good morning students today we are going to discuss the mayor of casterbridge by Thomas Hardy published in 1886. it is a tragic novel and in fact most of the novels by Thomas Hardy are tragic someone dies or someone leaves at the end of Hardy's novels the same goes for the mayor of casterbridge one of the most courted lines from this novel is happiness is but an occasional episode in the general drama of pain alright so let's quickly get on to our story the mayor of casterbridge by Thomas Hardy one day when henchard was traveling with the wife named Suzanne and their infant daughter named Elizabeth Jane who is just two three years old when he was traveling to a town of West sex in search of a job he comes across a Village Fair hanchard gets heavily drunk at the fair and complains about his unhappy married life then he indulges himself in gambling and auctions his wife and daughter he loses the BET and has to give his wife and daughter to a sailor named Richard Newson for five guineas before leaving Suzanne throws her wedding ring in his face and the villagers also were shocked that he really sold his family and left when he wakes up the next day he immediately regrets his action and tries to look for them but realizes that it is too late he visits a church and was that he will not touch alcohol again for the next 21 years he was for 21 years because at that time his age was 21 years so that's how he gets on to the number 21. so now we will Fast Forward the story and progress it to 18 years later so after 18 years Suzanne is no longer hencher's wife she is now Mrs Newson her husband Mr Newson is a sailor who is Lost at Sea so now Susan and her grown-up daughter Elizabeth Chain Face financial difficulties as her sailor husband has also died Suzanne thinks of searching handshard again she doesn't tell her daughter Elizabeth chain about her real father hanchard she tells that hanchard is merely a long lost relative As She searches for hand shirt she discovers that hanchard has become a successful hay and grain Merchant and is also a reputed the mayor of casterbridge Suzanne meets anchored once again and to save the life of Elizabeth Jane they both decide to remarry so now the family is complete once again as the novel moves forward we find that hancher's reputation gets damaged due to his purchase of large load of bad wheat his agriculture business has started going down a young man Donald farfrey helps handshard by offering some suggestions on how to make the grain reusable Donald farfrey makes his losing business get into profit once again hanchard gets impressed by him and offers him a job as the manager of his business in no time farfrey becomes so popular in the whole town that henchant starts getting jealous of him he fires him and they become bitter Rivals on the other hand Suzanne Falls ill and dies she writes a letter to henchard and tells that Elizabeth Jane is not his real daughter their real daughter died after a few months when henchard sold them 18 years back Elizabeth Jane is the daughter of Susan and Richard Newson hanchard gets shocked after listening to this he starts behaving quarterly towards Elizabeth Jane his business of Agriculture is also going down and on the other hand his rival farframe becomes so popular so rich that he gets elected as the mayor of casterbridge moving forward a new character in the novel comes that is lucita Temple man lucita was in a romantic relationship with hanchard in the past you can say sort of his ex-girlfriend so now what happens is that she gets captivated by Donald farfree and on listening to this handshard gets mad at Donald for free also hancher gets another loss in his agriculture business due to his bad predictions he is in great debt now lucita eventually marries far-free and henchered plots to ruin their married life by disclosing about his previous love affair with lucita so now the scandalous news of her past relationship with him spreads in town it affects her married life and the town people accused her and she has to go through a punishment the punishment is the schemitty ride so now what happens here is that people make her sit on a donkey and then make the donkey ride through all the streets of the town lucita gets mentally Disturbed after the schemitty ride she is fatally ill and after a few days she dies on the other hand hand chart is bankrupt and left with no choice but to work as a farm laborer for far free handshard also becomes a social outcast when everyone learns he had sold Suzanne his wife and his daughter Elizabeth Jane at an auction 18 years back Elizabeth Jane is his only support now but what happens is that after a while Richard Newson the Sailor husband comes into the novel he was missing somewhere in the ocean all these years but he is not dead yet so he returns and takes her daughter Elizabeth Jane back towards the end after the death of lucita far Frey proposes to Elizabeth Jane and they get married hencher is broken and lonely he again starts consuming alcohol and dies alone in a poor Cottage and with this we come to the end of this video I hope you found the video worth your time if you are new to this channel then don't forget to like this video And subscribe the channel for more such updates that's it for this video thank you