The Mayor of Casterbridge: Chapters 24,25,26

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Summary – Chapters Twenty Four, Twenty Five and Twenty Six

Elizabeth-Jane is pleased to remain at High-Place Hall, in Chapter Twenty Four, as this is her home
now and she (as well as Lucetta) also enjoys the views of the market place and each Saturday both
steal sly glances at Farfrae.

One day, the two women go out to investigate the arrival of a new seed drill and Elizabeth-Jane
introduces Henchard to Lucetta. She thinks she hears him say, ‘you refused to see me’, to Lucetta
but then presumes she hallucinated it. He leaves and they then chat with Farfrae who is examining
his drill. He is at ease with Elizabeth-Jane, but is embarrassed and deferential with Lucetta. When
they are alone, Lucetta explains to Elizabeth-Jane that she has already had occasion to speak to
Farfrae. Elizabeth-Jane considers this encounter and recognizes that when Lucetta goes out, she
hopes to see him again.

Lucetta tells Elizabeth-Jane her story involving Henchard and Farfrae, but does not use any names
and refers to herself in the third person as ‘the lady’. She asks if the lady ‘could in honour dismiss the
first’ (which is, of course, Henchard) and Elizabeth-Jane says she cannot answer as this is a difficult
point and Lucetta understands correctly that she prefers not to say. The chapter ends with Elizabeth-
Jane sighing in bed that Lucetta has not treated her to her full confidence of names and dates as she
has not been beguiled by the ‘she’ of Lucetta’s story.

The next day, in Chapter Twenty Five, Farfrae calls to see Lucetta and Elizabeth-Jane is treated as
though she is all but invisible. He answers her questions with ‘curtly indifferent monosyllables’ and
she leaves the room when she has a chance. She realizes that Farfrae is the second man in Lucetta’s
story.

The narrative then shifts to Henchard and to how he is becoming more attracted to Lucetta. He calls
to see her again when Elizabeth-Jane is absent and is received with such cool friendship that he is
deferential to her. He proposes marriage (that is, he proposes to silence her enemies in Jersey) and
she says they should let things be for the present and to treat her as an acquaintance for now. He is
angry and fails to notice her face (which shows her love) when she looks at Farfrae from her window.
When Henchard leaves, Lucetta decides she will love him (Farfrae) and will not be a slave to the
past.
Elizabeth-Jane understands now that Lucetta is caught between Henchard and Farfrae, but has
learned the lessons of renunciation. She wonders what other unwished-for thing Heaven might send
her now.

In Chapter Twenty Six, Henchard and Farfrae do not know that they are rivals for Lucetta’s affections
and Farfrae does not know that she is the ‘second’ woman that Henchard has told him about.
Henchard is sure, however, that he has a rival and asks Lucetta if she knows Farfrae. She says she
knows almost everybody in Casterbridge and Elizabeth-Jane adds that they both know him to save
her companion’s embarrassment. Shortly after this discussion, Farfrae appears and Henchard
notices that Lucetta is full of ‘little fidgets and flutters’ and these increase his suspicions. Lucetta
holds out a plate to both men and asks if they would like some more bread and butter. They both
think she is talking to them and take the same slice. The slice breaks in half and Farfrae tries to laugh
about it. Elizabeth-Jane thinks, ‘how ridiculous of all three of them’.

Henchard leaves with his suspicions but no proof, yet Elizabeth-Jane thinks it is as ‘plain as the town
pump’ that Farfrae and Lucetta are incipient lovers. Henchard is disturbed, though, and feels a
‘vitalised antagonism’ towards Farfrae. He employs Jopp as a foreman and he is the only one in the
town (apart from Elizabeth-Jane and Henchard) that knows Lucetta used to live in Jersey. Jopp is
now in straitened circumstances and his character has changed because of this. He lets Henchard
know he was living in Jersey when Henchard had business. Henchard replies ‘indeed! Very good’ and
employs him and does not think that his character might have deteriorated since they last met.

He tells Jopp that he wants Farfrae cut out of the trade and he cannot live side by side with him any
longer. Elizabeth-Jane is sure this is the wrong man to employ and risks Henchard’s ire by telling him
so. She is rewarded with a ‘sharp rebuff’.

The narrative shifts to explain the importance of the weather on how the wheat crops will turn out.
A bad harvest would double the price of corn and the promise of a good yield would lower it
considerably. In June, the weather is unfavorable and Henchard, supported by Jopp, reads a
‘disastrous garnering’. However, Henchard is superstitious and visits a man (Mr Fall) with a
reputation of being a weather-prophet. Fall tells him that the last fortnight in August will be ‘ruin
and tempest’ and the next Saturday Henchard buys such large quantities of grain that his neighbors
discuss it. When his granaries are full, the weather changes and an excellent harvest becomes almost
a certainty. Because of this, the prices rush down. To pay for his dealings, Henchard has to sell off
the corn for a price that is a lot lower than he paid.
He then has to visit the bank and it is rumored soon after that the bank now owns much of his
property and produce. As he leaves, he encounters Jopp and hears him say that it is a fine hot day.
Henchard turns on him and blames him for giving him bad advice. The conversation continues in
these terms and ends with Henchard dismissing him. When Henchard leaves, Jopp says he will be
sorry for this.

Analysis – Chapters Twenty Four, Twenty Five and Twenty Six

As when Henchard sold his wife and daughter almost twenty years ago, he continues to behave on
impulse in his rivalry with Farfrae. Once more, his first destructive reaction is acted upon and this
brings about a downfall. Earlier, his actions were punished with a secretive shame and this time they
bring financial ruin that is just becoming evident in Chapter Twenty Six. It is also of interest that he
continues to lash out and blame others in his first thoughts and this time he takes his anger out on
Jopp. Henchard is the eponymous anti-hero who courts tragedy by acting on jealousy and anger
rather than logic and reason. His all too human failings are made clear.

The Mayor of Casterbridge: Themes

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Average Overall Rating: 4.5

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Deception

Secrets and shame of past actions are seen to contribute to the deceptions practised by Henchard,
Lucetta and Susan. The keeping of secrets and the telling of lies are used to drive the narrative and
maintain the action as each of these attempts to be perceived as morally correct. The fear of these
secrets leaking out and their eventual discovery anyway offers the argument that it is impossible to
evade past indiscretions. The more these characters try to cover over their mistakes, the more likely
it becomes that they are punished in the narrative for not being as upright as Elizabeth-Jane. There is
an element of natural justice being meted out as, for example, Lucetta’s relationship with Henchard
is discovered despite her machinations to keep it quiet. It is as though her exploitation of Elizabeth-
Jane is penalized as much as his is later

Jealousy

The rivalry that Henchard feels towards Farfrae may be interpreted as an ongoing antagonism that
has echoes of the Oedipal complex. His jealousy for the younger man and their triangulated desire
(with Lucetta and Elizabeth-Jane as the separate love objects) allow for their relationship to be read
as one that depends on both their gender and generational difference for its source.
Henchard is jealous of the younger man’s greater success and he also demonstrates an insecure fear
of being usurped. These factors mean that the theme of jealousy is useful for depicting Henchard’s
impulsive and uncontrolled behavior particularly when he watches Farfrae’s successes.

Marriage

The unhappy marriage is an ongoing theme and is pointed to in the first chapter as Henchard and
Susan are described as they walk in silence towards Weydon fair. His subsequent sale of her
reiterates their antagonism with each other and his irrational behavior when drinking. It also
highlights a realistic rather than idealistic view of romance and marriage.

This critique of idealized romance colors the novel and is in evidence when Henchard and Susan later
‘remarry’ as he attempts to make amends for the past and to maintain his respectable position in
Casterbridge society. This pessimistic look at romantic love is also in evidence when Farfrae
considers wooing Elizabeth-Jane again after Henchard has informed him this is acceptable. His views
of marriage are influenced by a successful business transaction and the thought of becoming closer
to Henchard and all of these thoughts are forgotten after he meets Lucetta.