| The Mayor Of Casterbridge |
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| novels by thomas hardy | |
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At a country fair near Casterbridge, Wessex, a young hay-trusser named Michael Henchard overindulges in rum-laced Furmity and quarrels with his wife Susan. Characteristically impulsive, he decides to auction off his wife and tiny daughter (Elizabeth-Jane) to a sailor, Mr. Newson, for five guineas. Once sober the next day, he is too late to recover his family, but swears not to touch liquor again for as many years as he has lived so far (twenty-one). Eighteen years later, Henchard, now a successful grain merchant and the Mayor of Casterbridge (and known for his staunch sobriety), is reunited with Susan. The return of his wife and daughter sets in motion a decline in his fortunes. Elizabeth-Jane soon falls in love with Donald Farfrae, whom Henchard has employed as his business manager. Little known to Henchard, Elizabeth-Jane is not his own biological child (who died months after they parted), but that of Newson. He learns this secret, however, after Susan's death by prematurely reading a letter which Susan on her deathbed marked only to be opened upon Elizabeth-Jane's matrimony. Henchard conceals the secret from Elizabeth-Jane, but grows cold and cruel towards her. Henchard's growing resentment of Donald Farfrae (as his fortunes rise) leads to his standing in the way of a marriage between Donald and Elizabeth-Jane. In the meantime, Henchard's former mistress, Lucetta, arrives in town and attracts Donald, who marries her. Rumours spread of her previous relationship with Michael Henchard and both are disgraced. Lucetta dies of shame and stress. When Newson, Elizabeth-Jane's biological father, returns, Henchard is afraid of losing her companionship and pretends she is dead. By the time Elizabeth-Jane, months later married to Donald Farfrae and reunited with Newson, goes looking for Henchard to forgive him, he has died and left a will requesting no funeral or fanfare. The work can be downloaded without charge from Project Gutenberg as either text or a computer-generated Audiobook . (ISBN 0375760067) EXTERNAL LINKS Study guides
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