The Mayor of Casterbridge Love Quotes

How we cite our quotes: 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.