I thought Michael was pretty despicable and miserable from beginning to end, so it didn't really matter if he was rich or poor. He blames his selling Susan and the baby at the fair on the "alcohol," saying, "When I was a young man I went in for that sort of thing too strong- far too strong- and was well-nigh ruined by it." He tells Susan to judge him on his "future works" and is always begging the other characters for forgiveness. It is ironic that he bans Farfrae from seeing Elizabeth-Jane, because he believes he is "too poor." When the roles are reversed, he continues to be devious and starts drinking again after Lucetta marries Donald Farfrae. He is the type of person who only wants what he can't have. He says, "If I had only got her with me—if I only had! Hard work would be nothing to me then! But that was not to be. I—Cain—go alone as I deserve—an outcast and a vagabond." As soon as he got the affection of Susan, Lucetta, or Elizabeth-Jane, he treated them badly. I believe by the time he dies, he truly feels remorse for his actions and writes in his will, "And that no flours be planted on my grave. And that no man remember me."
Hardy was a master of symbolism; discuss the importance of rain in The Mayor of Casterbridge as well as the interplay of light and dark images.
Henchard exclaims in chapter 10, "It never rains but it pours." If you act miserable, you will continue to be miserable. It could also mean the more you think, the less happy you are. Henchard's features are "dark," while Elizabeth's are "fair." It seems like the characters who are conflicted like Henchard or Lucetta suffer the most, while the simple ones like Elizabeth-Jane are happy go lucky, who is described as "never a gloom in [her] soul." Henchard believes "Misery taught him nothing more than defiant endurance of it" and says of his depression, "I sank into one of those gloomy fits I sometimes suffer from ... I could curse the day that gave me birth." Elizabeth is religious and virtuous while Henchard is revengeful, saying, "God forbid such a thing! Why should I sill be subject to these visitations of the devil, when I try so hard to keep him away?"
Discuss Hardy's view of women as expressed in The Mayor of Casterbridge.
I think the women in the novel aren't portrayed as complex characters. They all see simple or Jezebels. I think Hardy views the men of this novel as smarter and more powerful. Elizabeth-Jane bugs me, because she seems like an blissful idiot, is easily distracted by music or shiny objects, and doesn't fight for Farfrae when her friend steals him, just going along with it. She is described by Farfrae as being "too impersonally human to be distinctively feminine" and Elizabeth says, "If I am not well-informed it shall be no fault of my own." Lucetta seems to feel bad for Elizabeth, saying "What a lonely creature you are, never knowing what's going on." Lucetta is immediately deemed a manipulative hussy, because of the sensual letters she wrote to Henchard and she seems to drag both Donald and Michael along, weighing her options. Henchard describes Susan as "simple," being the "original ground of [his] contempt for her." Susan stays with Newsom all those years because she was stubborn and immediately returns to Henchard, but says "I have seen him, and it is enough for me! Now I only want to go- pass away- die." It could be the era in which the women live that makes them act in such a degrading way.
How does Hardy's use of outside observers to help narrate the action and examine the function of the prologue and epilogue sections of The Mayor of Casterbridge.
I think the outside observers are helpful in giving us an outside perspective of what the others see going on. Buzzford describes Casterbridge perfectly as an "old, hoary place o' wickedness, by all account." It is also described by Coney as having "sentiment" and "romance." We are able to know through their eyes, the whole picture of what dastardly deeds are going on in this town based on their judgments and how much the main characters hide from society. Certainly if Elizabeth-Jane was the narrator, this novel would be much lighter until she discovers her stepfather's misdeeds.
Discuss the conflict between tradition and modernization in The Mayor of Casterbridge.
Henchard believes it is his duty to remarry Susan, after "ruining" Lucetta, sending her money to "recompense." When Henchard loses his wealth, he says, "I am not the man to sponge on a woman," indicating that women should be dependent on men for money, class, and power. When Lucetta is given the money, she says "I was a poor girl then; and now my circumstances have altered, so I am hardly the same person." Lucetta is always asking Elizabeth-Jane if she should take the first or second man, and Elizabeth tells her, "You ought to marry Mr. Henchard or nobody- certainly not another man!" Lucetta says, "If I had my wish, I'd let people live and love at their pleasure," and "I won't be a slave to the past- I'll love where I choose."
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