- hay-trussernounChapter 1 →
A laborer whose job is to bind cut hay into tight bundles called trusses, a low-paid, unskilled agricultural trade in 19th-century rural England.
- furmitynounChapter 1 →
A thick, warm dish made of wheat boiled in milk, sweetened and spiced; sold at fairs, it could be secretly laced with rum or spirits.
“She turned and went out of the tent sobbing; the sailor followed her, and then the baby; and then the furmity woman.”
- guineasnounChapter 1 →
Old British gold coins each worth one pound and one shilling; used here as the price in the wife-auction, signaling a transaction treated as a formal sale.
“She's yours for five guineas, and a better bargain you'll never make in your life.”
- strong liquorsphraseChapter 1 →
Alcoholic spirits such as rum, gin, or whisky — drinks with a high alcohol content, as opposed to weak beer or cider.
“I will avoid all strong liquors for the space of twenty-one years to come.”
- complementnounChapter 2 →
Something that completes or perfectly matches another thing; here, the town is described as the natural completion of the surrounding farmland, not its opposite.
“Casterbridge was the complement of the rural life around; not its urban opposite.”
- frilled shirtnounChapter 2 →
A formal dress shirt decorated with gathered or pleated ruffles down the front, fashionable for men in the early nineteenth century and a mark of prosperous status.
“an expanse of frilled shirt showing on his broad chest; jewelled studs, and a heavy gold chain.”
- jewelled studsnounChapter 2 →
Small decorative fasteners set with gems, used instead of buttons to close a formal shirt front; a sign of wealth and social standing.
“an expanse of frilled shirt showing on his broad chest; jewelled studs, and a heavy gold chain.”
- stalwartadjectiveChapter 3 →
Strongly and heavily built; physically powerful and solidly made — used here to describe a body type that an earlier era would have admired for its sheer bulk.
“his frame was of a kind that would have been called stalwart in the past, and was now called athletic”
- open-handedadjectiveChapter 3 →
Generous with money; freely giving to others without expecting anything back.
“The man who had done this was the Mayor of Casterbridge — one of the most open-handed men in the town.”
- amphitheatrenounChapter 4 →
A large oval or circular outdoor arena with tiered seating built by the ancient Romans for public spectacles; here, a surviving Roman ruin used as a meeting place.
“The Ring at Casterbridge was merely the local name of one of the finest Roman Amphitheatres, if not the very finest, remaining in Britain.”
- courtverbChapter 4 →
To formally pursue a woman with the intention of marriage, following the accepted social rituals of romantic attention and proposal.
“that I court you, and marry you, Susan Henchard, if you be willing.”
- wilfuladjectiveChapter 6 →
Deliberately chosen and stubbornly maintained; done on purpose rather than by accident — here describing human conflict as intentional, unlike the calm of nature.
“The difference between the peacefulness of inferior nature and the wilful hostilities of mankind was very apparent at this place.”
- emotiveadjectiveChapter 9 →
Relating to tender, affectionate feeling; here paired with 'choleric' to show Henchard needed someone to receive either his warmth or his anger.
“were it emotive or were it choleric—was almost a necessity.”
- cholericadjectiveChapter 9 →
Easily angered; quick-tempered and prone to outbursts of rage, from the old medical idea that an excess of yellow bile caused an irritable personality.
“some human object for pouring out his heart upon—were it emotive or were it choleric—was almost a necessity.”
- jealous to the bonephraseChapter 10 →
Deeply and completely jealous, right through to one's core; an idiom meaning the feeling of envy or resentment is total and not merely surface-level.
“He liked Farfrae's warm nature, and yet he was beginning to be jealous of him — jealous to the bone.”
- ScotchmannounChapter 10 →
An older English term for a man from Scotland, used throughout the novel as the standard period word for a Scottish person.
“The curious double strands in Henchard's character — his warmth and his jealousy — were never more apparent than in his bearing towards the young Scotchman.”
- bearingnounChapter 10 →
The manner in which a person behaves or carries themselves toward another; one's attitude and conduct as shown in actions and expressions.
“were never more apparent than in his bearing towards the young Scotchman.”
- baffledadjectiveChapter 11 →
Completely confused and unable to find a way forward; here describing Henchard's expression as one mixing wounded pride with helpless bewilderment.
“that look was a compound of the pained, the proud, and the baffled.”
- conspicuousadjectiveChapter 11 →
Standing out so clearly that everyone notices; drawing unwanted or embarrassing attention to oneself in a public setting.
“he had come, and he had made himself conspicuous in a way that could not be overlooked.”
- creditorsnounChapter 12 →
People or businesses to whom money is owed; those who have lent funds or extended credit and are legally entitled to repayment.
“He had not money enough to pay his creditors in full, but he had more than the law required; and he paid it all.”
- journeymannounChapter 12 →
A worker who has completed an apprenticeship but works for daily wages under someone else's employ, rather than running his own business — a step above unskilled labor but far below master or employer.
“He had sunk to the position of a journeyman hay-trusser, which was that he had occupied when he first came to Casterbridge.”
- skimmington-ridenounChapter 13 →
A noisy, mocking street procession in which effigies or actors represent a person whose private conduct the community wishes to shame publicly, a rough folk custom of social punishment.
- perfunctoryadjectiveChapter 13 →
Done with the minimum effort required, without care or genuine feeling; carried out as a routine duty rather than with real enthusiasm.
“The mock-couple were doing the thing in a very perfunctory way, as if the pleasure of it had somehow gone flat.”
- retractingverbChapter 14 →
Taking back or withdrawing something already said; admitting that a previous statement was false and cancelling it.
“The lie had been told, and there was no retracting it now.”
- stepdaughternounChapter 15 →
A daughter from a spouse's previous relationship whom one has not biologically fathered; here Henchard uses the word to acknowledge Elizabeth-Jane is not his blood child.
“He had quite forgotten that a union between his stepdaughter and the young Scotchman was a thing to be desired.”
The Mayor of CasterbridgeNovel by Thomas Hardy