Foreshadowing
The Mayor of Casterbridge
by Thomas Hardy

The Mayor of Casterbridge: Foreshadowing 1 key example

Definition of Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition

Key Examples in The Mayor of Casterbridge

Chapter 3
Explanation and Analysis—Foreshadowing Furmity:

Hardy uses foreshadowing to suggest coming back was an unwise choice soon after Susan and Elizabeth-Jane return to England from Canada in Chapter 3. When Susan and her daughter return to the tent in Casterbridge where Henchard originally “sold” them, the surprisingly deteriorated state of the elderly furmity-seller reflects the nasty and unexpected events that are about to unfold:

It was indeed the former mistress of the furmity tent—once thriving, cleanly, white-aproned, and chinking with money—now tentless, dirty, owning no tables or benches, and having scarce any customers except two small whity-brown boys, who came up and asked for “A ha’p’orth, please—good measure,” which she served in a couple of chipped yellow basins of commonest clay.