# The Mayor of Casterbridge — Character guide

> Key figures in The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy.

- [Elizabeth-Jane Newson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/elizabeth_jane.md): Elizabeth-Jane arrives in Casterbridge as Susan's daughter and becomes the emotional anchor of Henchard's household, though she never seeks the spotlight. Her deepest loyalty belongs to the sailor Richard Newson, whom sh
- [Michael Henchard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/michael_henchard.md): Henchard rules Casterbridge with a mixture of generosity and tyranny, staging lavish free entertainments to outshine his manager Farfrae's humbler efforts. His need to dominate, born of an old shame he cannot outrun, tur
- [Donald Farfrae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/donald_farfrae.md): Farfrae arrives in Casterbridge as a stranger and rises swiftly through Henchard's own patronage, winning the town's affection with his songs and his shrewd business sense. His marriage to Lucetta places him at the cente
- [Lucetta Templeman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/lucetta_templeman.md): Lucetta reinvents herself as Miss Templeman of High-Place Hall, but her history with Henchard as the woman he once promised to marry shadows every social triumph. Her passion for Farfrae overrides her obligation to Hench
- [Susan Henchard](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/susan_henchard.md): Susan Henchard lives quietly on the margins of Casterbridge society, seeking only security for Elizabeth-Jane and a measure of peace after years of hardship with the sailor Newson. Her decision to keep the truth of Eliza
- [Richard Newson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/richard_newson.md): Newson exists for much of the novel as an absence, a sailor presumed lost at sea whose kindness Elizabeth-Jane remembers with fierce loyalty. His return, when it comes, threatens the fragile identity Henchard has constru
- [Abel Whittle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/abel_whittle.md): Whittle belongs to the lowest tier of Casterbridge labor, the kind of man whose name the town barely bothers to remember, yet he attaches himself to Henchard with a loyalty no amount of cruelty seems to shake. His slowne
- [Joshua Jopp](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/joshua_jopp.md): Jopp moves through Casterbridge's lower commercial ranks, one of the men Henchard uses and then discards without a second thought. His grievance is small and personal, but in a town where reputations are currency, a disg
- [Christopher Coney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/christopher_coney.md): A local townsman and member of the choir, often found at the Three Mariners.
- [Nance Mockridge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/nance_mockridge.md): A sharp-tongued local woman who works as a servant and gossips.
- [Solomon Longways](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/solomon_longways.md): A thoughtful local tradesman and friend of the Casterbridge community.
- [Stubberd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/stubberd.md): A constable in Casterbridge who occasionally enforces the law.
- [Mrs. Cuxsom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/mrs_cuxsom.md): A local woman who runs a lodging house and spreads news.
- [Grower](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/grower.md): A local farmer and member of the town council.
- [Jack Griggs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters/jack_griggs.md): A local man who participates in town events and gossip.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_mayor_of_casterbridge_se/characters