The Mayor of Casterbridge -- Thomas Hardy (with explanatory notes)

'The woman is no good to me. Who'll have her?'
Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife Susan and baby daughter. Eighteen years later Susan and her daughter seek him out, only to discover that he has become the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Henchard attempts to make amends for his youthful misdeeds but his unchanged impulsiveness clouds his relationships in love as well as his fortunes in business. Although Henchard is fated to be a modern-day tragic hero, unable to survive in the new commercial world, his story is also a journey towards love.

The Mayor of Casterbridge- Thomas Hardy (BBC)Drunk on rum at a country fair, Henchard sells his wife and infant daughter to a sailor for five guineas. Unable to find them and overcome with guilt and remorse he vows to be teetotal for 21 years.
Many years later his wife seeks him out in Casterbridge where he has gained both wealth and the well respected position of Mayor. His family restored to him, Henchard's happiness should be complete, but beneath the surface still smoulders the same impestousness and temper which combine with fate to bring about his degredation and ruin.

Year 2007