The Mayor of Casterbridge - Henchard Vs Farfrae

Authors Avatar

 

The Mayor of Casterbridge – English Essay

Henchard Vs Farfrae

“Farfrae’s good fortune is a result of Henchard’s ill luck.”

Consider this view, commenting upon Hardy’s use of;

  • Characterisation
  • Language
  • Historical and social background
  • Craft in the structure of the novel

Thomas Hardy wrote the novel ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ in 1886. Two of the main characters, Donald Farfrae and Michael Henchard have a contrast in luck and Hardy uses characterisation, language, historical and social background and a craft in the structure of his novel to help bring across this point. During this essay I am going to comment upon how Hardy does this and further consider the view that, Farfrae’s good fortune is a result of Henchard’s ill luck.

Throughout the novel there are many examples of Farfrae’s good fortune resulting in Henchard’s ill luck. One of the most important examples in the book is when Henchard and Farfrae both gamble on the weather. Henchard is told that the weather will be awful and the harvest would be ruined so he buys up all the grain early hoping to sell it off for more. Farfrae on the other hand risks the weather hoping it’ll be a good harvest. When the weather turns out good and Henchard has to sell his grain off for even less than he brought it for, he becomes bankrupt and looses everything. Whereas Farfrae makes a lot of money on the good harvest and ends up owning Henchard’s manor house, furniture and even his business. This good fortune for Farfrae is a result of Henchard’s ill luck because if Henchard risked the weather he wouldn’t have lost his money, home or business which means Farfrae wouldn’t have got any of it.

Hardy uses characterisation to shape his characters and to make them who they are. As an author he is very good at this as he is seen as a novelist of character and environment because of his great in-depth descriptions of both. As well as shaping and creating characters, characterisation is also used to show how Farfrae and Henchard react and interact with other characters. Both of these types of characterisation link in with Farfrae’s good fortune and Henchard’s ill luck.

Hardy creates Henchard not as an evil man but more of tragic hero. This is a person with a fatal flaw. Henchard’s main flaw is his temper. This first adds to his ill luck right at the start of the novel when he sells Susan and his daughter in a drunken angry state. Even though this does not directly link in with Farfrae’s good fortune (as he is not present in the start of the novel) it does later on in the novel when the furmity seller arrives back and tells the court of Henchard’s secret. When Henchard admits to what is being said by the old women all respect is lost for him and he looses his role of town mayor. When Farfrae finally becomes mayor near the end of the novel (after the mayor after Henchard dies) his good fortune is a result of Henchard’s ill luck which is the result of his fatal flaw. Hardy also uses fate against Henchard throughout the whole novel. An example of this is when Henchard and Farfrae both hold a dance for the townspeople. Farfrae has his in a barn whereas Henchard’s is out in the open. When it rains on the night of the dance everyone turns out to Farfrae’s even Susan and Elizabeth-Jane. This leads to Farfrae’s popularity rising and Henchard’s to carry on decreasing (as the dance was a hope to regain some status in the town). This good fortune for Farfrae is once again a result of Henchard’s ill luck. There is some irony in the case of the dance because even though Henchard is a greedy man and Farfrae is more generous with his money, Henchard’s dance is free and there is an admission to Farfrae’s.

Join now!

Farfrae is brought across very differently from Henchard. He does not have any major flaws and fate and chance work with him rather than against. An example of this is with Lucetta. Farfrae only went to High-Place Hall to see Elizabeth Jane and meets Lucetta totally by chance. Farfrae and Lucetta get along very well from there first meeting and end up marrying each other. This good fortune for Farfrae is kind of a result of Henchard’s ill luck because just before he married Lucetta, she had promised to marry Henchard but she broke her promise because she heard of ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

Avatar

*** 3 STARS This essay shows knowledge and understanding of the novel and the intricacies of its plot. There is some good analysis of structure and some social and historical context. However this essay would not achieve a high grade as PEA (point, evidence, analysis) is not used. Quotes are needed to support comments - especially when discussing language. The conclusion also needs to be less abrupt.