character. Many, including this one, are titled after the dominant personality within the narrative. However, Henchard cannot be fully understood or appreciated without considering the context Hardy provides through the character of Donald Farfrae, who is in many ways Henchard's opposite yet also his spiritual son. Henchard's intense affection for Farfrae explains his equally intense hatred for the young man. Although Farfrae is a man of the future and a businessman, he is not evil or malicious. His talent for singing and his charming voice endear him to the Casterbridge community and readers alike. Always ready to sing and dance, Donald serves as a reminder that, despite its challenges, there is an alternative to the bitter earnestness and solemnity of the novel's other characters.

As we lament the calculated business strategies that propel Farfrae beyond his former mentor, we see a complex mix of charity and ruthlessness in Donald's character. His marriages to Lucetta and later Elizabeth-Jane, women who are dear to Henchard in different ways, cannot be deemed malicious. There is no evidence that he acts to undermine Henchard's interests, but each action inadvertently adds to Henchard's suffering. The same applies to Donald's purchase of the ex-mayor's house and furniture following Henchard's economic downfall. He even offers Henchard the chance to reclaim his prized possessions, but to a man of Henchard's intense pride, such possession is surely a source of pain. If Farfrae does not recognize the pain he causes Henchard, he must be insensitive. If he does recognize it and continues, he is crass and uncaring.

A prime example of this occurs after the downfall of the old mayor. Donald suggests setting up Henchard in a small grain shop. Hardy's narrator describes this as a "kindly scheme," highlighting charity and concern, even though Farfrae asks the town council to fund a venture he could easily support himself. When the Council rejects the idea because Henchard, now drunk, has been publicly criticizing Farfrae, he insists he can't abandon the man who "enabled me to make a footing for myself," but reluctantly drops the plan. It seems Farfrae's charity stops where public opinion starts. This significant event enriches the novel's plot. When Henchard hears about it, he mistakenly believes Farfrae blocked, rather than initiated, the plan to help him. This misinformation, of course, fuels Henchard's resentment towards his former protégé.

The women in The Mayor of Casterbridge are notably frustrating in their passivity. Unlike the strong female leads in The Return of the Native (1878) and Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891; see separate entry), Susan, Lucetta, and even Elizabeth-Jane seem deeply submissive to the male characters. Susan accepts her husband selling her to Newson, then seeks him out and eventually forgives him years later. One might interpret her letter about Elizabeth-Jane's paternity as a subtle revenge from beyond the grave, but this doesn't align with the tone of her letter or Hardy's depiction of her character. Lucetta, after her fortunes improve, moves to be near her ex-lover and forms a bond with his daughter based on their shared interest in both Henchard and Farfrae. However, the two women don't develop a particularly close friendship based on their shared exploitation by Henchard. Lucetta's death illustrates an unfortunate cliché in late nineteenth-century portrayals of women by male authors. Devastated by the public scandal of the Skimmington-ride, Lucetta takes to her bed, suffers a miscarriage, and dies of mortification. In this scene, Hardy perpetuates many clichés about Victorian women, mainly that they were the "weaker sex" who succumbed to public pressures and might prefer death over dishonor. Ultimately, however, Hardy's plot requires Lucetta's removal so Farfrae can court Elizabeth-Jane, setting the stage for the final blow to Henchard's pride.

Elizabeth-Jane initially appears to closely resemble her mother. She passively accepts Henchard's seething rage when he discovers she is not his daughter and obediently moves in with Lucetta to avoid further angering the former mayor. Although she becomes learned and even wise, she selflessly cares for Henchard as his fortunes decline, only voicing her rightful grievance when she discovers that Henchard's lie drove her true father away. At that point, she declares she cannot forgive Henchard. When he humbles himself to bring a gift for her wedding to Farfrae, she rejects him in a distinctly Victorian manner, "how can I [love Henchard] when I know you have deceived me—so bitterly deceived me!" Though her rebuke drives the once-prominent citizen into deep despair, Elizabeth-Jane eventually relents and is the one who finds the repentant Henchard dead. She learns her place in the sorrowful scheme of things with Hardy's concluding sentiment: "happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain."

The women in The Mayor of Casterbridge seem much less assertive compared to those in many of Hardy's other novels. Despite the overarching nostalgia for a lost rural landscape that permeates the book, the minor characters, especially those living in Mien Lane, the ghetto of Casterbridge, are depicted with minimal sympathy. One of the gossips at the town pump is said to have stolen the pennies from Susan Henchard's dead eyes, and Simon Longwell defends this act. The four pennies were spent in a bar. Jopp, who holds a grudge against both Michael and Lucetta, retaliates by reading aloud in a pub from letters Henchard foolishly trusted him to return to Lucetta. Partly titillated and partly scandalized by the contents of these letters, the group, led by the same man who stole the pennies from Mrs. Henchard's eyes, proposes the Skimington-ride that leads to Lucetta's death. Although there is minor objection to the cruel spectacle, sufficient enthusiasm is generated to carry out this public humiliation, which requires enough preparation to rule out a spontaneous act by the community. Indeed, except for the late-sleeping Abel Whittle, the entire rural yeoman/peasant class depicted by Hardy is portrayed as a nasty and brutish bunch. As the omniscient narrator describes, the viciousness of Mien Lane, where the ragged people gather, is another symptom of a declining culture: "farm labourers and other peasants, who combined a little poaching with a little farming, and a little brawling and bibbing with their farming and poaching, found themselves sooner or later in Mien Lane." Whether this phenomenon reflects the decay of the feudal peasantry or the inevitable depravity of modern urban culture is uncertain. But regardless of the cause, Mien Lane represents urban blight, and its inhabitants are far from the romantically viewed English peasants.

Donald Farfrae
Donald Farfrae, a young Scot, arrives in Casterbridge around the same time as Susan and Elizabeth-Jane. He becomes Michael Henchard’s business manager, quickly earning Henchard's trust and friendship, only to later become his rival in both business and love.

Hardy portrays Farfrae as Henchard’s opposite in every aspect. Farfrae is physically small, polite, charming, careful, controlled, forward-thinking, and methodical. While Henchard often acts impulsively and shapes his fate through rash decisions, Farfrae remains cool and calculating in all his actions. Despite his friendly and engaging demeanor, Farfrae maintains a certain detachment from people and events, always weighing the potential consequences of his choices. As a result, his journey through life is smooth compared to Henchard’s turbulent path.

Farfrae begins his relationship with Henchard by providing crucial information that helps Henchard solve a business issue and refusing Henchard’s offer of payment. Henchard, deeply grateful and impressed, persuades Farfrae to abandon his plans to move to America and instead take a job as his business manager.

Under Farfrae’s organized and methodical management, the business flourishes. His ambition leads him to eventually start his own business, which infuriates Henchard. Despite this, Farfrae, in his typically principled manner, tries to minimize direct competition between their firms.

Farfrae courts Elizabeth-Jane and suggests he would marry her if he were financially stable. However, upon meeting the newly wealthy Miss Templeman—Henchard’s former lover, whom Henchard is also courting—he shifts his affections and marries her.

Farfrae’s careful approach to life allows him to acquire everything that once belonged to Henchard. At Henchard’s bankruptcy sale, Farfrae buys his business, home, and furniture. He marries Henchard’s former lover, and after her death, marries Elizabeth-Jane. Farfrae even becomes the highly respected and well-liked mayor of Casterbridge.

For Farfrae, the competition with Henchard is never personal or malicious. When the destitute Henchard asks for a job, Farfrae hires him and ensures that Henchard never receives orders directly from him. Farfrae also offers Henchard any furniture or personal belongings he wishes to reclaim from the bankruptcy sale.

The Furmity Woman
The furmity woman operates the shop where Michael, at the novel's beginning, gets drunk and sells Susan. She reappears eighteen years later when Susan and Elizabeth-Jane return to the village to find Henchard. The furmity woman remembers that Henchard returned a year after the sale and informed her that he was moving to Casterbridge. He instructed her to relay this information to any woman inquiring about him.

The furmity woman makes a final appearance in Casterbridge to seal Henchard’s fate. As a judge, Henchard encounters the furmity woman, who, when brought before him on a public obscenity charge, recognizes him and exposes his shameful past to the court.

Elizabeth-Jane Henchard
At the beginning of the novel, Susan is carrying an infant daughter named Elizabeth-Jane. She takes the baby with her when she leaves with Newson. Eighteen years later, readers see Susan again with her daughter, and Hardy gives the impression that this is the same child grown up. Only later do readers discover that Henchard’s daughter died a few months after he sold Susan, and that this girl is actually Newson’s daughter.

As Susan and the eighteen-year-old Elizabeth-Jane search for Henchard, Elizabeth-Jane is unaware of her mother’s marriage to Henchard. She believes that her mother and Newson were legally married and that Susan is now seeking a distant relative by marriage who might assist them.

Early in the novel, Elizabeth-Jane’s natural beauty and intelligence are overshadowed by her poverty. She lacks education and has no prospects. This is why Susan is willing to risk the possibility of being rejected and humiliated again by Henchard; she views him as her daughter’s only hope for a better future.

Once Henchard starts providing for her, Elizabeth-Jane flourishes both physically and socially. She becomes the town beauty and is admired by young men, including Farfrae, whom Elizabeth-Jane has been fond of since their first encounter.

Hardy portrays Elizabeth-Jane as a balanced blend of practicality and deep emotion. When Henchard’s money allows her to wear nice clothes, she enjoys them but doesn’t overspend or flaunt her status. She also uses her newfound leisure time to read and study, aiming to improve herself as she has always been embarrassed by her lack of education. When Farfrae leaves her for Miss Templeman, Elizabeth-Jane quietly withdraws despite her love for him.

Unable to hold a grudge or stay bitter, Elizabeth-Jane eventually marries Farfrae after Miss Templeman dies. Although she lashes out at Henchard upon discovering that he lied to keep her from Newson, she soon forgives him and searches for him. She is moved by Henchard’s will and respects his wishes.

Michael Henchard
Michael Henchard is the towering yet tragic protagonist of The Mayor of Casterbridge; the novel primarily revolves around his journey. He is a physically imposing and powerful man, embodying a complex blend of light and darkness. Henchard is known for his integrity. Before hiring Farfrae, he manages his business with minimal written documentation, relying on the townspeople's trust in his word. However, he occasionally makes rash and hurtful remarks and follows through on them as if they were formal agreements. Such impulsiveness leads him to sell his wife at the novel's outset. Henchard demonstrates remarkable willpower, keeping an oath for twenty-one years, yet he seldom thinks ahead and can destroy years of effort in a single moment of anger. His honesty is evident when he openly admits the truth of the furmity woman's revelations about his past and when he declares bankruptcy, surrendering everything but his clothes to his creditors. Yet, he lies to Newson about Elizabeth-Jane's death.

At the novel's beginning, Henchard is a young man with limited means but possesses skills, youthful vigor, and a family. He believes his early marriage has ruined his prospects. After disgracefully ridding himself of his wife and child, he abstains from alcohol, which likely fueled his actions, and almost entirely avoids women's company, focusing all his efforts on his business. Initially, the self-imposed punishments for selling Susan lead to his success.

However, fate and Henchard's enduring guilt contribute to his downfall. Fate introduces Donald Farfrae into his life, and Henchard first brings him into his business, only to later make him an adversary. Farfrae, thoughtful and composed, eventually takes over Henchard's public office, wealth, business, home, furniture, lover, and stepdaughter. Henchard's self-destructive tendencies further aid his cruel fate. In his attempts to ruin Farfrae's business, he makes foolish speculations that ruin his own. When he tries to return inflammatory letters to a former lover, he entrusts the task to someone who openly despises him. Even when Elizabeth-Jane is all he has left, he tells lies that alienate her from him.

Henchard ends his journey far poorer than he started, having lost his wife and her child for the second and final time, along with the vitality and potential of his youth. By the conclusion of the novel, he leaves Casterbridge completely alone and soon dies in a hut that becomes his last residence. He passes away before discovering that Elizabeth-Jane has softened her feelings toward him, and his will reveals that he would have preferred it that way. His final wish is essentially to be erased for his transgressions, which a lifetime of repentance could not erase in his own mind. His will requests that Elizabeth-Jane not be informed of his death, that no ceremony mark his passing, that no flowers adorn his grave, and that “no man remember me.”

Susan Henchard
Susan Henchard is Michael's wife at the beginning of the novel. Hardy depicts her as naive and resigned to a life she cannot control. The minor efforts she makes to influence her destiny are futile; she directs Henchard away from what is obviously a saloon to a place that appears not to serve alcohol, only to discover that the proprietor secretly sells rum.

When Michael sells her to a sailor, Susan believes the transaction is legitimate and that she must remain with him. She lives peacefully with the sailor for many years and has a daughter with him before a friend finally makes her realize that she is not bound by Henchard’s action.

After the sailor is presumed lost at sea, Susan sets out to find Henchard, hoping to benefit her daughter. It never seems to occur to her that he might have any obligation to her. Upon learning that Henchard is the mayor of the town and well-off, she does not wish to exploit him or ruin him; instead, she wishes she could leave Casterbridge without confronting him. For her daughter’s sake, she proceeds with her plan to approach him.

Even the people of Casterbridge recognize Susan’s lack of self-identity; they refer to her as a “ghost.” Shortly after ensuring Elizabeth-Jane is on the path Susan hoped for her, Susan dies.

Jopp
Jopp is a nefarious character driven by dark motives. On the day Henchard hires Farfrae as his business manager, Jopp arrives at the office, having previously been offered the position that Farfrae now holds. Upon learning that the job is no longer available, Jopp leaves fuming and determined to seek revenge.

Additional incidents intensify this desire. For instance, Henchard eventually employs Jopp but then unjustly dismisses him when Henchard's own business choices fail. Henchard naively gives Jopp an opportunity for retribution by entrusting him with a package of incriminating letters meant for Miss Templeman. Jopp reads the letters aloud to a tavern crowd, which then organizes a "skimmityride" (a procession of effigies through the town to highlight adultery) that leads to Miss Templeman's death and further disgrace for Henchard.

Newson
Newson is the sailor who purchases Susan at the story's outset. He exhibits some moral principles by stating he will only take Susan if she consents to go with him. His interactions with Susan and Elizabeth-Jane are depicted as kind and amicable. When Susan realizes their relationship is not legitimate, Newson does her a favor by having himself reported as lost at sea, allowing her to leave his home without guilt and with a modest sum of money.

Newson's inherent decency is later shown in his wish to share his wealth with Elizabeth-Jane, his acceptance of Henchard's claim that she has died, and his lack of resentment upon discovering Henchard's deceit. By the novel's end, Newson resides within sight of the sea but also close to his daughter.

Lucetta Templeman
Lucetta Templeman is a shallow and impulsive woman who, similar to Henchard, experiences multiple misfortunes and meets a tragic end. Henchard has an affair with her before Susan arrives in Casterbridge, tarnishing Lucetta's reputation. Trying to mend the damage, Henchard, believing Susan to be dead, proposes to Lucetta. However, before they can marry, Susan returns, forcing Henchard to cancel the wedding.

After Susan's death, Lucetta inherits a fortune, and Henchard rekindles his interest in her. Nevertheless, Lucetta is more attracted to Farfrae and marries him. When Lucetta's old letters to Henchard become public, the scandal resurfaces, causing her such distress that she suffers a seizure and dies. Farfrae soon realizes that Lucetta was not a suitable partner for him and that, had she lived, their marriage would have been unhappy. Themes