Mayor of Casterbridge

At a country fair, drunken farmworker Michael Henchard sells his wife, Susan, and baby daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, to a passing sailor. Eighteen years later, Susan returns to Casterbridge with Elizabeth-Jane and is reunited with a now prosperous Henchard. Deeply regretting his past, Henchard feels compelled to offer to marry Susan, despite already having proposed to a young woman named Lucetta.

As Farfrae's business prospects rise, Henchard's begin to fall, now that the young Scot is no longer there to help him. On top of their professional rivalry, an even deeper emotional battle forms between the men when Farfrae falls for Henchard's former lover, Lucetta, disappointing the hopes of both Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane.