Michael Henchard, drunk at a country fair, sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas. The following day, in despair and remorse, he forswears alcohol and sets out to redeem himself. In time, he becomes a respected merchant and eventually the mayor of the town. But Fate is not to be so easily appeased, and Henchard finds his past actions resonate through and destroy his plans for the future. One of the greatest novels in the English language, The Mayor of Casterbridge sees Thomas Hardy at his best, bringing ...
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Michael Henchard, drunk at a country fair, sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas. The following day, in despair and remorse, he forswears alcohol and sets out to redeem himself. In time, he becomes a respected merchant and eventually the mayor of the town. But Fate is not to be so easily appeased, and Henchard finds his past actions resonate through and destroy his plans for the future. One of the greatest novels in the English language, The Mayor of Casterbridge sees Thomas Hardy at his best, bringing landscape and richly imagined characters to life and setting the hope of love against the forces of Providence.
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Add this copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge to cart. $54.99, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Naxos and Blackstone Publishin.
Add this copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge to cart. $88.33, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Naxos and Blackstone Publishin.
?The Mayor of Casterbridge? was Hardy?s tenth published novel and, as most critics say, his first masterpiece. Set in and around Casterbridge (Hardy?s name for Dorchester) the story of Michael Henchard is one of the most tragic that Hardy ever wrote. The novel follows the story of Michael Henchard, a hay trusser, who under the influence of alcohol sells his wife Susan and their daughter Elizabeth ?Jane to a sailor named Newson, for five guineas. Several years later, following the death of Newson, Susan arrives at Casterbridge with Elizabeth-Jane to seek her legal husband. Not knowing what to expect, Susan is astonished to find that Henchard is now the mayor of Casterbridge, and a very respectable person. After the sell of his wife and daughter Henchard took a twenty-one year vow not to drink. Thinking that he has been given a second chance to make things right, Henchard remarries Susan and because Elizabeth ?Jane believes that Newson is her father, Henchard adopts her as his own daughter. But the errors of his past cannot be so easily repaired and as no man can avoid his destiny, Henchard is forced to pay his dues although the price may seem too high. What many people don?t know is that Hardy was actually an architect and his novels apart from being amazing psychological analyses of the nineteenth century society, they also give us extremely valuable information regarding the way things looked back then. Another thing that you should keep in mind when reading this book is that it is actually inspired from reality. There are records that state that back in the sixteen hundreds, a man actually sold his wife at the fair in Stockport (a small town near Manchester) and although we do not know what happened after that, Hardy sure did a great job at filling the blanks!
