The Importance of Character

The Mayor of Casterbridge puts emphasis on the consequences of one’s character. This is most evidently shown between the contrasting characters of Michael Henchard and Donald Farfrae. Hardy focuses on the differences between a “hero and a villain”, for lack of a better term. The novel is relatively quick in pace, so the reader can quickly identify Henchard as the “villain” and Farfrae as the “hero.” Or so we think.

One imagines a hero as one who possesses honor, loyalty, and charm, all of which Farfrae has. Farfrae saves the town from crop failure, stays loyal to Henchard through everything, and wins over everyone with his charisma. Henchard, on the other hand, is not loyal towards anyone, often lets his bad temper get in the way, and is jealous by nature. So why is Henchard, according to Hardy, “a Man of Character?”

Henchard worsens his own misfortune with his character. He lets his anger and jealousy get the best of him, which causes him to sell his wife, treat Farfrae unkindly, deceive Elizabeth-Jane, and so forth. However, at the end of the novel, he understands his wrong-doings. He realizes what he has done and what he deserves. He tries to make things right, but even at his death requests that no one mourn or remember him. He had such determination to feel the pain that he deserved, which was what made him “a Man of Character.”