The Life and Death of the Mayor of Casterbridge: A Story of a Man of Character

George Meredith had once written that “In tragic life God wot (knows)/ No villain need be! Passions spin the plot: / We are betrayed by what is false within.” What he implied was that it is not so much circumstances but rather the character of the protagonist which often lets them down and allows emotion to get the upper hand over rational thought. Meredith’s lines can very much be applied to the protagonist of Thomas Hardy’s novel which is popularly referred to as The Mayor of Casterbridge -Michael Henchard who has all the elements of a traditional tragic hero. In Hardy’s novel - The Mayor of Casterbridge, Henchard is undoubtedly the tragic hero whose undoing can be owed to his own character flaw – his impulsiveness and rash choler; however his the way his life is reduced to rubble can also be credited to circumstances as well as the malicious forces of Nature and Fate.

As mentioned Henchard is the tragic hero of the novel and his character has both positive and negative aspects which are brought out through various incidents in the novel. Henchard’s character is very significant and this point is mentioned in the title of the book itself wherein Hardy emphasises that his novel a ‘Story of a man of Character’. Throughout the novel, his volatile temper forces him into ruthless competition with Farfrae that soon strips him of his pride, reputation and property, while his insecurities lead him to deceive the one person he began to love-Elizabeth-Jane. His impulsiveness and temper is evident on the three occasions: initially when he sells off his wife to Newson, then in his unsympathetic behaviour towards Whittle who oversleeps and finally when he dismisses Jopp. Yet Hardy insists that Henchard is a worthy man and does have some c...

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...as responsible in a way for the wheat and will be liable for the bad harvest later which makes Henchard bankrupt. Fate sends the child who sings praises of Farfrae to Henchard and Henchard becomes aware of the true feelings the people of Casterbridge have for Farfrae. Ironically, Henchard finds out that Elizabeth –Jane is not his own daughter on the very day that he revealed to her that he was her father! This is the nasty game Fate and Nature together play with Henchard.

Therefore Hardy doesn’t chiefly hold Henchard’s own character solely responsible for his downfall as there were many factors beyond his control (chiefly destiny) which callously played a pivotal role in his undoing. Character is destiny but Destiny also determines your real character and this is very evident in the case of the Mayor of Casterbridge- Michael Henchard who was a ‘Man of Character’