The Mayor of Casterbridge

Michael wakes up. Susan’s abandoned wedding ring and the five guineas in his pocket remind him of what he has done. In silent contemplation, he leaves the town. He is not sure whether anyone at the fair even knew his name. Henchard reflects on his marriage as he walks through the country. He is angry with Susan but he knows that she is a sober, determined person, so she will follow through and be the sailor’s wife. He decides to find his family and accept his shameful behavior. First, he stops in a church and makes a promise to God that he will not drink for 21 years, a sober year for each year that he has been alive. When he resumes his search, however, he cannot find Susan, Elizabeth-Jane, or the sailor. After months of searching, he reaches a port town. Someone has seen someone matching the sailor’s description but says that the people “emigrated a little time before” (12). Henchard gives up his search. He travels south to the town of Casterbridge.

Eighteen years have passed, and Susan has grown older. She has adopted the surname Newson. She returns to Weydon-Priors with her daughter Elizabeth-Jane. Both women are dressed in black as a sign of mourning for Richard Newson, the sailor who bought Susan from the Henchard and who is now lost at sea, presumed dead. Susan has told her daughter that they are searching for a relative named Michael Henchard. She has not told her daughter about her past with Henchard. They approach the fairgrounds, which are not as busy as they once were. Finding the woman who laced her husband’s food with rum, Susan asks about Henchard. The old woman explains that the man who auctioned his wife left word that, if his wife should ever return, she should find him in Casterbridge. Susan takes her daughter to Casterbridge.

The narrative returns to Susan’s time as Mrs. Newson. She has never told Elizabeth-Jane about how she came to be married to Richard Newson, who immigrated to Canada shortly after purchasing Susan and her daughter at the auction. In Susan’s mind, her marriage to Richard is legal even though she is still technically married to Michael Henchard. After 12 years in Canada, Susan returned to England with her daughter. She and Newson lived in Falmouth, Cornwall, where he worked as a docker. After some time, his work called for him to make regular trips back and forth between England and Canada so he spent much time at sea. Susan revealed her secretive past to a friend, who pointed out that her marriage to Newson is not legal. Thus, she told Newson that she must end their relationship. He is lost at sea and this news is a relief to Susan. Without Newson, Susan decides to seek out Henchard to help with the advancement of her daughter. Elizabeth-Jane is intelligent and attractive, but she will be held back by “the strait-waistcoat of poverty” (18), her mother believes, so Susan hopes that Henchard might be able to help. In Casterbridge, Susan hears people mention the name Henchard. Susan cautions her daughter against searching for Henchard right away. The town, they learn, has been suffering from a shortage of “good bread” as the local agriculture has been struggling (21).

The main hotel in Casterbridge is named the King’s Arms. Outside, a band plays cheerful music while inside, a “great public dinner” is held for the dignitaries and rich people of the town (22). The poorer people of the town listen to the revelries through the open windows. Susan and Elizabeth-Jane join the small crowd in front of the windows. According to people in the crowd, Michael Henchard is the mayor of Casterbridge. At the age of 40, he is now a commanding and charismatic figure. He owns a profitable business and, according to the locals, he is renowned for not drinking alcohol. The rumor suggests that he is two years away from the completion of his oath of abstinence. Henchard has no tolerance for weakness in people.

Elizabeth-Jane is excited by the news that she may be related to such a figure. Susan, on the other hand, is afraid of confronting Henchard. Elizabeth-Jane learns that Henchard is supposedly a widower. At the dinner table, a man insinuates that Henchard is responsible for the “bad bread” in the village (25). Outside, people echo the question. Henchard defends himself and his wheat, asking whether anyone knows how to improve wheat that has already been grown. He suggests that he was similarly tricked when buying the wheat. To prevent similar issues in the future, he is trying to hire “a thorough good man as manager of the corn department” (26). This settles the matter.

The celebrations at the King’s Arms continue. A young man “of remarkably pleasant aspect” stops before the hotel (27), overhearing the conversation about corn. He asks a waiter to deliver a note to Henchard. Then, he leaves to stay in the less-expensive Three Mariners Inn. During this interaction, Elizabeth-Jane closely watches the stranger. She suggests to her mother that they stay at the same place. When Susan agrees, they follow him to the Three Mariners. At the King’s Arms, Henchard receives the note. Intrigued, he listens to the waiter explain that the sender was a young Scottish man. As the rest of the diners drink their “comforting beverages” (29), Henchard quietly slips away and heads to the Three Mariners.

Susan feels out of place, even among the relatively modest surroundings of the Three Mariners. Meanwhile, Elizabeth-Jane feels respectable. She has offered to pay for their rooms by working in the hotel’s bar. Part of her duties involves taking a meal to the young Scottish man who passed by the King’s Arms. She studies him as she serves him a meal in his room. His room is right beside the one she is sharing with her mother. Taking a meal next for herself and her mother, Susan waves at her to keep quiet. She is listening to the Scotsman through the thin walls as he speaks to Henchard. The Scotsman’s name is Donald Farfrae and he has offered to show Henchard a specific method that will salvage the bad grain that is plaguing the town. He is happy to show Henchard his method for free, as he plans to travel to America. When Henchard asks if he might be someone named Jopp, Farfrae insists that he is not the person who responded to the town’s advertisement for someone to manage the corn industry. Once he sees Farfrae’s plans, Henchard offers him the position on the spot. Farfrae insists that he plans to travel to America. He cannot stay. Henchard makes a generous and repeated offer, but Farfrae declines, offering instead to share a drink with the mayor. It is Henchard’s turn to decline the offer. He explains that he was nearly ruined by alcohol and he will bear his shame to his “dying day” (35).

Elizabeth-Jane leaves her mother to collect the dirty dishes from Farfrae’s room. Farfrae goes to the bar and begins to charm the locals with his rendition of a traditional Scottish ballad. Elizabeth-Jane stands to the side and watches him sing. She overhears Farfrae speaking positively about Henchard and the town, even as the people of Casterbridge disagree. The people encourage Farfrae to sing again and, after several songs have lulled them into a “golden haze” (39), allow him to go to bed. Elizabeth-Jane, having made Farfrae’s bed, passes him on the stairs. She feels embarrassed and looks away from him. Farfrae notices her, singing a short song entirely for her benefit. When she returns to her room, Elizabeth-Jane talks about Farfrae with her mother. She seems attracted to him and, amid her confusion, mixes up her mother’s comments about Henchard, believing Susan to be speaking about Farfrae. Outside, Henchard marches up and down as he thinks about the rejection from Farfrae. He confesses to himself that he is lonely and thinks of even grander offers he could make to the Scotsman to get him to stay.

The following day, Henchard and Farfrae take a walk around Casterbridge. Elizabeth-Jane, watching the two men, feels sad that Farfrae might be leaving. Susan studies Henchard. She notes that he is lonely and that he has taken quickly to a stranger like Farfrae. She writes a note for Elizabeth-Jane to deliver to him, introducing herself to him as “his relative Susan, a sailor’s widow” (43), and revealing that a distant relative has arrived in town. If Henchard declines to meet with Susan, she plans to leave immediately. Elizabeth-Jane walks through the bustling town toward Henchard’s offices. When she steps inside, she is surprised to find Farfrae, hard at work. He fails to recognize her but says that Henchard will soon return. Since taking his walk with Henchard, Farfrae has accepted the mayor’s latest offer. Henchard told him to “name [his] own terms” to stay and fix the local agriculture issues (46).