect on me as a Greek or a Shakespearean tragedy: you know it'll end badly, no matter how hard the characters try to avoid their fate. And I ached for Henchard, a man who desperately wants to find redemption, even when pride, arrogance, temper and impulsiveness undo him at every turn.
I listened to this as an audiobook narrated by Simon Vance. He does a magnificient job, particularly with Henchard and Farfarie, although (in common with most male narrators) he struggles with young female voices.
It appears that I've turned into a huge Thomas Hardy fan after steafastly avoiding his novels for more than thirty years. Who'd have thought?
I loved this book, I am a complete convert to Thomas Hardy and am saddened to think I have left it this long before delving in! He has a wonderful way of painting a picture with his words! You all of a sudden can see exactly what he is saying even though the language is so unlike the way we
Henchard arrives in town with his wife and baby daughter with very little money and no job, After a very stupid drunken act he throws his and his families lives into a downward spiral that he never escapes. He moves to Casterbridge and over the years things seem to be on the up for him, but as I said he can never make right the mistake he made and he is to live a nightmare for what he did. A great story, very well thought out and written, a brilliant book.
I especially enjoyed the first pictures that Hardy creates where we see the man, woman, child walking into the village, tired, with no place to lay their heads and rest.
Love this quote, "one who deems anything possible at the hands of Time and Chance except perhaps, fair play."
"when I was rich, I didn't need what I could have hadand now I be poor I can't have what I need."
"simple sorry is better than looming misery."
Love how Hardy paints this picture of late summer/fall "...hedges, tress, and other vegetation, which had entered the blackened green stage of colour that this doomed leaves pass through on their way to dingy, and yellow, and red. I love observing nature and this just range so true to me. And the book arrived at the end of fall here in Minnesota. So very fitting picture.
Hardy uses references to other literature, frequently using the Bible such as Jacob in Padan-Aran and excerpts from Greek mythology, Bellerophon. Austerliz (Napoleonic War),
Character of fate - even sober Henchard is "vehement gloomy being who had quitted the ways of vulgar without the light to guide him on a better way."
Henchard is a man who is isolated/lonely; he is separated from his wife by death, his friend by estrangement and his daughter by ignorance.
The author's style is engaging, with interesting story lines and character development that flow seamlessly throughout. Mr. Hardy has that rare ability to capture the reader's attention and maintain it with
Highly recommended.
Hardy masterfully weaves a fantastic tale filled with the consequences of secrets and lies, the excesses of alcohol, and the power of love and redemption. I had tried to read this a few years ago but wasn't in the right frame of mind. This time around, however, I was hooked from the opening scene. I found The Mayor of Casterbridge to be a powerful story that had me eagerly looking forward to each spare moment I could spend reading a few pages or even a paragraph of two. I highly recommend picking up a copy and reading it yourself.
The book, of course, is stunningly poignant. A moving vignette is the brief interlude when Henchard prepares breakfast for Elizabeth-Jane. As she gives herself a small dose of self-reproach for sleeping idly while he is caring for her sustenance he states, "I do it everday....how should I live if not by my own hands." And in that one statement Hardy and Henchard sum up the lonely existence of every being.