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Course Hero. "The Mayor of Casterbridge Study Guide." Course Hero. 22 Mar. 2018. Web. 6 June 2023. <https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Mayor-of-Casterbridge/>.
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Course Hero. (2018, March 22). The Mayor of Casterbridge Study Guide. In Course Hero. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Mayor-of-Casterbridge/
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Course Hero. "The Mayor of Casterbridge Study Guide." March 22, 2018. Accessed June 6, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Mayor-of-Casterbridge/.
Footnote
Course Hero, "The Mayor of Casterbridge Study Guide," March 22, 2018, accessed June 6, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Mayor-of-Casterbridge/.
Michael Henchard impulsively sells his wife, Susan, and infant daughter at a country fair.
Chapter 1Susan Henchard and her daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, come to Casterbridge, where Henchard is now a wealthy mayor.
Chapter 5Susan, remarried to Henchard, falls ill and dies; Henchard learns he's not Elizabeth-Jane's father.
Chapter 19Malicious townsfolk stage a skimmity-ride to disgrace Henchard and Lucetta for their affair.
Chapter 39Henchard, impoverished and homeless, dies a lonely death in Abel Whittle's shabby cottage.
Chapter 45| Chapter | Summary |
|---|---|
| Author's Preface | Writing in the years 1895 to 1912, some years after The Mayor of Casterbridge was published (in 1886), Thomas Hardy comm... Read More |
| Chapters 1–2 | The setting for the novel's opening scene is southwestern England in the 1820s. On an afternoon in late summer, a youn... Read More |
| Chapters 3–4 | This chapter takes up the story after a gap of 18 years. In a mirror image of the conclusion of Chapter 2, when Michae... Read More |
| Chapters 5–6 | Susan and Elizabeth-Jane make their way to the King's Arms, the chief hotel in Casterbridge, where a great public dinn... Read More |
| Chapters 7–8 | This chapter features the first meeting of Michael Henchard and Donald Farfrae. In an interesting twist, the room layo... Read More |
| Chapters 9–10 | Donald Farfrae's departure from Casterbridge is imminent. Henchard proposes they take a walk together before saying fa... Read More |
| Chapters 11–12 | This chapter begins with a brief history of the Ring at Casterbridge, which is the local name for an ancient Roman amp... Read More |
| Chapters 13–14 | This chapter focuses on Henchard and Susan's remarriage, as well as on the townspeople's gossip about the event. The l... Read More |
| Chapters 15–16 | The first part of this chapter records the growing attraction between Elizabeth-Jane and Donald Farfrae. Elizabeth-Jan... Read More |
| Chapters 17–18 | This chapter recounts the complete break between Henchard and Farfrae, who had previously been "inseparable." Farfrae ... Read More |
| Chapters 19–20 | Susan neglected to properly seal her letter to Henchard, and seeing no reason to delay, he opens the letter and learns... Read More |
| Chapters 21–22 | This chapter offers Elizabeth-Jane's impressions of High-Place Hall, the imposing mansion where the stranger, Lucetta,... Read More |
| Chapters 23–24 | It turns out Farfrae is acting on the note Henchard recently wrote him, declaring Henchard would not object if Farfrae... Read More |
| Chapters 25–26 | Donald Farfrae attends now almost entirely to Lucetta, with Elizabeth-Jane having to take a back seat. As for Henchard... Read More |
| Chapters 27–28 | This chapter continues and extends the saga of the rivalry between Henchard and Farfrae, in both business and romance.... Read More |
| Chapters 29–30 | Walking on the road outside the town, Lucetta and Elizabeth-Jane run into danger when they are threatened by a large b... Read More |
| Chapters 31–32 | This chapter focuses on Henchard's rapidly sinking fortunes. He is forced to declare bankruptcy. Confronting the situa... Read More |
| Chapters 33–34 | Henchard chooses the Three Mariners Inn as the venue for resuming his consumption of alcohol. He bullies the locals as... Read More |
| Chapters 35–36 | The action in this chapter directly picks up from the preceding one. Lucetta overhears Henchard's reading of extracts ... Read More |
| Chapters 37–38 | Casterbridge is all agog because a member of the royal family is scheduled to visit. At a meeting of the town council,... Read More |
| Chapters 39–40 | This chapter focuses on the skimmity-ride (also called the skimmington). As is suggested at the end of Chapter 37, som... Read More |
| Chapters 41–42 | This chapter follows up on the foreshadowed meeting between Henchard and the long-absent—and presumed lost-at-sea—Rich... Read More |
| Chapters 43–45 | Faced with prospects of a dismal future and disconcerted by the sight of Newson on the approach to town from Budmouth,... Read More |
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