The publishers wanted to see everything before it was published, since Hardy was known for his ability to offend everyone, even atheists. Nevertheless, Hardy's novel eventually began its serialization on January 2, 1886. On May 10 of the same year, The Mayor of Casterbridge was published in two volumes. The Mayor of Castrbridge is set in the county of Wessex, a land that has relied on the beliefs of the farming folk for centuries. Because the farmers are more connected to the land, they follow a more primal religion, based on the changing of the seasons and the forces of Nature.
Irony works upon the people who are already there, making the best laid plans go awry.
Just as Michael convinces Elizabeth-Jane that she is his daughter, he finds the note from Susan that tells the truth. With the actions of a primal and unchanging world working against the weak human, life becomes a series of pains, punctuated only by flashes of happiness. Yet it is not completely the whims of fate that bring the characters to their downfall. Fate may create the situations for the characters, but in the end their personalities determine how they will react. Michael gains a true confidant in Farfrae, but his quick temper and mercurial ways only serve to push the young man away.