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(1886), subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", is a
tragic novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge
(based on the town of Dorchester in Dorset). The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set
in a fictional rustic England. The novel is often considered one of Hardy's greatest works.




YÊ 1 Plot summary
YÊ Œ Characters
pÊ Œ.1 Michael Henchard
pÊ Œ.Œ Donald Farfrae
pÊ Œ.3 Susan Henchard (Newson)
pÊ Œ.4 Elizabeth-Jane Newson
pÊ Œ.5 Lucetta Templeman (Lucette Le Sueur)
pÊ Œ.6 Joshua Jopp
pÊ Œ.7 Richard Newson
YÊ 3 Modern day locations mentioned in the novel
YÊ 4 Adaptations
YÊ 5 References
YÊ 6 Bibliography
YÊ 7 External links

u 

At a country fair near Casterbridge, Wessex, a young hay-trusser named Michael Henchard
overindulges in rum-laced furmity and quarrels with his wife, Susan. Spurred by alcohol, he
decides to auction off his wife and baby daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, to a sailor, Mr. Newson, for
five guineas. Once sober the next day, he is too late to recover his family, particularly since his
reluctance to reveal his own bad conduct keeps him from conducting an effective search. When
he realizes that his wife and daughter are gone, probably for good, he swears not to touch liquor
again for as many years as he has lived so far (twenty-one).

Nineteen years later, Henchard, now a successful grain merchant, is the eponymous Mayor of
Casterbridge, known for his staunch sobriety. He is well respected for his financial acumen and
his work ethic, but he is not well liked. Impulsive, selfish behavior and a violent temper are still
part of his character, as are dishonesty and secretive activity.
All these years, Henchard has kept the details surrounding the "loss" of his wife a secret. The
people in Casterbridge believe he is a widower, although he never explicitly says that his first
wife died. He lies by omission instead, allowing other people to believe something false. Over
time he finds it convenient to believe Susan probably is dead. While traveling to the island of
Jersey on business, Henchard falls in love with a young woman named Lucette Le Sueur, who
nurses him back to health after an illness. The book implies that Lucette (Lucetta, in English) and
Henchard have a sexual relationship, and Lucetta's reputation is ruined by her association with
Henchard. When Henchard returns to Casterbridge he leaves Lucetta to face the social
consequences of their fling. In order to rejoin polite society she must marry him, but there is a
problem: Henchard is already technically married. Although Henchard never told Lucetta exactly
how he "lost" his wife to begin with, he does tell her he has a wife who "is dead probably dead,
but who may return". Besotted, Lucetta develops a relationship with him despite the risk. Yet
just as Henchard is about to send for Lucetta, Susan unexpectedly appears in Casterbridge with
her daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, who is now fully grown. Susan and Elizabeth-Jane are both very
poor. Newson appears to have been lost at sea, and without means to earn an income Susan is
looking for Henchard again. Susan, who is not a very intelligent or sophisticated woman,
believed for a long time that her "marriage" to Newson was perfectly legitimate. Only recently,
just before Newson's disappearance, had Susan begun to question whether or not she was still
legally married to Henchard.

Just as Susan and Elizabeth-Jane arrive in town, a tidy Scotsman, Donald Farfrae, is passing
through on his way to America. The energetic, amiable Farfrae happens to be in Henchard's line
of work. He has experience as a grain and corn merchant, and is on the cutting edge of
agricultural science. He befriends Henchard and helps him out of a bad financial situation by
giving him some timely advice. Henchard persuades him to stay and offers him a job as his corn
factor, rudely dismissing a man named Jopp to whom he had already offered the job. Hiring
Farfrae is a stroke of business genius for Henchard, who although hardworking is not well
educated. Henchard also makes Farfrae a close friend and confides in him about his past history
and personal life.

Henchard is also reunited with Susan and the fully grown Elizabeth-Jane. To preserve
appearances, Henchard sets Susan and Elizabeth-Jane up in a nearby house. He pretends to court
Susan, and marries her. Both Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane's mother keep their past history from
their daughter. Henchard also keeps Lucetta a secret. He writes to her, informing her that their
marriage is off. Lucetta is devastated and asks for the return of her letters. Henchard attempts to
return them, but Lucetta misses the appointment owing to a family emergency that is not
explained until later in the book.

The return of his wife and daughter sets in motion a decline in Henchard's fortunes. Yet Susan
and Elizabeth-Jane are not the root cause of Henchard's fall. Henchard alone makes the decisions
that bring him down, and much of his bad luck is the delayed and cumulative consequence of
how Henchard treats other people. His relationship with Farfrae deteriorates gradually as Farfrae
becomes more popular than Henchard. In addition to being more friendly and amiable, Farfrae is
better informed, better educated, and in short everything Henchard himself wants to be.
Henchard feels threatened by Farfrae, particularly when Elizabeth-Jane starts to fall in love with
him.
The competition between Donald Farfrae and Henchard grows. Eventually they part company
and Farfrae sets himself up as an independent hay and corn merchant. The rivalry and resentment
for the most part is one-sided, and Farfrae conducts himself with scrupulous honesty and fair
dealing. Henchard meanwhile makes increasingly aggressive, risky business decisions that put
him in financial danger. The business rivalry leads to Henchard standing in the way of a
marriage between Donald and Elizabeth-Jane, until after Susan's death at which point Henchard
learns he is not Elizabeth-Jane's father, and realizes that if she marries Farfrae, he will be rid of
her. The Elizabeth-Jane he auctioned off died in infancy; this second Elizabeth-Jane is Newson's
daughter. He learns this secret, however, after Susan's death when he reads a letter which Susan,
on her deathbed, marked to be opened only after Elizabeth-Jane's marriage. Feeling ashamed and
hard done by, Henchard conceals the secret from Elizabeth-Jane, but grows cold and cruel
towards her.

In the meantime, Henchard's former mistress, Lucetta, arrives from Jersey and purchases a house
in Casterbridge. She has inherited money from a wealthy relative who died: in fact it was this
relative's death that had kept her from picking up her letters from Henchard. Initially she wants
to pick up her relationship with him where it left off, but propriety requires that they wait a
while. She takes Elizabeth-Jane into her household as a companion thinking it will give
Henchard an excuse to come to visit, but the plan backfires because of Henchard's hatred of
Elizabeth-Jane. She also learns a little bit more about Henchard. Specifically, the details of how
he sold his first wife become public knowledge when the furmity vendor who witnessed the sale
makes the story public. Henchard does not deny the story, but when Lucetta hears a little bit
more about what kind of man Henchard really is she stops rationalizing his conduct in terms of
what she wants to believe. For the first time, she starts to see him more clearly, and she no longer
particularly likes what she sees.

Donald Farfrae, who visits Lucetta's house to see Elizabeth-Jane and who becomes completely
distracted by Lucetta, has no idea that Lucetta is the mysterious woman who was informally
engaged to Henchard. Since Henchard is such a reluctant and secretive suitor who in no way
reveals his attachment to Lucetta to anybody, Lucetta starts to question whether her engagement
to Henchard is valid. She too is lying about her past: she claims to be from Bath, not Jersey, and
she has taken the surname of her wealthy relative. Yet she came to Casterbridge seeking
Henchard, and sent him letters after Susan's death indicating that she wanted to resume and
legitimize the relationship. Although he was initially reluctant he gradually realizes that he wants
to marry Lucetta, particularly since he is having financial trouble due to some speculations
having gone bad. Lenders are unwilling to extend credit to him, and he believes that they would
extend credit if they at least believed he was about to be married to a wealthy woman. Frustrated
by her stalling, Henchard bullies Lucetta into agreeing to marry him. But by this point she is in
love with Farfrae. The two run away one weekend and get married, and Lucetta does not have
the nerve to tell Henchard until well after the fact. Henchard's credit collapses, he becomes
bankrupt, and he sells all his personal possessions to pay creditors.

As Henchard's fortunes decline, Farfrae's rise. He buys Henchard's old business and employs
Henchard as a journeyman day-laborer. Farfrae is always trying to help the man who helped him
get started, whom he still regards as a friend and a former mentor. He does not realize Henchard
is his enemy even though the town council and Elizabeth-Jane both warn him.

Lucetta, feeling safe and comfortable in her marriage with Farfrae, keeps her former relationship
with Henchard a secret. This secret is revealed when Henchard foolishly lets his enemy Jopp
deliver Lucetta's old love letters. Jopp makes the secret public and the townspeople publicly
shame Henchard and Lucetta. Lucetta, who by this point is pregnant, dies of an epileptic seizure.

When Newson, Elizabeth-Jane's biological father, returns, Henchard is afraid of losing her
companionship and tells Newson she is dead. Henchard is once again impoverished, and, as soon
as the twenty-first year of his oath is up, he starts drinking again. By the time Elizabeth-Jane,
who months later is married to Donald Farfrae and reunited with Newson, goes looking for
Henchard to forgive him, he has died and left a will requesting no funeral or fanfare:

"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 consecrated ground. "& that no sexton be asked to toll the bell. "& that
nobody is wished to see my dead body. "& that no murners 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.




  

 

The first of the two Mayors of Casterbridge discussed in this book, Michael Henchard starts his
life as a poor journeyman hay-trusser. He rises above his humble beginnings to become a
successful businessman, until his secrets catch up with him and combine with his inherent
character flaws to bring him down. He belongs to what at the time was the working class, but
aspires to genteel status. He is poorly educated and although he can read (the book shows him
reading a ballad-sheet) he is not good at maths and is not up to date in the scientific or record-
keeping aspect of his business.

Henchard is very physically strong and stands more than six feet tall. He is twenty-one years old
at the start of the story and forty-two to forty-three at the end. The book describes him as being
dark-haired, as well as making repeated references to his dark eyes.

In terms of temperament, Henchard is very impulsive although he also has a tendency to

depression. He tends to take a sudden liking, or a sudden dislike, to other people and can be
verbally abusive and aggressive even when sober. He is respected in Casterbridge, having built
up a strong business almost literally from nothing, but he is not well liked. When he drinks, he
can be vicious. In fact, one of the reasons he does so well in business is because, after he sells his
wife and child, he swears off alcohol for twenty-one years. He can be short-sighted and selfish,
and does not think much of consequences of action. When he decides Farfrae is his enemy, he
wages an economic war that, at first, is extremely one-sided.
A risk-taker, Henchard eventually lets his personal grudge against Farfrae get in the way of his
reasoning abilities. He takes too many risks, gambles too aggressively, and loses his credit, his
business, and most of his fortune.

Henchard always has a way to rationalize his impulsive decision making. He also has no problem
leaving other people to pay for the consequences of his bad decision making. His guilt about his
past leads him to reunite with Susan even though he does not love her. When Lucetta marries
Farfrae, Henchard initially wants to seek retaliation but eventually relents and gives back Lucetta
her letters.

x 


A Scotsman named Donald Farfrae is the second character in the novel who becomes a mayor in
Casterbridge. He is Michael Henchard's opposite in nearly every way. They are physical
opposites. Whereas Henchard is tall, strong, and somewhat clumsy Farfrae is short, lithe, and
well coordinated. Whereas Henchard is not well educated, Farfrae is intelligent and very well
informed about the scientific and business aspects of the grain and corn industry. Henchard is
aggressive and brutal, but Farfrae is gentle and likeable. Henchard is a laborer, but Farfrae is a
well educated member of the merchant class. In short, Farfrae is everything Henchard would
love to be, and loves to pretend that he is. This initially causes Henchard to admire and like
Farfrae, but it eventually leads to jealousy and resentment.

Donald Farfrae arrives in town by chance and passes along a valuable technique for improving
wheat, which saves Henchard a great deal of money and embarrassment. Henchard prevails upon
him to stay in town, hiring him as his manager over the head of another man named Jopp to
whom he had already made a job offer. He immediately brings Henchard's business up to date in
terms of technology and business discipline, and he is charismatic enough to be a far better
manager and leader than Henchard himself.

Farfrae takes an interest in Elizabeth-Jane Newson, who at the time is living as Henchard's
stepdaughter. Both Mr. and Mrs. Henchard approve of the match, until Henchard's growing
jealousy and resentment of Farfrae cause him to feel threatened. Yet Farfrae is too naïve to
realize Henchard is competing with him. He shows Henchard up quite unintentionally by
throwing a better party than Henchard himself, and Henchard fires him. Afterwards, Farfrae
considers leaving town but stays for Elizabeth-Jane's sake until Henchard tells him to keep away
from her. Henchard revokes that order later, after he reads Susan's deathbed confession and
realizes Elizabeth-Jane is not really his daughter, at which point Farfrae attempts to start courting
Elizabeth-Jane again and is distracted by Lucetta.

Farfrae does not realize he is competing with Henchard for Lucetta's attention, or that Lucetta is
the woman his former boss wooed, abandoned, and is trying to reclaim. Farfrae marries her and
does not learn of her association with Henchard until after Lucetta's first seizure. After Lucetta's
death and Henchard's return to the bottle, followed by the return of Captain Newson, Farfrae
marries Elizabeth-Jane.


Ñ

 



Susan is an honest but simple-minded woman who, as a young woman, is married to Michael
Henchard but sold (along with her baby girl Elizabeth-Jane) at a drunken auction to a sailor by
the name of Newson. She believes there is something legally binding about the sale, and goes to
live with Newson as his wife. The baby Elizabeth-Jane dies three months later, and Susan has a
daughter with Newson whom she names Elizabeth-Jane. It is this second Elizabeth-Jane whom
she later passes off as Henchard's daughter.

After living for years with Newson in Canada, the family of three returns to England. One
spring, Newson (who believes his wife is having second thoughts about the validity of their
marriage) is lost at sea. The impoverished widow "Newson" returns with Elizabeth-Jane, who is
now about eighteen years old. A reader who cares to do the math will realize immediately that
there's something fishy about Elizabeth-Jane's age. In any case, Susan has never told Elizabeth-
Jane about Henchard or her first marriage, and certainly never told her about the auction
incident.

Because she has no way to earn a living, Susan approaches Henchard for help. She does not
correct his assumption that he is Elizabeth-Jane's father, nor does she tell anyone about the
auction incident. Henchard sends her a gift of five guineas (the amount for which he sold her to
Newson, and which is no doubt substantially less than what he sent his mistress Lucetta when
breaking off the affair) and sets her up as a genteel new arrival to town. He courts her and
remarries her. She does not tell him the truth about Elizabeth-Jane until her death a year or two
later, when she writes a deathbed confession and seals it in an envelope to be opened only on
Elizabeth-Jane's wedding day.

 
 




About eighteen years old when she and her mother arrive in Casterbridge, Elizabeth-Jane is the
daughter of Newson. She is a sweet, innocent young woman who is ignorant of the social graces
required of a mayor's stepdaughter. She strives to improve herself, reading constantly and
studying Latin and geography. Gradually she transforms herself into the kind of sophisticated
young lady Henchard believes he ought to have as a daughter. When Henchard alternates
between doting on her and verbally abusing her, she never understands why, especially when
Henchard (mistakenly) reveals the "truth" about who her father was. She never really lives up to
Henchard's expectations of her and is often unhappy.

Elizabeth-Jane is a fairly passive person who does not let sudden wealth (or the loss of it) affect
her much. After her mother's death she accepts Lucetta's invitation to live with her as a
companion or chaperone. She develops feelings for Donald Farfrae until Lucetta attracts him
away from her, and is disappointed for a while but is ultimately happy when she is reunited with
her father Newson (who turns out not to be lost at all) and marries Farfrae also.


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A native of the island of Jersey, the Francophone Lucette Le Sueur is the daughter of a military
officer. She lives a nomadic life, and after the death of her parents takes lodging in a boarding-
house in Jersey. There she meets Michael Henchard, who is traveling on business and who is
taken sick with a bout of severe depression. She becomes infatuated with him, and he indulges
her affection for him without too much regard for appearances.

Lucetta is a few years older than Elizabeth-Jane and far more refined. She speaks fluent French
as well as English, but conceals her knowledge of the language because she does not want her
history in Jersey to become well known. She's impulsive, like Henchard, but not spiteful or mean
although she lets money and status go to her head. After she marries, she slights Henchard and
puts on airs, alienating Henchard and refusing to help Jopp (an old acquaintance of hers) obtain
employment.

Exactly how far the affair between Lucetta and Henchard went is unclear. The book strongly
suggests that the two of them have had sexual relations, but is ambiguous enough to not offend
the sensibilities of 19th century readers. Whatever happened was enough for Lucetta's reputation
to be so irreparably tarnished that the only solution for her is to leave Jersey and change her
name. She takes the last name of her deceased relative, Templeman, and alters her first name to
make it sound more English.

It is important to notice that scandal would not have broken out if all Lucetta and Henchard did
was walk, talk, or dine together in a boarding house. They would have had to have spent a
considerable amount of time alone together, or they would have to have been caught in a very
compromising situation. In any case Henchard does propose marriage, stating that there was a
risk his first wife would return. Lucetta accepts the proposal, so the two are engaged. Henchard
returns to Casterbridge leaving Lucetta to bear the full brunt of the scandal until he is ready to
bring her to town, and she writes him passionate letters on a daily basis. Of course, it is at this
inopportune time that Susan arrives. Henchard cancels the engagement and sends Lucetta a
substantial gift of money.

Lucetta is scheduled to stop and pick up her love letters to Henchard, but a family emergency
(specifically, the death of her only living relative who was quite wealthy) intervenes. Lucetta is
left with substantial means. When she learns of Susan's death, she moves to Casterbridge to
determine whether she should pick up her association with Henchard where she left off. She's
agreeable to the match at first, but as she learns more about Henchard she likes him less and her
rosy outlook and tendency to rationalize away his cruel treatment of others decreases over time.
Besides, she's attracted to Donald Farfrae instead.

Given that Henchard married somebody else, their original engagement to each other is null and
void. Yet Henchard, who finds himself very interested in Lucetta particularly since she has come
into money, bullies Lucetta into accepting his proposal again. Lucetta elopes with Farfrae, and
incurs Henchard's wrath. He retrieves her love letters, toys with the idea of exposing her secret to
her new husband, and eventually sends her love letters by way of Jopp, who has reason to hate
both Henchard and Lucetta. The love affair becomes public, and the scandal eventually
contributes to Lucetta's death.




A relatively minor character, Jopp lived in Jersey until Henchard invited him to Casterbridge to
work as his new manager and corn-factor. He was effectively hired by Henchard, subject to an
interview that never happened because Henchard impulsively hired Farfrae instead, leaving Jopp
without employment.

After being brushed off by Henchard, Jopp is unable to find regular employment and gradually
sinks into poverty. Henchard hires him after he dismisses Farfrae, thinking to use him for his
dirty work. But Jopp is not the manager Farfrae was and the business collapses, leaving Jopp out
of work and Henchard bankrupt.

When Lucetta marries Donald Farfrae, Jopp (who knew her in Jersey) asks her, as an old
acquaintance, to put in a good word for him with Farfrae so as to help him find work. Lucetta
refuses for reasons that are not clear, but that could be read as reluctance to keep a potential
blackmailer close by or a high-and-mighty refusal to help anybody. Henchard by this time is
using Jopp to run errands, and charges him with the important task of returning Lucetta's love
letters, which Jopp decides to publicly read first. He is instrumental in putting together the
skimmington ride, which is a public procession designed to mock and humiliate people, in order
to publicize the affair between Henchard and Lucetta so as to hurt both. It is during the
skimmington ride that the pregnant Lucetta suffers her first seizure and becomes fatally ill.

  



Newson starts out as a sailor of indeterminate rank. He does have ready money which he uses to
buy Susan and Elizabeth-Jane at the beginning of the book, so he has clearly not been pressed
into service and has money from some source. However he is not a gentleman from a family of
independent means: when he is supposedly lost at sea after his return from Canada, he leaves
Susan and Elizabeth-Jane nearly penniless. However, he finishes the story as a sea-captain. To
do this in private enterprise (much less in the English Navy) he would have had to have been a
man of great personal initiative.

Newson is described as having light-colored hair, a trait which Elizabeth-Jane shares and which
initially causes some confusion for Henchard since his infant daughter had dark hair like
Henchard's own. He appears to have been kind to Elizabeth-Jane, who loves him dearly. He also
seems to be somewhat gullible, believing at first that his marriage to Susan is legally binding.
When he returns after Susan's death looking for Elizabeth-Jane, he believes Henchard who tells
him that Elizabeth-Jane died too. He doesn't even look for his daughter's grave, but leaves town
quickly only to return, hopefully, once more. He is eventually reunited with Elizabeth-Jane.
Newson must have had a gentle and forgiving temperament, because he bears no grudge against
Henchard for trying to steal his daughter.