Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge

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Hardy grew up in the village of Higher Bockhampton, three miles from Dorchester – the Casterbridge of the novel – and wrote

The Mayor of Casterbridge

in 1884-85 when he had just permanently moved back to Dorchester. He set the novel around the time of his childhood in the 1840s, when, in his view, rural life was still as it had been for centuries. He constantly reminds us of the Casterbridge of old times – ancient stone, sagging buildings, close connection with the countryside. The physical city is very much present in the novel – its streets, the remains of the Roman amphitheater outside the town, buildings such as High-Place Hall, where Lucetta lives, and the Three Mariners Inn. (Hardy had been an architect before he became a writer and is always sensitive to the materiality of…

3111 words

Citation: Rogers, Katharine. "The Mayor of Casterbridge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 December 2015 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=199, accessed 19 March 2024.]

199 The Mayor of Casterbridge 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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