The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy
The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of Thomas Hardy’s better known books. It tells of the decline of Michael Henchard, who has progressed from a humble Hay Trusser to become a thriving corn merchant the Mayor of Casterbridge. But he has a secret, which is that he sold his wife and child to a sailor whilst drunk at a fair.
His nemesis is a charismatic young man Donald Farfrae who joins Trenchard’s business and improves it. But Henchard is jealous of Farfrae’s popularity and success. In many ways the book is a study of the two mens’ characters. They are opposites, Henchard is rash and lacks judgement, whilst Farfrae is measured; Henchard is dour whilst Farfrae is charismatic and attractive to women.
The women in the book, Henchard’s wife, daughter and an old flame, are pawns in the men’s rivalry.
Henchard’s rashness and bad luck, especially with the weather, lead to his downfall and Farfrae’s success in replacing Henchard as corn factor and Mayor. A line in the last paragraph of the book sums up the feeling of the book – “she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen”.
As well as the main narrative, the book gives the reader an insight to country and small town life in the early 19th century.
The group found the book fascinating, but not as easy read due to Hardy’s rather wordy style. Some of the comments included Tragic, Irascible and Predictable.