“Everybody else, from the Mayor to the washerwoman, shone in new vesture according to means; but Henchard had doggedly retained the fretted and weather-beaten garments of bygone years.” (Page 261 depending on which version you have)
His ragged appearance at a royal procession shows just how deep he had fallen into depression and oblivion.
“Though modern usage of the word ‘hero’ indicates a nobler persona, at its roots a hero is simply the main character of any story, and not necessarily a knight in shining armour.” ()
I think that this is very true with Michael Henchard as he had his fair share of faults and poor judgements for example he would often be spontaneous which would normally end up with him looking more of a fool. This was shown with selling his wife, deciding to hide his past problems, and buying over-priced grain, Henchard’s lack of self-control gets worse with each problem. He is also a very proud man, which turns into stubbornness later in the book. On page 259 (depending on your version) he indignantly proclaims I’ll welcome his Royal Highness, or nobody shall” showing his childish need for control and superiority.
At the end of The Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael wills that no one remember his name after his death. This request is very surprising and tragic, especially when one thinks how very important Henchard's name has been to him during his life. For example after selling his wife and child, Henchard wakes from a hangover and the first thing he thinks is if he told any of the fair-goers his name.
Yet another one of his faults is that Michael Henchard Guilt acts like a fuel that keeps Henchard moving toward his own demise. Example unable to forget the events that took place in the furmity-woman's tent, he sets out to punish himself for them again and again. While he might have found happiness by marrying Lucetta, for instance, Henchard determines to make amends for the past by remarrying a woman he never loved in the first place Susan.
It is almost as though Henchard seems to seek out situations that promise further embarrassment. Example although Donald Farfrae eventually gets Henchard's job, business, and even his loved ones, it is Henchard who insists on creating the competition that he eventually loses and he repeats this loss over and over again during the book.
“Whatever the pain, Henchard bears it. It is this resilience, in the end, that elevates him to the level of a hero-a man” (Sparknotes.com)
This quote above is very ironic as after looking around I found out that the status of Hero-a man means someone whos name deserves remembering which is exsacly what he was trying not to do.
In tragedies the hero brings about his own fall through some tragic flaw in himself, and Henchard is not different. Henchard becomes the victim of a classic tragic flaw pride. It is his pride that causes him to sell his wife and child a decision that he will regret. His pride also leads him to become jealous of his employee Farfrae. When people begin to respect Farfrae more than they respect him, Henchard becomes hostile towards Farfrae. Henchard’s hostile behaviour causes Farfrae to begin his own business, a business that will eventually rival Henchard’s own. Henchard’s pride leads to his financial downfall as well. In his effort to keep his business better than Farfrae’s, Henchard risks a great portion of his wealth guessing the harvest, and he loses his money and becomes bankrupt.
While searching on the internet I found this book called Modern Critical Interpretations: Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge by Harold Bloom and I found this small clip and here it is:
“As the most powerful and eloquent of all of Hardy's writing. Indeed, there is a remarkable power and beauty in the simplicity of these lines. Henchard's will is the tragic last statement of a tragic man whose unremitting doubts regarding his life's worth not only lead to his death but also follow him there. From the moment Henchard sells his wife at the Weydon fair, he feels a keen anxiety over the value of his name. He pledges a twenty-one-year reprieve from alcohol and sets himself on a course that delivers him to the most honoured business and social offices of a small country town. Unsatisfied with this seeming reformation of himself, however, he continues to let his guilt eat away at him and eventually relinquishes the name and reputation he has built for himself. His last wish, to be allowed to die anonymously and to go un-remembered, is the ultimate gesture of a man who craves good repute but doubts his own worth.”
“Henchard also experiences the moment of recognition that is characteristic of tragic heroes when he is wandering as a lowly hay-trusser at the end of the novel; he recognizes his pride. The emotions are also purged at the end of the novel. After he gains insight into himself, Henchard is a relatively good man again, and because of that, the reader is purged when Elizabeth Jane and Farfrae find him dead and are able to mourn him.” ()
Conclusion:
At first when reading the mayor of Casterbridge I thought that Michael Henchard was a fool and disliked him but After reading most of the Mayor of Casterbridge, watching the film and writing this essay I now have pity for the character and in a way admire him. This is what I think that Thomas Hardy was trying to achieve when writing the Mayor of Casterbridge and the character of Michael Henchard that is pity and admiration.
Whether this is what all generations interpretated of the book I’m not sure but I would imagine that when the book was written in 1886 that it would be the middle classes and thoes that would of worked for there money that would of aprechated it more.