Richard Newson Character Analysis in The Mayor of Casterbridge

a gracious sailor who buys Susan Henchard and the first Elizabeth-Jane from Henchard. He cares for Susan and their daughter, the second Elizabeth-Jane, until he sees the mother’s growing distress when she realizes she is morally bound to return to her first husband. Therefore, Newson pretends he has died. Later he seeks out Elizabeth-Jane once he hears her mother has passed away. He passes through Casterbridge multiple times seeking his daughter. The two are reunited despite Henchard’s lie that Elizabeth-Jane has died. He dances joyfully at Elizabeth-Jane’s wedding to Farfrae, and lives with the newly wed couple, before eventually settling at Budmouth, in sight of the sea.

Richard Newson Quotes in The Mayor of Casterbridge

The The Mayor of Casterbridge quotes below are all either spoken by Richard Newson or refer to Richard Newson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

He watched the distant highway expecting to see Newson return on foot, enlightened and indignant, to claim his child. But no figure appeared. Possibly he had spoken to nobody on the coach, but buried his grief in his own heart. His grief!--what was it, after all, to that which he, Henchard, would feel at the loss of her? Newson's affection cooled by years, could not equal his who had been constantly in her presence. And thus his jealous soul speciously argued to excuse the separation of father and child.

Related Characters: Richard Newson, Michael Henchard, Elizabeth-Jane Newson

Page Number and Citation: 290

Explanation and Analysis:

Richard Newson arrives in Casterbridge and seeks his daughter Elizabeth-Jane. Newson was not dead, but lost at sea, and has spent a long time searching for his missing family, guided by love for Susan and Elizabeth-Jane. Henchard, overwhelmed to meet him, tells him in a spur of the moment decision that both women have died. Newson’s grief at this news shows the true love he feels for both women. Henchard again exhibits his characteristic rash decisions and his anxiety about these decisions after the fact. Henchard dreads Newson’s return because he has grown close to Elizabeth-Jane and expects her to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atqu

Richard Newson Character Timeline in The Mayor of Casterbridge

The timeline below shows where the character Richard Newson appears in The Mayor of Casterbridge. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the doorway accepts Michael’s offer to sell Susan for five guineas. A sailor, named Richard Newson, has appeared there as the auction progressed. He walks to the table and produces the... (full context)

Michael takes the money, and, as Susan leaves with Newson, she whirls back to her former husband and hurls her wedding ring at him, accusing... (full context)

...mother as to why they are stopping at the fair. Susan says she first met Newson at this very fair, and Elizabeth sighs over the death of Richard Newson, recently drowned... (full context)

...the events at the Weydon-Priors fair. Susan has also innocently believed her sale to Richard Newson to be binding. A friend in whom Susan confided the truth corrected her belief, and... (full context)

The news of Newson’s loss at sea relieved Susan’s conscience and made her free to seek out her husband,... (full context)

...may speak with him on a personal matter. She informs him that his relative Susan Newson is in town and wishes to see him. Elizabeth-Jane introduces herself as Elizabeth-Jane Newson, which... (full context)

Susan explains her confusion and the fact that she believed her commitment to Newson was binding. Henchard says that he thinks Susan innocent in her past actions, but he... (full context)

...with Susan that he would like to have Elizabeth-Jane called Miss Henchard rather than Miss Newson. Susan protests slightly at first, but then agrees with Henchard. However, Susan goes to Elizabeth-Jane... (full context)

...Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane are sitting before the fire in the evening. Henchard asks about Richard Newson’s kindness as a father and whether or not Elizabeth-Jane could have cared as much for... (full context)

Elizabeth-Jane remains alone that evening, weeping for her mother and for Richard Newson to whom she feels she is doing some wrong. Henchard, meanwhile, goes upstairs to find... (full context)

...Her first daughter with Henchard died three months after the pair was sold to Richard Newson, and the living Elizabeth-Jane is Susan’s daughter with Newson, whom she named after the dead... (full context)

...Eventually, he steals into Elizabeth-Jane’s room as she sleep and sees the marks of Richard Newson in her face and lighter coloring than Henchard’s own. (full context)

...that morning, telling him that she has thought over the matter, and realized that despite Newson’s kindness to her, this is not the same as being one’s true father. She embraces... (full context)

...stranger who stopped at Peter’s Finger in Mixen Lane. The stranger identifies himself as Richard Newson, and a chill goes through Henchard upon hearing this name. Newson speaks of Susan’s innocence... (full context)

Newson says that eventually Susan realized she was not bound to stay with him and was... (full context)

...says she is buried next to her mother and died more than a year previously. Newson exclaims that his journey to Casterbridge has therefore been in vain, and departs. Realizing that... (full context)

Henchard realizes that perhaps Newson’s grief at believing Elizabeth-Jane dead has also prevented him inquiring further. But he feels that... (full context)

Henchard lives in constant anxiety that Newson will return to Casterbridge, but as time wears on and he does not, Henchard grows... (full context)

...the pair’s arrival there, he sees another man arrive on that road. It is Richard Newson. (full context)

...plans to leave Casterbridge, foreseeing how his life must change with the reappearance of Richard Newson. Elizabeth-Jane, surprised and confused by this announcement, begins to cry. (full context)

...to meet at home, and Elizabeth-Jane is surprised to see this man, who is Richard Newson. The reunion between long-separated daughter and father is emotional. Newson is so proud of the... (full context)

Newson expresses his happiness to be involved in their lives now that Henchard is gone. He... (full context)

Newson good-naturedly encourages Elizabeth-Jane to put the past behind her. He offers to help pay for... (full context)

...man who dances particularly grandly. This happy man, Elizabeth-Jane’s dance partner for that number, is Newson. (full context)

...but she no longer can knowing that he deceived her about her parentage and deceived Newson, her true father, into believing that she was dead. Henchard cannot begin to explain his... (full context)

...Henchard causes Elizabeth-Jane to reflect and to wish to make her peace with her stepfather. Newson, although remaining in Casterbridge for a while after the wedding, eventually settled in Budmouth, as... (full context)

Richard Newson Character Analysis

Richard Newson Quotes in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Chapter 41 Quotes

Richard Newson Character Timeline in The Mayor of Casterbridge