Book Summary
The Mayor of Casterbridge is a tragic novel set in a rural English town and follows the life of Michael Henchard, a poor hay-trusser who, in a drunken rage, sells his wife Susan and baby daughter. Years later, he becomes a successful and respected mayor of Casterbridge, but his past returns to haunt him when Susan and their daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, re-enter his life. As Henchard tries to atone for his earlier actions, his pride, impulsiveness, and inability to change his nature lead to his gradual downfall. The novel explores themes of fate, guilt, redemption, and the consequences of human choices, showing how past actions shape and ultimately destroy the present.

About the author

Thomas Hardy (18401928) was an English novelist and poet known for his deeply pessimistic and realistic portrayal of rural life in Victorian England. His novels often explore the power of fate, social constraints, and human suffering, with characters frequently struggling against forces beyond their control. Hardy set many of his works in the fictional region of Wessex, inspired by southwest England. Major works such asTess of the dUrbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge established him as one of the most important literary figures of his time, and he later turned primarily to poetry in response to criticism of his novels.