Casterbridge is a small town and its layout is rather simple, not dissimilar to modern towns. The church in the village represents the heart of the community and is where all businesses and shops are located. The housing seems like it would be that of a rather modernized style as the windows are described as ‘overhanging’. There were general activities that took place in the village, such as: the market and the harvests, which took place every year. The farmers used to go to the church to pray for rain whilst crops were in the growing process but after the harvest farmers went to show their appreciation for the success of their years harvest again by visiting the church. The workers had to wake up at extremely early hours so they could take full advantage of the amounts of sunlight; business for the farmers was difficult as the hours of sunlight was limited and the machinery was limited. Also, in the town of Casterbridge “The Farmers as a role preferred the open Carrefour for their transactions.”
The people of Casterbridge lived relatively ordinary yet different lives and we can see from the story that there is a divide between the poor and the rich: there are no bourgeoisie in Casterbridge. The people made a living from farming, making clothes out of poor materials, hay trussing or working for part of a business. The shops in Casterbridge didn’t have allocated closing times and were customer orientated, meaning that they shut when all of the customers in the shop had left. The items that were being sold there were: food, farming utensils, clothes and things which come in useful for practical everyday use.
Farfrae had purchased a seed drill and put it on display in Casterbridge, the people of the town had mixed feelings but most of the townsfolk didn’t accept the new idea of the “seed drill” as they were stubborn, unwilling to change the opinions they hold, and were more than happy to stick to the old ways of harvesting crops. So this immediately created conflict between those in favour for the new seed drill and those not. Henchard arrives upon the scene and dismisses the idea of the “seed drill” being a revolutionizing step forward as this was one of the first inventions which actually lead to a signicant break through of machinery. This led to a decrease in workers and time taken for the jobs to be completed. Obviously this was done to save his business in the farming industry. In the times of ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ is was acknowledged that after farmers had gone to pray for the improvement of their crops, they would, immediately after, visit the inn called, “The Three Mariners”. This is where Henchard is when Susan and Elizabeth-Jane return back to the town.
The people of Casterbridge had lived the same lifestyle through out their life in the town. Most of the people awoke at extremely early hours in order to start work. In comparison to other Wessex market towns, the people of Casterbridge had a slow pace of life. Almost certainly corn buying and selling would have taken place in other towns. The majority of people in the town had agricultural jobs such as farming and worked long days, there were different jobs in this industry such as being a hay trusser, a Wagoner, maid, an innkeeper and people worked on farms. The difference between the rich and the poor was staggering. For instance, a Wagoner roughly earns 8 shillings a week, where as a maid earns roughly 12-13 pounds a year. There is a great difference between the clothes that belong to the poor and those of the rich, poor people usually bought cheap market clothes or made their own, whereas the rich ordered their clothes from top manufacturing companies in London. Henchards is described as wearing:
“ a short jacket of brown corduroy, newer than the remainder of his suit, which was a fustian waistcoat with white horn buttons, breeches of the same, tanned leggings, and a straw hat overlaid with black glazed canvas”
The description of Lucettas London dresses is typical of top class dress that was custom made especially for her of expensive fabrics.
Some of the activities which were part of the lifestyle of Wessex were: harvest times, market days, skimmity (occasionally), buying and selling, and fairs, which was where the events were taking place when Henchard committed those stupid and costly actions which resulted in him selling his wife. The Mayor then was an extremely important position and was looked upon as someone with a high status. Being the mayor meant that you had your own personal office and became well known. In order to become the mayor you have to be a successful, highly respected, and confident person. Indeed, there were often royal visits, which required preparation for the town, indicating the importance of such a role.
Thomas Hardy was passionate about architecture and history, from housing to the inventions of machines, which greatly contributed to the revolutionising of the modern world. He stages a debate between the country life and the town life with different characters representing different attitudes. He writes about the seed shop, timbered cottages, overhanging windows, flowers, and Abel Whittle’s home in great detail. This shows us about his eye for detail and his interest in the visual and architecture. He talks about the surroundings of the village that are: the Pommerle, the roman amphitheatre and the weir pool, fields of corn, dusty roads and hay barns. These things are connected with the Romans as fields of corn was the normal sight of Roman times, as roads were simply worn paths into the countryside and were very dusty. Bulls were often a regular sight and they were left to roam freely and the corn was stored in barns. The suggestion is that nothing has much changed since Roman times and the countryside is a natural law existing in its own right.