In Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, the protagonist who sells his wife is Michael Henchard. The shocking sale occurs at a country fair, where Henchard, drunk and enraged after quarrelling with Susan, offers her and their young daughter to sailor Michael Newson for five guineas.
Henchard regrets the act almost immediately and vows to avoid alcohol for 21 years, matching the age he was when he committed the deed. By the time the novel begins, he has become a prosperous corn merchant and the mayor of Casterbridge, but his past returns when Susan and Elizabeth-Jane reappear.
A common mix-up is to choose Susan Henchard, because she is the wife who is sold, or Elizabeth-Jane, the daughter involved in the transaction. Donald Farfrae is Henchard's talented Scottish rival and eventual successor. The novel, published in 1886, follows Henchard's attempts to repair the damage caused by his impulsive act and the consequences of his pride.