Essay | Michael Henchard: A Sympathetic Character

The mayor of Casterbridge was once very popular, that he was admired by all people in the town. "He's the powerfullest member of the town council, and a quite a principal man in the country round besides. ...He worked his way up from nothing when `a came here; and now he's a pillar of the town." (Hardy, 35) Michael Henchard spent eighteen years to climb up from a hay-trusser to the mayor, but he had his downfall in no more than several years, then he lost all his properties to Donald Farfrae; and died in a lonely cottage outside Casterbridge. Michael Henchard is a sympathetic character because he was a noble and virtuous man, but had a miserable life. We should pity him at the end of the novel because Henchard had his downfall by the forces beyond his control, he was still a good man despite the mistakes he...
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