George Meredith had once written that “In tragic life God knows (knows)/ There need not be a villain! Passions weave the plot: / We are betrayed by what is false within.” What this suggests is that it is not so much the circumstances but rather the character of the protagonist that often disappoints them and allows emotions to take over rational thought. Meredith's lines can be very well applied to the protagonist of Thomas Hardy's novel, popularly called The Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael Henchard who has all the elements of a traditional tragic hero. In Hardy's novel The Mayor of Casterbridge, Henchard is undoubtedly the tragic hero whose downfall may be due to his own character flaw: his impulsiveness and reckless anger; however, the way his life is reduced to rubble can also be attributed to circumstances and the evil forces of Nature and Destiny. As mentioned, Henchard is the tragic hero of the novel and his character has both positive and negative aspects that are highlighted. through various episodes of the novel. The character of Henchard is very significant and this point is mentioned in the title of the book itself where Hardy emphasizes that his novel is a "Story of a Man of Character". Throughout the novel, his unstable character forces him into a ruthless competition with Farfrae who soon strips him of his pride, reputation and property, while his insecurities lead him to deceive the one person he has grown to love: Elizabeth-Jane . His impulsiveness and character are evident on three occasions: initially when he sells his wife to Newson, then in his obnoxious behavior towards Whittle who sleeps too much and finally when he fires Jopp. Yet Hardy insists that Henchard is a worthy man and has some paper... as responsible in some sense for the grain and will later be responsible for the bad harvest that will bankrupt Henchard. . Fate sends the child who sings Farfrae's praises to Henchard, and Henchard realizes the true feelings the people of Casterbridge have for Farfrae. Ironically, Henchard discovers that Elizabeth-Jane is not his daughter on the very day he reveals that he is her father! This is the ugly game that Fate and Nature play together with Henchard. Therefore Hardy does not hold Henchard's character solely responsible for his downfall as there were many factors outside of his control (mainly fate) that insensibly played a major role in his downfall. Character is destiny, but destiny also determines your true character and this is very evident in the case of the Mayor of Casterbridge, Michael Henchard, who was a "man of character".’