In the beginning of the novel, Michael Henchard sells his wife Susan and their baby daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a sailor for five guineas after drinking a great deal of rum-laced furmity--a sort of gruel made of wheat, milk, sugar, and spices. In the morning, Henchard regrets what he has done and searches the town for his wife and daughter. Unable to find them, he goes into a church and swears an oath that he will …showed first 75 words of 568 total…

…showed last 75 words of 568 total…the wedding between Elizabeth and Farfrae. Henchard comes back to Casterbridge on the night of the wedding to see Elizabeth, but she snubs him and he leaves again, telling her he will not return. She soon regrets her coldness and she and her husband go looking for Henchard so she can make her peace. Unfortunately, they find him just too late, and the book ends with their discovery of Henchard's death alone in the countryside.