The Mayor of Casterbridge

by Roger Ebbatson

The author explores the genesis, publication and reception of Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, alongside the historical and social context of the plot. He also looks at the central themes (identity and non-identity, nature, death, superstition) of the work, and gives an analysis of the tragic qualities of the text, asking whether it is possible to produce such tragic literature within a fundamentally secular society. Finally, Ebbatson examines the gender issues raised by the narrator, and the representation of the characters Elizabeth-Jane and Lucetta.

Genres: Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ebbatson is Visiting Professor at Loughborough University, having previously taught at University College Worcester and the University of Sokoto, Nigeria. He is the author of Lawrence and the Nature Tradition (1980), The Evolutionary Self (1982) and Hardy: Margin of the Unexpressed (1992).

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

"And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen, when the one to whom such unbroken tranquility had been accorded in the adult stage was she whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain."

So, if he brought this on himself, is it still a tragedy? There is so much written about this text, so all I'll say about it is that it took so long to get through, that it really did feel like Henchet's life came apart very slowly over time, which definitely mirrors life. One day you wake up and come to the realization that...(fill in the blank) and you can't go back and undo it. He might have realized his mistakes early on, but he didn't realize their effects until much later.

Loved it.

[Leonard Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Hardy's books remind me of Michael Haneke's movies: I know when I finish them I'm going to feel really depressed and probably somewhat manipulated, but I can't stop going back to them.

[Rosemarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because Hardy is one of my favorite authors. I probably read it many years ago.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had seen this film on Netflix and was really engaged by it. I decided to listen to it to hear "the rest of the story." The book was better, of course, but the film adaptation is pretty amazing.