Summary
Summary of The Mayor of Casterbridge
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A drunken bargain leaves lasting shame
Michael Henchard arrives at Weydon Priors out of work and short of money, accompanied by his wife Susan and their daughter Elizabeth-Jane. At a fair, he eats porridge laced with rum and grows bitter about his marriage. He offers Susan for sale, and a sailor named Newson pays five guineas. Susan leaves with him, carrying her child.
The next morning, Henchard wakes ashamed and cannot find his family. He swears to avoid strong drink for twenty-one years, beginning his attempt to live beyond that terrible act.
Key idea 2
Respectability cannot settle an old wrong
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Key idea 3
Friendship brings a different way forward
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Key idea 4
Wounded pride turns friendship into rivalry
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Key idea 5
Love exposes different responses to disappointment
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Key idea 6
A hidden wrong becomes public knowledge
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Key idea 7
The town gives their rivalry meaning
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Key idea 8
Character gives the past its power
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love serious novels in which character shapes fate, and anyone curious about rural England in the nineteenth century. Pride, rivalry and the struggle to atone give this tragedy its force.
What this book is
Imagine selling your own wife and child for five guineas, then waking sober and sick with shame. That bargain comes early in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, first published in 1886. Michael Henchard, a young hay trusser, makes his terrible bargain at a country fair. What follows is the effort of a strong, proud and flawed man to make amends, while his own nature keeps working against him. Hardy sets the tale in Casterbridge, a market town in the south of England as the railways begin to reach the region. Begin at the fair at Weydon Priors, where everything starts.
In this summary
- 1A drunken bargain at the fairFree
- 2Eighteen years later, a ruler of Casterbridge
- 3A clever Scotsman comes to town
- 4Rivalry, pride and a broken friendship
- 5Love, a secret and a woman from Jersey
- 6The past returns and the town turns
- 7Character is fate
- 8Old England and the weight of change
- 9How Hardy tells it
Key point 1 of 9
A drunken bargain at the fair
On a late summer evening, Michael Henchard walks into Weydon Priors with his wife Susan and their small daughter Elizabeth-Jane. He is out of work and short of money. At a furmity tent, a woman quietly laces his porridge with rum.
Henchard drinks bowl after bowl and grows bitter about his marriage. Then he offers his wife for sale. A sailor named Newson pays five guineas, and Susan leaves with him, carrying her child.
The next morning Henchard wakes sober and ashamed. He finds no trace of his family. He swears an oath to avoid strong drink for twenty-one years.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
Why does Henchard decide to court and remarry Susan?
Right. “He decides to court his wife again and remarry her, so that the town will see an honorable man.”Not quite. “He decides to court his wife again and remarry her, so that the town will see an honorable man.”
What turns Farfrae from Henchard's employee into his business rival?
Right. “In a fit of anger, Henchard dismisses Farfrae.”Not quite. “In a fit of anger, Henchard dismisses Farfrae.”
What most strongly shapes Henchard's choices and fate?
Right. “His pride, his temper and his need to be loved shape each choice, and the choices shape his ruin.”Not quite. “His pride, his temper and his need to be loved shape each choice, and the choices shape his ruin.”
Who’s who
- Michael Henchard
- A proud hay trusser who sells his wife Susan and their daughter, then seeks to atone.
- Susan Henchard
- Henchard's patient wife returns to Casterbridge after many years, seeking a secure home for her daughter.
- Elizabeth-Jane
- Susan's thoughtful daughter accompanies her mother to Casterbridge, expecting little and carefully observing those around her.
- Donald Farfrae
- A charming young Scotsman skilled in the grain trade becomes Henchard's manager, friend and business rival.
- Lucetta Le Sueur
- A woman from Jersey with a past attachment to Henchard hopes to restore her reputation in Casterbridge.
- Newson
- A sailor who buys Susan and her child from Henchard takes them away from the fair.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 120,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 8 h
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about The Mayor of Casterbridge
What is The Mayor of Casterbridge about?
It tells of Michael Henchard, who sells his wife and child while drunk, then becomes mayor of a country town. His pride and past threaten everything he has built, and a rival rises beside him.
Why does Henchard sell his wife?
He is drunk on rum-laced porridge at a country fair, frustrated by poverty and a marriage he feels has held him back. He regrets it the next morning and swears off drink.
Is Casterbridge a real place?
No, but Hardy based it on Dorchester in Dorset.
Is The Mayor of Casterbridge a hard book to read?
The language is clear and the mood is dark. The plot is easy to follow.
What is the main message of The Mayor of Casterbridge?
Hardy suggests that character shapes fate, and that old wrongs can return. The book also shows the cost of pride and the way a changing world rewards different kinds of people.
