Mayor of CasterBridge Essay

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In the MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, to what extent does Hardy represent Henchard as a character who deserves his fate?

In the novel “The mayor of Casterbridge” by Thomas Hardy, Michael Henchard is a character that all of the main events revolve around,  often in the book bad things happen to Henchard and some of the time it is as a consequence of his rash or unjust actions.  The book is set in Victorian England, a time where the industrial revolution was taking place. The last signs of Feudalism were fading away and the toil and struggle of Capitalism was just beginning to be unearthed.  

Henchard starts in the novel as a hay- trusser travelling in need of some business at a fare. He has too much alcohol to drink and sells his wife and daughter. The morning after, he regrets his actions and vows an oath another bible that he will not drink for another 21 year. His wife and daughter look for him and track him in Casterbridge where he has become mayor, however as time goes by he loses all his prosperity and status to a mixture of bad luck and business incompetence. He blames his misfortunes on Farfrae; a young Scottish wheat merchant who started off as an employee of Henchard but later became his rival. Henchard ironically becomes a hay-trusser again eventually dies a lonely and unhappy death. This essay will give an in-depth analysis of what Henchard did to deserve this fate and also analyse the appropriate use of language by Hardy in this novel.

Firstly, Henchard is a very impulsive character. In many occasions in the novel he acts too swiftly. “I married like the fool I was; and this is the consequence o’t”.  This extract is from the beginning of the book and the family seem to be in a bit of financial strain. The quotation shows that Henchard is very cynical in the way he speaks his mind without considering how it will affect other people, in the quotation Henchard refers to his wife and child as “this”, so it shows that he sees them as objects. The reader can infer from this  that Henchard is possibly under pressure as he is looking for trade in this particular time but he seems to be very vulgar as he is targeting those that are close to him to victimise and take his pressure off from himself. Henchard treats his family like his possessions instead of equals. With Henchard being so impulsive and saying the first thing that comes to him it would seem that he deserves anything that comes to him as a result of it.

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On the other hand, Henchard is a very sincere character who appreciates people. “I’d have shared my last crust with that young fellow at one time”. This is what Henchard says about Farfrae after they became foes. Farfrae was a former employee of Henchard but after a misunderstanding he left and became a rival corn seller. The quotation shows that Henchard is a humble person as he did not hate Farfrae for the problems of his past but he remembered that Farfrae had once aided him and was his secretary. The words “my last crust” show how much affection Henchard ...

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