Poulami Kundu Cc10 Draft
Poulami Kundu Cc10 Draft
Poulami Kundu Cc10 Draft
POULAMI KUNDU
SEM-4 CC-10 TUTORIAL (draft)
UNIVERSITY ROLL
NUMBER – 192031-11-0047
UNIVERSITY REGRISTRATION
NUMBER – 031-1211-0222-19
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Thomas Hardy’s 1886 novel The Mayor of Casterbridge – the Life and Death of a Man of
a Character presents the readers with a major interpretive puzzle with a narrative on a
grand scale revolving around human character, society, environment, and various man –
woman relationships. The dynamics between Donald Farfrae, a young Scottish man, who
later was perceived by the protagonist Michael Henchard as his arch enemy, and Lucetta
Templeman, a young woman from Jersey who had a brief association with Henchard, is
one such relationship that plays a very crucial role in the Hardy universe.
not as objects desired for themselves but rather as objects desired for themselves
Hardy’s design of Farfrae and Lucetta’s relationship in the novel perfectly fits this
Lucetta first met Farfrae after settling in High Place Hall. She became quickly enamored
with him. However funnily enough, Farfrae’s motive to visit High Place Hall was
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actually to ask the hand of Elizabeth Jane, whom Lucetta had sheltered, for marriage, as
Farfrae thought
friend Henchard would, in the natural course of things, flow from such
Lucetta too had been waiting for Henchard to meet her and hand over the love letters she
wrote to him that captured her scandalously indiscreet affair with him. Even though she
said she was no longer interested in Henchard, she made sure to arrange herself
attractively and picturesquely on the chair and hid herself behind the window curtain on
“In spite of the waning of passion the situation was an agitating one – she had not
seen Henchard since his temporary parting from her in Jersey.” (Chapter
twenty two)
Even though she had previously suffered for living recklessly, instead of being cautious,
once she met Farfrae instead of the man she was expecting, she openly showed interest in
the stranger and coquettishly began flirting with him, completely ignoring his plan to see
Elizabeth-Jane. Thus, the first meet of Farfrae and Lucetta, that flagged off their
relationship, was nothing but a chance incident, where both of them were actually aiming
to meet not each other, but Elizabeth and Henchard, respectively. The very foundation of
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their association was therefore not based on any strong emotional exchange or intellectual
bonding.
Nevertheless, Lucetta did excite Farfrae. However, by character she was a subterfuge
opportunist.
“In her poverty she had made with repulse from the society to which she had
belonged, and she had no great zest for renewing an attempt upon it now. Her
heart longed for some ark into which it could fly and be at rest.” (Chapter
twenty three)
Farfrae was not a man who was sentimentally inclined or made decisions out of gushing
emotions. His attraction for Lucetta, too, was more of an infatuation underlined by an
Soon after, Farfrae and Lucetta secretly got married at Port Breedy. When Lucetta
justified her clandestine marriage with Farfrae to Henchard, she explained in terms of
“I could not risk myself in your hand; it would have been letting myself down to
tale your name after such a scandal. But I knew I should lose Donald if I did not
secure him at once – for you would carry out your threat of telling him of our
Even though Henchard, jealous of Farfrae and betrayed by Lucetta, initially devised a
“…no longer envied Farfrae his bargain. He had married money, but nothing
five)
Soon after their marriage Farfrae moved in with Lucetta because she had a nicer house
and greater wealth and therefore Lucetta was socially higher than Farfrae for then.
Farfrae also agreed to Lucetta’s proposal for allowing Elizabeth Jane to continue living
with them. Any other man in his position may have had felt some discomfort at this, but
Farfrae was unbothered as he was not primarily driven by emotions and Lucetta was like
Nevertheless, the newly married Farfrae and Lucetta indulged in their public display of
“Farfrae and Lucetta might have been seen flitting about the town like two
butterflies – or rather like a bee and a butterfly in the league of life.” (Chapter
thirty three)
Lucetta was especially fond of strolling around in her husband’s company; however
Farfrae failed to feel deeply for his wife and spent most of his afternoons in business
while his wife waits for him indoors. Thus, Farfrae was like an industrious ‘bee’ to
Lucetta’s charming delightful ‘butterfly’, and there was an absence of any lovely
Farfrae once came very close to discerning the truth of Lucetta’s past dalliance with
him and could not understand why Henchard felt so strongly about the situation, as if
they were in a rivalry of love, rather than a small trade rivalry. Even though he assured
her that the situation was not all that bad, it fueled Lucetta’s incessant anxiety of her
hideous past getting exposed to her husband, the fear that later ended up even taking her
life and in order to escape, Lucetta told Farfrae that she wished he would seriously
consider her plan of moving elsewhere, to which he momentarily agreed. At that very
moment, Mr. Vatt offered Farfrae his seat on the council, and Farfrae instantaneously
accepted, forgetting about his wife. Farfrae prioritized his social position in Casterbridge
over Lucetta and rejected her wish to move away, which could have saved her from her
Soon after Lucetta’s death, Farfrae also quite easily transferred his affections to Elizabeth
Jane after his brief mourning was over. His rationality and calculative mind made him
“It was inevitable that the insight, briskness, and rapidity of his nature should
take him out of the dead blank which his loss threw about him. He could not but
perceive that by the death of Lucetta he had exchanged a looming misery for a
two)
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Donald Farfrae was a man who thought more than he felt; he was successful in his
commercial dealings but his mechanical mind often failed at being passionate or tender-
hearted. On the other hand, Lucetta Templeman was a flirtatious woman and also
opportunistic and impetuous. A sound healthy relationship between them was thus
impossible. Farfrae, too, realized the same after Lucetta’s truth was revealed to him.
novel not merely about the rise and fall of Michael Henchard, but also about the intrigues
WORKS CITED –
CHOOSE.” The Thomas Hardy Journal, vol. 27, 2012, pp. 114–21. JSTOR,
www.jstor.org.
www.jstor.org.
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