Summary: Chapter XI
Susan meets Henchard in the Ring, “one of the finest Roman Amphitheatres,
if not the very finest, remaining in Britain.” Henchard’s first
words to Susan are to assure her that he no longer drinks. He asks
why she has not returned before now, and she replies that, since
she believed the terms of her sale to be binding, she felt unable
to leave Newson until his death. They agree that it is impossible
for them to begin living together as though they were still married
because of Henchard’s estimable position in the town, as well as
Elizabeth-Jane’s ignorance of their dishonorable past. Henchard
insists that they proceed with caution and devises a plan: Susan
will take a cottage in town as the Widow Newson and allow Henchard
to court and marry her, thereby restoring both their marriage and
his role as Elizabeth-Jane’s father without revealing their past.
Summary: Chapter XII
When Henchard returns home, he encounters Farfrae still
at work. He asks Farfrae to leave off working and join him for supper.
As the two men eat, Henchard confides in Farfrae about his present
situation. He discloses his relationship with Susan, and Farfrae
replies that the only solution is to make amends by living with
her as husband and wife. Henchard reveals that he has become involved
with another woman in Jersey, where he once traveled on business.
He adds that their affair caused quite a scandal in Jersey, for
which the woman suffered greatly. To make amends, Henchard proposed
to her, on the condition that she run the risk of his first wife
being alive. The woman accepted, but now that Susan has returned
he regrets that he will have to disappoint the woman in Jersey.
Farfrae assures him that the situation cannot be helped and offers
to help Henchard write a letter breaking off relations with the
Jersey woman.
Summary: Chapter XIII
Susan gets established in a cottage in the town, and Henchard
begins to visit her “with business-like determination.” Rumors go
around the town concerning the two of them, and a wedding soon follows.
Summary: Chapter XIV
After Susan and Elizabeth-Jane move in with Henchard,
Elizabeth-Jane enjoys a peace of mind that makes her more beautiful.
One day, Henchard comments that it is odd that Elizabeth-Jane’s
hair has lightened since she was a baby. Susan, with “an uneasy
expression” on her face, assures him that nothing is amiss. Henchard
says he wants to have Elizabeth-Jane’s surname legally changed from
Newson to Henchard, since she is actually his daughter. Susan proposes the
change to Elizabeth-Jane, who, though reluctant, says she will consider
it. When, later that day, Elizabeth-Jane asks Henchard if he wishes
the change very much, Henchard says it is her decision. The matter
is dropped, and Elizabeth-Jane remains Miss Newson.
Meanwhile, Henchard’s corn and hay business thrives under Farfrae’s
management, and the two men become good friends. Elizabeth-Jane
notices that, when she and Susan are out walking, Farfrae often
looks at them “with a curious interest.” One day, Elizabeth-Jane
receives a note asking her to come to a granary on a farm at which
Henchard has been doing business. Thinking it has something to do
with Henchard’s business, Elizabeth-Jane goes to the farm but finds
no one there. Eventually, Farfrae arrives. When he reveals a note
similar to Elizabeth-Jane’s, they discover that neither of them
wrote to the other. Farfrae theorizes that someone who wished to
see them both must have been penned the notes, and so they wait
a little longer. They eventually decide that this individual is not
coming, and they go home.
Analysis: Chapters XI–XIV
As the Industrial Revolution swept through the English
countryside, Hardy witnessed dramatic changes. Isolated agricultural
towns like Hardy’s native Dorchester, which serves as a model for
the fictional Casterbridge, were immutably changed by advances in
science and technology. Thus, Hardy’s observations of the town’s
unique topography and customs—the thatched-roof cottages, the Ring,
the skimmington ride described in Chapter XXXIX—become a means of preserving
a dying culture. Hardy’s description of the Ring also serves a thematic
purpose, in which the history of the arena supports and confirms
the novel’s undeniably bleak worldview of the inevitability of human
suffering. Having served as a gallows for gruesome public executions,
as well as the site of countless “pugilistic encounters,” the Ring
casts a foreboding shadow over Henchard’s meeting with his former
wife. But the Ring also stands as a remnant of a culture that no
longer exists, which, perhaps, foreshadows Casterbridge’s imminent
move forward into a more technological future.
