Themes

• Consequences of impulsive actions
• Struggle between fate and free will
• Redemption and atonement
• Pride and ambition
• Effects of the past on the present
• Class and social status
• The role of chance in human affairs

Setting

The Mayor of Casterbridge takes place in the mid-19th century in Wessex, Hardy’s fictionalized version of the rural southwestern counties of England, with the town of Casterbridge serving as a stand-in for Dorchester in Dorset. The novel vividly portrays the transition from traditional agricultural practices to more modern farming methods during this period.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of a close-knit rural community, where the fortunes of its inhabitants are closely tied to the success of the hay and grain trade. Hardy paints a detailed picture of the town's social hierarchy, from the prosperous merchants and politicians to the working-class laborers. The annual country fair, where the story begins, serves as a microcosm of the larger society, highlighting the customs and traditions of rural England.

While much of the action takes place within Casterbridge, the novel also touches on broader geographical elements. References to nearby villages, the surrounding countryside, and even distant locations like Jersey and Scotland help to situate Casterbridge within the wider world.

Characters

• Michael Henchard: The protagonist and titular Mayor of Casterbridge. He begins as a hay-trusser who drunkenly sells his wife and child, then rises to become a successful merchant and mayor. Henchard is a complex character, prone to impulsive decisions and self-destructive behavior, yet capable of deep remorse and attempts at redemption. His pride and temper ultimately lead to his downfall.
• Susan Henchard/Newson: Michael's wife who is sold at the fair. She returns to Casterbridge years later with her daughter Elizabeth-Jane, seeking Henchard. Susan is a quiet, long-suffering woman who agrees to remarry Henchard to provide stability for her daughter.
• Elizabeth-Jane Newson: The young woman raised as Henchard's daughter, though actually fathered by Newson. Intelligent and kind-hearted, she becomes a companion to Lucetta. Elizabeth-Jane ultimately marries Donald Farfrae.
• Donald Farfrae: A young Scottish merchant who becomes Henchard's business manager and eventual rival. Farfrae is charming, honest, and successful in both business and romance. He marries Lucetta and then later married Elizabeth-Jane. Eventually, he replaces Henchard as mayor.
• Lucetta Templeman: A woman from Jersey who had a romantic relationship with Henchard in the past. She comes to Casterbridge hoping to marry Henchard but falls in love with Farfrae instead. Lucetta's scandalous past leads to her public shaming and eventual death.
• Richard Newson: The sailor who purchases Susan and Elizabeth-Jane at the fair. He is believed dead for much of the novel but returns near the end, seeking his daughter.
• Joshua Jopp: A man denied a job by Henchard in favor of Farfrae. He harbors resentment and plays a role in exposing Lucetta's past. Jopp represents the consequences of Henchard's impulsive decision-making.

Quick facts

• The Mayor of Casterbridge was first published as a weekly serial in 1886 before being released as a book.
• Thomas Hardy wrote the entire novel in just over a year, from 1884 to 1885.
• The novel's full title is The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character.
• The book's original print run was only 750 copies due to the publisher's lack of confidence in its appeal.
• The Mayor of Casterbridge is considered one of Hardy's “Wessex novels,” set in his semi-fictional version of southwestern England.
• The fictional town of Casterbridge is based on Dorchester in Dorset, where Hardy grew up.
• According to Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge is the only novel that made him weep while writing it.
• The novel’s opening scene of a man selling his wife was inspired by real-life events.
• The novel has been adapted into multiple films, TV series, radio plays, and even an opera.
• One of the most notable adaptations is BBC-TV’s 1978 seven-part series starring Alan Bates as Michael Henchard.

About the author

Thomas Hardy was an English novelist and poet. His work was sharply critical of many aspects of Victorian society, particularly the declining status of rural people and the rigid view of morality. Often featuring tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, his novels include Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved (1892) and Jude the Obscure (1895).

Born in Dorset, a hamlet near Dorchester, in 1840, Hardy was homeschooled by his well-read mother until the age of eight and later attended a local academy, where he excelled in Latin. His formal education ended at age sixteen, because his family lacked the means for a university education. He was apprenticed to a local architect, and in 1862, moved to London to study architecture. While working for a noted architect, he began to write poetry. Despite his professional success, he never felt at home in London due to his keen awareness of class divisions and his social inferiority. After five years, he returned to Dorset, settling in Weymouth, and decided to dedicate himself to writing.

In 1870, he met his first wife, Emma Gifford. Over the next 30 years, he published more than 900 poems and his epic drama in verse, The Dynasts, as well as several acclaimed novels. After a long and bitter estrangement, Emma Hardy died in 1912. Paradoxically, the event triggered some of Hardy's finest love poetry. In 1914, he married Florence Dugdale, a close friend for several years. In 1910, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Merit and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was nominated again for the prize 11 years later and received a total of 25 nominations until 1927. Hardy died on January 11, 1928. His ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey and his heart at Stinsford in Dorset.