Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section. For a Hardy novel, that is an unusually happy ending, and it is one without judgment on her as a woman or as a lowly-born illegitimate child – unusual for Victorian Britain. She retains a sense of wonder that, for one whose broken childhood had taught her “happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain”, her adult life has become one of “unbroken tranquillity”. Elizabeth-Jane, now happily married and comfortable, is “forced to class herself among the fortunate”. Henchard’s journey from disreputable drunk to “man of character” is inextricably linked to his growing appreciation/love of Elizabeth-Jane.īy the end, Henchard is dead. Throughout the novel, we are reminded of her thoughtfulness and intelligence. We see Casterbridge through Elizabeth-Jane’s eyes. Hardy, Thomas, 1840-1928: Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge Language: English: LoC Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature: Subject: Psychological fiction Subject: Fathers and daughters - Fiction Subject: Men - England - Fiction Subject: Wessex (England) - Fiction Subject: Runaway husbands - Fiction Subject: Atonement. Through her and the other women in the novel, Hardy critiques the male worldview. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, he created a strong woman in Henchard’s illegitimate stepdaughter, Elizabeth-Jane, who I believe is the real protagonist.
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