The Mayor of Casterbridge Chapter 16

In which the rivalry of municipal entertainments marks a shift in the relations between Henchard and his manager Farfrae, as the former endeavours to assert his authority through a grand public festival, only to be outshone by the latter’s modest yet ingenious celebration beneath the sycamores. The rain-soaked failure of Henchard’s undertaking and the unfailing admiration shown to Farfrae’s more simple pleasures stir uneasy feelings, revealing the quiet undercurrents that begin to alter their once comfortable association.