The evolution of women in The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge is set in a fictional town in Victorian England. The characters in his novel strongly reflect the ideals and morals of the time period. However, during the Victorian era, different types of women began to emerge. Hardy outlines the evolution of women during the Victorian period through the characterization of Susan Henchard, Lucetta Templeman, and Elizabeth-Jane Newson. Although her presence in the novel is brief, Susan Henchard represents a submissive Victorian woman. A very simple and banal-looking woman, she can be classified almost as a second-class citizen. As was often thought of woman in this time period, “Woman is the weakest and fleshiest, and clings to the strongest and darkens his [man's] vision” (Brady 97). At the beginning of the novel, Susan agrees to be sold to the sailor. As her husband, Michael Henchard, puts it: “But she's willing, as long as she can have the baby. He only said it the other day when I talked about it” (10). Susan accepts whatever her husband says, believing that she must listen to every word he says. As Dana Allingham describes in her essay on the role of women in the novel, "the fact that Henchard auctioned off his wife to the highest bidder at Weydon Fair...demonstrates that in early nineteenth-century England its women of class in rural districts were considered little more than shares to be disposed of at the whims of the owners…” (1). Women in this period were also less educated than men subordinate woman relied on her husband's thoughts rather than creating her... middle of paper... showed the change from simple and obedient women to women who begin to learn to think for themselves. Knowledge is power for these women. The more they know, the more independent they can become. Even since the Victorian period, this has remained true. In the modern world, education is fundamental to equality between men and women women in "TheMayor of Casterbridge" by Thomas Hardy" The Victorian Web. 17 September 2003. Web. 02 May 2014.Brady, Kristin. "Thomas Hardy and Gender Issues." Thomas Hardy's Cambridge Companion. Ed. Dale Kramer. New York: Cambridge UP, 2003. 93-111. Print.Hardy, Thomas. The Mayor of Casterbridge. New York: Bantam, 2005. Print.Millgate, Michael. "The Role of Elizabeth-Jane." The Mayor of Casterbridge. Ed. Phillip Mallett. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. 361-66. Press.