iskvm.blogg.se

Susan seeks Michael because she believes that he can help them now that the sailor, named Newson, has died.

Elizabeth-Jane believes that Michael is just a relative, since Susan has kept her previous marriage a secret. Resigned, Michael gives up the search and goes to another town in Wessex, the town of Casterbridge.Įighteen years later, Susan and Elizabeth-Jane return to Weydon-Priors searching for Michael. Finally he learns that three people matching the descriptions of the sailor, Susan, and Elizabeth-Jane have just emigrated. At first the search is unsuccessful because Michael refuses to explain the circumstances of their parting. Then he sets out to search for his wife and daughter. Nevertheless, because his excessive drinking caused the whole situation, he makes an oath: he will abstain from all liquor for twenty-one years. He realizes that he was partly to blame for his actions, but he also blames Susan for actually thinking that the auction would be binding. Seeing the wedding ring and the money brings the events of the previous evening back to him. Michael merely falls into a drunken slumber as the rest of the shocked customers leave. Before leaving, Susan hurls her wedding-ring at Michael. When Michael takes the money, Susan and Elizabeth-Jane leave with the sailor. He offers to buy Susan and Elizabeth-Jane for five guineas, first making sure that Susan is willing to go. Most of the other customers in the tent treat the auction as a joke, but soon a passing sailor hears the announcements and enters the tent. After several unanswered calls for bids, Susan says that someone should buy her, since her present owner isn't to her liking. Because he believes his marriage at a young age ruined all his chances for success, he offers to sell his wife and daughter to the highest bidder. The furmity seller adds liquor to Michael's meal, and after several servings Michael becomes an angry drunk. Discouraged, Michael takes his family to a furmity seller's tent in Weydon-Priors. However, a passing farmer tells the Henchards that there is no chance of finding employment or housing in the village. Michael Henchard, a hay-trusser, is traveling with his wife, Susan, and young daughter, Elizabeth-Jane. The novel opens on a dirt road near the village of Weydon-Priors, in the English county of Wessex.