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Mcteague And The Mayor Of Casterbridge

Moy 1
Shelly Moy
M. Regan
ENG261AC
April 28, 2003

Thomas Hardy and Frank Norris are artists, painting portraits of men filled with character, that is distraught with regression.   The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy is a powerful and searching fable.   Frank Norris' McTeague is a documentation of the animalistic pursuit of empty dreams.   Both authors withhold the protagonists of their dreams, in a grotesque world, which provides no sign of escape.   Each emphasizes themes of greed and devolution, while carefully detailing character portraits.   Both Hardy and Norris broadcast a network of symbolism to enhance the meaning of their works.   Hardy and Norris' use of complex character portraits, simplistic settings and love subplots employ correlating themes of decay and provide similar and contrasting insights into their novels.  
The settings of both novels are based in small simple structured towns.   Each take place during the post-Victorian era.   Both authors base their novels within these small towns and avoid the introduction of a new setting.   The development of a single setting story allows for both Hardy and Norris to manifest a greater complexity in the protagonist's plight.   In McTeague, "All the needed data are given at the start, and the main action-except the ending-glows out of the data; no face is withheld to allow the story to take an unexpected twist, and the facts are given mean what they purport to
Moy 2
mean"   (Frohock 10).   The Mayor of Casterbridge also follows the setting structure of a small town filled with all the necessary elements for Henchard's undulating character progression.   It is unique that both authors focus solely upon one small town, both only escaping its confides once, either in the very beginning or in the end.   Both Hardy and Norris spin a complex web of symbols, characters and love subplots within their settings.  
The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with a drunken Michael Henchard selling his wife and child to a...