Some Discussions of Hardy's "The Mayor of Casterbridge" (1886) (original) (raw)

Themes

• The Implicit Theme in the Works of Thomas Hardy
• The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction
• Love and the Discovery of Self in Hardy and Wilde
• Family-Systems Theory, Addiction, and Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge

Characterization

• Thomas Hardy's Michael Henchard as a Conflicted Protagonist

Plot and structure

• The Private Letter as Plot Device in The Mayor of Casterbridge
• The Narrators of Hard Times and The Mayor of Casterbridge as Wisdom Speakers
• "The Wife Sale in Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge"

Genre, mode, and style

• Thomas Hardy's Pictorial Imagination and The Mayor of Casterbridge
• Sensation Novel Elements in The London Graphic's Serialisation of The Mayor of Casterbridge
• Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of CasterbridgeAs an Aristotelian Tragedy

Gender matters

• The Social Role and Treatment of Women in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge

Political themes and contexts

• The Mayor of Casterbridge and Hardy's Anxieties about the Third Reform Bill

Setting

• Colliton House, Dorset — Hardy's High Place Hall
• Dorchester Corn Exchange
• The Reputed Model for Henchard's House
• Mai Dun Hill Fort [Maiden Castle]
• Maumbury Rings, Dorchester
• The Chalk Walk, Dorchester
• Colliton House, Dorchester
• Mixen Lane, Dorchester
• The King's Arms, Dorchester

Hardy and His Illustrators: Robert Barnes

• Large-Scale Illustrations by Robert Barnes for Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge
• The Graphic
• Robert Barnes's Illustration for Chapter 39

Adaptations

• Dennis Potter's 1978 Television Adaptation
• A Review of "The Claim" (2000) — an adaptation of The Mayor of Casterbridge
• Casterbridge: A New Adaptation by Philip Goulding
• The Mayor of Casterbridge (2001, 2003) on A & E Television: Sometimes Less IS Less

Discussion questions and essay topics

• Reading and discussion questions
• Suggested Essay Topics
• More Suggested Essay Topics

Related Resources

• James A. W. Heffernan's "'Cruel Persuasion'" Seduction, Temptation, and Agency in Hardy's Tess
• Eugene Birchall's website dedicated to photographing Thomas Hardy's 'Wessex'"
• Mitsuharu Matsuoka's Hyper-Concordance allows word searches the complete texts of eighteen of Hardy's works
• Text of the novel at Project Gutenberg

Last modified 3 April 2024