In Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael Henchard's tragic downfall is primarily precipitated by

Henchard's downfall is rooted in his impulsive act of selling his wife Susan and infant daughter Elizabeth-Jane at a fair while drunk. When Susan reappears years later, and when this shameful secret gradually comes to light, it unravels his hard-won respectability. Hardy presents Henchard's fate as a consequence of character flaws—impulsiveness and pride—interacting with circumstance.