The Mayor of Casterbridge

Hardy's novel begins with the famous scene in which Michael Henchard, a young farmer, gets drunk at a village fair and sells his wife and baby daughter to a passing sailor for five guineas. The consequences of this impulsive act are regrettable and far-reaching, and culminate in Henchard's ruin and his death in obscurity as a lonely old man. Henchard is similar to the heroes of Greek tragedies who destroy themselves through weaknesses in their own character. (The subtitle of the novel is "The Life and Death of a Man of Character.")