The Serpent of Casterbridge

(A short paper for my lit theories class which limited us to "no more than two typed pages". Good God. So much for being verbose.)


In Thomas Hardy’s novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, the main character and antagonist, Michael Henchard, dominates over others, wears himself into social and economic ruin, and finally dies alone, bereft of any true friends or worldly possessions. He exhibits behavior that is influenced by his inner psyche which is comprised of the Freudian concepts of the id, ego, and superego. He also stands in the place of the Jungian archetype of the serpent, which represents dominance, destruction, corruption, and evil as well as wisdom and mystery. By using both the Freudian perspective and the Jungian perspective to analyze Henchard, he transforms from simply an unsavory persona with loose morals to a complex man who struggles with his inner demons in order to gain closure with a disgraceful life.

To begin, Freudian concepts focus on characters’ actions based on psychological motivations; these motivations are directly linked to the subconscious and conscious sexual desires within the psyche of the character in question. The character is provided with three inner dialogues: the id, the sexually active and primal persona; the ego, the outwardly conscious persona; the super ego, the morally heightened and ultra-aware persona. Jung’s focus on archetypes and images places importance on recurrent themes present in mythology and symbols within these mythologies; these symbols portray universally acknowledged characteristics specific to their form.

In the case of Michael Henchard, the psyche’s control over his actions can be monitored over the course of the novel beginning with the id, then the superego, and finally the ego. Henchard’s troubles first arise when he acts upon his first of many id-oriented impulses to add liquor to his furmity, a type of porridge. In fact, the alcohol allows his id to completely manifest itself upon his face: “at the fourth [serving], the qualities signified by the shape of his face, the occasional clench of his mouth, and the fiery spark of his dark eye, began to tell in his conduct;” he then auctions off his wife, Susan, and infant daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, in his drunken state for five guineas. Henchard’s superego makes its appearance nineteen years later when Susan and the grown Elizabeth-Jane arrive in the town of Casterbridge, searching for Henchard. Elizabeth-Jane is unaware of Henchard’s auction, and while Susan and Henchard devise the best plan of action to take, Henchard proposes that, “I meet you, court you, and marry you, Elizabeth-Jane coming to my house as my step-daughter.” Henchard’s superego attempts to mold the circumstances into a proper and socially acceptable method of gaining Susan and his “step-daughter” back. Henchard’s ego finally manifests itself near the end of the novel when he visits Elizabeth-Jane after her wedding. He is confronted with his own reality: he is a drunkard but realizes that he can never be a part of Elizabeth-Jane’s life, and so he leaves accepting his fate.

From a Jungian perspective, Michael Henchard resembles the serpent: highly aggressive and animalistic in nature, morally corrupt, and prone to the mental destruction of others through intimidation. He is also a tempter who seduces his wife and Lucetta, a previous lover, into post-separation relationships, promising security and fortune. His corrupt business practices reflect in the bad bread, a result of selling bad grain in order to save money; he is deceitful, like the serpent in the biblical Garden of Eden. His aggressions and destruction of morale present themselves in his dialogue toward his wife and daughter, telling them that they are “silly” or “simple” among other things.

Through the perspective of both Freudian and Jungian perspectives, Michael Henchard is read as a complex character, representative of a fallen man who allows his id to determine his actions, and consequently becomes the serpent of Casterbridge.