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The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character
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The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character Mass market paperbound - 1998

by Thomas Hardy; Keith Wilson (Editor); Introduction by Keith Wilson


Summary

In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled 'A Story of a Man of Character', Hardy's powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.

From the publisher

Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840. In his writing, he immortalized the site of his birth—Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester. Delicate as a child, he was taught at home by his mother before he attended grammar school. At sixteen, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect, and for many years, architecture was his profession; in his spare time, he pursued his first and last literary love, poetry. Finally convinced that he could earn his living as an author, he retired from architecture, married, and devoted himself to writing. An extremely productive novelist, Hardy published an important book every year or two. In 1896, disturbed by the public outcry over the unconventional subjects of his two greatest novels—Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure—he announced that he was giving up fiction and afterward produced only poetry. In later years, he received many honors. He died on January 11, 1928, and was buried in Poet’s Corner, in Westminster Abbey. It was as a poet that he wished to be remembered, but today critics regard his novels as his most memorable contribution to English literature for their psychological insight, decisive delineation of character, and profound presentation of tragedy.


Keith Wilson is professor and former chair of English at the University of Ottawa and Honorary Vice President of the Thomas Hardy Association.


Keith Wilson is professor and former chair of English at the University of Ottawa and Honorary Vice President of the Thomas Hardy Association.

Details

  • Title The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character
  • Author Thomas Hardy; Keith Wilson (Editor); Introduction by Keith Wilson
  • Binding Mass Market Paperbound
  • Edition Reprint
  • Pages 393
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, London
  • Date 1998-04-01
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780140435139 / 0140435131
  • Weight 0.64 lbs (0.29 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.78 x 5.1 x 0.85 in (19.76 x 12.95 x 2.16 cm)
  • Reading level 1090
  • Library of Congress subjects Psychological fiction, Mayors
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 98134189
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life And Death of a Man of Character (Penguin Classics S.)

The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life And Death of a Man of Character (Penguin Classics S.)

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The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life And Death of a Man of Character (Penguin Classics S.)

The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life And Death of a Man of Character (Penguin Classics S.)

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The Mayor of Casterbridge
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The Mayor of Casterbridge

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The Mayor of Casterbridge (Penguin Classics)
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by Hardy, Thomas

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The Mayor of Casterbridge.
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The Mayor of Casterbridge.

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New York, NY Penguin Books: Penguin Classics, 1998. Paperback First Ed thus, later printing. Fine in Wraps: binding square and secure; text clean. Virtually 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 393pp. (Penguin Classics). First Ed thus, later printing. Trade Paperback. Thomas Hardy's fascination with the dualities inherent in human nature is at the root of The Mayor of Casterbridge, now in a brand-new edition. In a drunken fit Michael Henchard sells his wife and infant daughter to a sailor at a country fair; when sobriety returns the following day, he is unable to find and reclaim his family. Vowing to transform his life, he settles in the town of Casterbridge, where he eventually rises to the position of mayor. Henchard is a man whose impulses are at war with one another, and when his wife and daughter, now a young woman, appear in Casterbridge, these internal contradictions drive him to commit acts that spell his final destruction. Employing the elements of… Read More
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
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The Mayor of Casterbridge (Penguin Classics)

by Thomas Hardy; Editor-Keith Wilson; Contributor-Keith Wilson

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