The Mayor of Casterbridge Love Quotes Page 3
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #7 He was the kind of man to whom some human object for pouring out his heat upon – were it affective or were it choleric – was almost a necessity. The craving of his heart for the re-establishment of this tenderest human tie had been great during his wife's lifetime, and now he had submitted to its mastery without reluctance and without fear. (19.29) |
Henchard needs human interaction as a vent for his passionate nature, whether it's someone to yell at ("choleric") or someone to be kind to ("affective").
| Quote #8 But in the interval she – my poor friend – had seen a man she liked better than him. Now comes the point: Could she in honour dismiss the first? (24.57) |
Lucetta makes up a story about "a friend" in order to ask Elizabeth-Jane what she should do. She has basically promised to marry Henchard, but that was a long time ago. Now she's met a man "she liked better" – Farfrae. What's a girl to do?
| Quote #9 'I won't be a slave to the past – I'll love where I choose!' (25.24) |
Lucetta asserts her freedom here. She won't "be a slave" to promises she made in the past; she'll choose her own path. This is a pretty radical thing for a woman to say back when it wasn't considered proper for a woman to show that she loved a man in any obvious way until after the man had already proposed.
