Redemption And Reconciliation In The Mayor Of Casterbridge Essay, Research Paper

In Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, rejection and reconciliation is a consistent theme. During the Victorian era, Michael Henchard, a common hat trusser, becomes Mayor of the town of Casterbridge, Wessex. However, his position does not prevent him from making a series of mistakes that ultimately lead to his downfall. Henchard’s daughter, Elizabeth Jane Newson, is affected by her father’s choices and is not spared any disappointing consequences. In the novel, the characters of Henchard and Elizabeth Jane both experience the pain of rejection in its different forms and discover reconciliation from that rejection.

Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane similarly endure rejection from those they have deemed important figures in their lives. Lucetta loses her feelings for Henchard and he takes second place to Farfrae. Henchard confronts Lucetta at her home regarding her intention to marry him. After the encounter, Lucetta rebelliously cries, “[H]e’s hot-tempered and stern, and it would be madness to bind myself to him knowing that. I won’t be a slave to the past—I’ll love where I choose!”(Hardy 250). Similarly, Elizabeth-Jane, upon seeing Farfrae in the churchyard, notices that she has lost his attention. “[W]hether or not he saw her he took no notice, and disappeared. Unduly depressed by a sense of her own superfluity she thought he probably scorned her”(207). Through the rejection Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane suffered from Lucetta and Farfrae, the father and daughter are communally bound in their care for the happiness of the two lovers but they also feel hurt and rejected by the marriage. More important than Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane’s rejection by their friends, is their rejection of each other. When Elizabeth-Jane and Farfrae are courting, Henchard foresees his stepdaughter easily leaving him under the influence of Farfrae. Henchard admits that “Farfrae would never recognize him more than superciliously; his poverty ensured that, no less than his past conduct. And so Elizabeth would grow to be a stranger to him, and the end of his life would be a friendless solitude”(381). However, Elizabeth-Jane is not influenced negatively by Farfrae. Henchard is rejected only when Elizabeth-Jane discovers the selfish lie her stepfather had told to keep Newson from her. Elizabeth-Jane is also rejected by Henchard after he discovers that she is not his real daughter. Henchard is angered when Elizabeth-Jane thanks the parlour maid for everything and it is here that she realizes that “[t]he increasing frequency of the latter mood told her the sad news that he disliked her with a growing dislike”(202). Upon Newson’s quiet arrival, Henchard announces that he is leaving Casterbridge which makes Elizabeth-Jane feel rejected all over again. Noticing the treatment she receives from Henchard compared to the treatment Lucetta receives “she could not help asking what she had done to be neglected so, after the professions of solicitude he [Henchard] had made”(250). Elizabeth’s question is a legitimate one. It must be acknowledged that, when contrasting the two characters, Elizabeth does no wrong to deserve rejection whereas Henchard wrongs his daughter and deserves the rejection he receives.

Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane feel pain because of rejection by others; however, that pain isn’t lessened when they do the rejecting. In the opening of the novel, Henchard rejects Susan and his responsibility to the child. However, this rejection is unintentional because he is under the influence of alcohol. We can see that Henchard regrets his actions when he searches for his wife and daughter. Later, Henchard regrets his actions when he searches for his wife and daughter. Later, Henchard rejects Elizabeth-Jane because his parental pride is hurt when he finds out, through a letter from Susan that he was not meant to read until Elizabeth-Jane’s wedding day, that she is not his real daughter. “It is . . . Henchard’s ignorance and pseudogenteel hypocrisy that make him subsequently estrange himself from Elizabeth-Jane”(Seymour-Smith 42). The roles take a turn from Henchard doing the rejecting to Henchard being the rejected. Elizabeth-Jane rejects Henchard after she discovers the deceit Henchard put between her and Newson. She is torn between the love that she has acquired for Henchard and the anger she feels toward him. “I said I would never forget him. But O! I think I ought to forget him now!”(Hardy 391). Elizabeth-Jane feels she must reject Henchard but it hurts her to do so. When comparing the circumstances for rejection, Henchard’s motivation is pride while Elizabeth-Jane’s motivation is confusion and we see that both characters feel pain and remorse because of how they have rejected others.

Yet, this novel does not stay in the depths of rejection and Henchard and…

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