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Main Themes Of Dissatisfaction In The Mayor Of Casterbridge

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The Mayor of Casterbridge has two main themes. One theme is dissatisfaction, which is a main reason when the characters end relationships with each other. The other theme is the indelibility of the past. Some characters had long term effects when their past was learned by other characters. People were not forgiven for their past as easy in the early nineteenth as they are today. The author used these themes very well, for people to assert into their life.
Dissatisfaction is very major in The Mayor of Casterbridge because many relationships are broken and mended in the book. Those characters are dissatisfied with their current state of being, so they move on to a different stage in their life, which can lead to other relationships being repaired. The author is teaching the readers to move on, if something in their life is dissatisfying them.
One example of a character being dissatisfied is when Newson fakes his death because he knows Susan is not satisfied and wants to go back to Michael Henchard. Susan found out that she didn’t have to stay with Newson, so she wanted to go back to Henchard. Susan became unpleasant to be around, and Newson knew she wanted to go back to Henchard. On page 288, in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Newson says “ Since I’m here, here I’ll bide, I thought to myself; twill be most kindness to her, now she’s taken against me, to let her believe me lost; for, I thought while she supposes us both alive she’ll be miserable; but if she thinks me dead she’ll go back to him, and the child will have a home.” Newson faked his death to satisfy Susan and bring happiness in her life.
When Lucetta met Farfrae, she became dissatisfied with Henchard. To Lucetta, Farfrae was a younger and better version of Henchard. Lucetta was going to marry Henchard, but she knew that she should would not be happy with him. Lucetta also found out about Henchard’s past, and she was dissatisfied with the way he treated his first wife. On page 209, Lucetta says “ I learnt of the rumor that you had ⎯ sold your first wife at a fair, like a horse or cow. How could I keep my promise after hearing that?” Lucetta knew she was not going to be satisfied with Henchard if she married him, so she moved on with her life.
The other

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