Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Is Henchard a sympathetic character? Should we pity him at the end of

the novel, or does he get what he deserves?

“The Mayor of Casterbridge” – The title refers to the main character

in the book, Michael Henchard, who is the key figure in the novel. The

whole story rotates around his life, and how he and the other

characters change. Many criticise Thomas Hardy for this book due to

the unlikely coincidences that occur many times through the book. The

book takes place in rural England, in Wessex, Hardy’s made up county.

It starts off with Michael Henchard and his wife Susan, both young,

with their baby daughter Elizabeth Jane looking for employment in the

small town of Weydon-Priors. The Michael Henchard Hardy first

introduces is a bitter man who appears to have little respect for his

wife and little care for his daughter. Although he isn’t a nobleman he

still is above your average peasant with well-made clothes and a neat

appearance. “His measured, springless walk was the walk of a skilled

countryman, as distinct from the desultory shamble of the general

labourer…” First impressions of him would suggest he wasn’t very

sociable. “They walked side by side in such a way as to suggest afar

off the low, easy, confidential chat of people full of reciprocity…”

Later the 3 stop at a furmity tent as Henchard is hungry. He gets the

furmity woman to slip rum into his furmity and with no regard for his

own actions he gets drunk out of frustration with his own life’s

status. This leads him to sell off his wife and child to a sailor

known as Newson. Susan wasn’t reluctant to leave so this shows she

wasn’t very attached to Henchard. So far this shows Henchard as a

character with little regard for anybody, including ...

... middle of paper ...

...izabeth-Jane Henchard is a

desperate man who desperately tries everything he can to get his life

back on track but after Elizabeth Jane refers to him as “Mr Henchard”

in the latter part of the book he believes all sense of family is lost

between them and he basically gives in. He dies and his will shows

how broken he was when he wishes to be forgotten by everybody. A great

deal of sympathy is felt for him at this moment because of the

pressures he came under and the strong resilience be put up against

it.

Overall I still believe that Henchard got what he deserved because it

was always about what he wanted, and his needs and he didn’t appear to

think carefully about his actions. I think Hardy meant to portray him

like this as a tragic hero although he seems to get in the way of

other peoples lives and becomes a villain to wards the good natured

Farfrae.