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187os: Never be tempted to auction off your wife….
The Mayor of Casterbridge
What you need to know before your trail
At a country fair near Casterbridge, Wessex, Henchard, a young man gets drunk and argues with his wife, Susan. He decides to auction her off and his young baby to a sailor. When sober he regrets his decision but by then it’s too late, they’re gone.
Years later, Jenchard is the Mayor of Casterbridge, and lets people believe he’s a widower.
He has an affair with Lucette Le Sueur, despite only telling her how he has a wife who “is dead probably dead, but who may return”. Unfairly, it is Lucette’s reputation with a married man which is ruined when the relationship ends.
Henchard is about to marry her when Susan reappears….And that’s just the start
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Hardy’s Wessex
Hardy described his landscape “Wessex” and in Far from the Madding Crowd describes his country as the “partly real, partly dream-country” that unifies his South West England
The village of Puddletown, near Dorchester, is the inspiration for the novel’s Weatherbury. Dorchester, in turn, is said to have inspired Hardy’s Casterbridge which appears in The Major of Casterbridge
True Hardy Fans should also visit Higher Bockhampton as this is where the literary man was born
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Mayor of Casterbridge
Author/Guide: Thomas Hardy Destination: “Wessex” , Dorset Departure Time: 187os
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