Publisher's Synopsis
The novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of a man named Michael Henchard, who becomes a grain merchant and the mayor of a town called Casterbridge. Unfortunately for Henchard, he made some bad decisions as a young man that come back to haunt him just as things really seem to be looking up for him.Like most of Hardy's novels, The Mayor of Casterbridge is a tragedy - no matter what the main characters try to accomplish, the fates (or their own flaws) seem to get in the way. The subtitle of the novel, "The Life and Death of a Man of Character," already tells us that Henchard will die at the end.
