The Mayor of Casterbridge (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Hardy
- First Published: 1886
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Nineteenth century
- Setting: Wessex, England
- Principal Characters: Michael Henchard, Susan Henchard-Newson, Elizabeth-Jane Newson, Richard Newson, Donald Farfrae, Lucetta le Sueur
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Genealogy, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, England or English people, Business or business people, Fate or fatalism, Merchants
- Locales: Wessex, England
The Story:
On a late summer afternoon in the early nineteenth century, a young farm couple with their baby arrived on foot at the village of Weydon-Priors. A fair was in progress. The couple, tired and dusty, entered a refreshment tent where the husband proceeded to get so drunk that he offered his wife and child for sale. A sailor, a stranger in the village, bought the wife, Susan, and the child, Elizabeth-Jane, for five guineas. The young woman tore off her wedding ring and threw it in her drunken husband’s face; then, carrying her child, she followed the sailor out of the...
[The entire page is 2297 words long]
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