The Mayor of Casterbridge

Michael Henchard is the protagonist of the novel, and, for a time, he is the titular Mayor of Casterbridge. A complicated, morally compromised man, the novel documents his rise and fall from poverty to wealth and back again. The novel opens with Henchard selling his wife in a drunken outburst of fury. The next day, he wakes up and realizes what he has done. This opening event sets the tone for much of Henchard’s story, in which he will act emotionally and then suffer the consequences of his actions. A key part of Henchard’s character is that he takes the wrong lessons from his regrettable actions. Henchard drunkenly sold his wife, for example, because he hated his impoverished existence. He incorrectly blamed Susan for his failures rather than himself. After the sale, he swears to God that he will not drink alcohol for a long time. During this period of sobriety, he becomes a very successful man. Rather than learning the benefits of sobriety and self-reflection, he returns to drinking and blaming others for his failures. Henchard’s fatal flaw is his emotional personality, which overpowers his ability to reflect on his own behavior and recognize the patterns of self-destruction in his life.