Themes and Issues

Abstract

The Mayor of Casterbridge is set in agricultural England in the first half of the nineteenth century. This does not mean, however, that it is a comfortably rural novel with no relevance for contemporary readers and issues. Put simply, it is concerned with the life of one man, part of, and yet tragically isolated from, the community in which he lives. Other characters, social pressures and the necessity for balance are part of his story