The Mayor of Casterbridge Characters

Thomas Hardy had a tough job in The Mayor of Casterbridge. The main character, Michael Henchard, has more personality flaws than your average novel's hero, and yet the author wants us to feel sorry...

Elizabeth-Jane isn't the main character of the novel – that role is reserved for her stepfather, Michael Henchard – but she does serve as a kind of moral compass. Her instincts are almo...

Donald Farfrae is, in many respects, the complete opposite of Michael Henchard. He's forgiving where Henchard is resentful. He is practical where Henchard is superstitious. He is light-hearted and...

Just as Farfrae is the mirror image of Henchard, Lucetta is the mirror image of Elizabeth-Jane. Elizabeth-Jane is all nature and no art; Lucetta is all art and no nature. She is almost always artif...

Poor Susan. There really isn't much else to say about her. Her simplicity and meekness are what drive Henchard to auction her off (she's just too nice!), and her simplicity and meekness are what ma...