Abstract

Thomas Hardy, one of the outstanding writers in the 19th century. The Mayor of Casterbridge, is Hardy’s masterpiece. As an enthusiastic lover of nature, natural description is of great importance in Hardy’s novels. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy associates the presence of nature especially the animals to the characters’ conditions. In the novel, Hardy endowed the “inhuman” animals with human characteristics. This paper will interprete the novel from the perspective of animals. It will explore the associations between the recurring bird image and Henchard’s tragic fate, the close similarities between the bull and Henchard’s characteristics, and the sheep as the symbolic representation of vulnerable women in the novel.

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