The story begins in rural Wessex one late summer when Michael Henchard, a burly, taciturn hay-trusser, in a drunken bravado sells his young wife Susan and their infant at a fair to a passing sailor. Waking sober, Henchard repents, swears a solemn twenty-one-year vow of total abstinence, searches unsuccessfully for Susan, and removes himself to Casterbridge. By industry and self-discipline he rises to prosperity as a corn-factor and later mayor.

Years on, Susan—widowed—returns with her daughter Elizabeth-Jane and, to spare the girl, conceals their true past. By chance Elizabeth-Jane meets Henchard; moved by remorse and a desire to restore family ties without exposing earlier shame, Henchard brings mother and child into his household, introducing Susan as Mrs. Newson. He appoints Donald Farfrae, a capable young Scottish corn-dealer, as manager. Under Farfrae the business prospers; Henchard forms a strong but possessive attachment to him.

Lucetta Le Sueur, now living as a wealthy Mrs. Templeman, arrives at High-Place Hall. Vivacious and worldly, she befriends Elizabeth-Jane and becomes the object of renewed passion from Henchard, who had once loved her and been rejected. Lucetta is instead drawn to Farfrae, and social jealousies, wounded pride, and commercial rivalry soon converge. Henchard’s possessiveness and Farfrae’s rising popularity produce personal conflict and commercial feud; Henchard hires sharp-tongued Joshua Jopp and speculates in corn on dubious prognostications, moves that later prove disastrous.

Two revelations accelerate Henchard’s collapse. First, after Susan falls ill and dies, a sealed letter discloses that Elizabeth-Jane is not the infant he sold but the child of Susan’s later marriage to Newson—undercutting Henchard’s recent claim to paternity and intensifying his humiliation. Then an old furmity-seller publicly exposes, at a magistrates’ court, the long-buried episode of the sale; Henchard admits the truth and his reputation is shattered. Alarmed by Henchard’s character and the scandal, Lucetta impulsively marries Farfrae at Port-Bredy.

Bankruptcy follows. Henchard, reduced, humbles himself before creditors, is taken on as a journeyman by Farfrae, and briefly breaks his vow to drink. A coarse public skimmington-ride humiliates Lucetta and her husband; Lucetta collapses in convulsions, miscarries, and dies. Farfrae, compassionate, declines legal reprisals. Newson later returns, recognizes his daughter, and permanently severs Henchard’s hopes of a familial anchor.

Overcome by remorse and decline, Henchard wanders, attempts restitution, and dies alone in a cottage. Elizabeth-Jane, steadfast and compassionate, finds his body, honors his dying injunctions, and settles into a quieter domestic life amid Farfrae’s and Newson’s renewed presence. The narrative traces reputational fragility and the cumulative cost of past moral failures, showing how secrecy, pride, and attempts at concealment yield unpredictable punishment and occasional mercy.