The Mayor of Casterbridge

The Mayor of Casterbridge is Thomas Hardy's novel tracing the rise and decline of Michael Henchard in a Wessex market town. A shameful act committed in drunkenness precedes his later standing as a prosperous merchant and mayor. When his past returns, attempts to control its consequences damage relationships with Susan, Elizabeth-Jane and his business rival Donald Farfrae. The changing grain trade places personal conflict within a community adapting to new methods. Henchard's generosity and destructive pride coexist, giving the novel a tragic concern with responsibility, remorse and the difficulty of repairing harm through willpower alone.