To what extent is Michael Henchard to blame for his own fate? 

Its human nature to blame someone for your own actions, especially the bad ones. It’s more like a defence mechanism; but in Henchard’s case it’s different:

At the beginning of the story we see Henchard and his wife walking to the nearby village of Weydon-Priors in the search of employment. From the minor dialogue they have we can see that this is not the perfect marriage:

“What was really peculiar however, in this couple’s progress, and would have attracted the attention of any casual observer otherwise disposed to overlook them, was the perfect silence they preserved”.

Already from the beginning of the novel we see that Henchard doesn’t seem to be having the of best life’s.

Later on at the fair, under the influence of alcohol he auctions his wife; this moment had changed his whole life.

Now it would have been easier for him to say something like: “I’m sorry I had too much to drink…” but he didn’t; because he is aware of his mistake.

At the end of the day, selling his wife was his fault. After which he takes a vow never to touch alcohol again for the next twenty years. This proves he is conscious of his mistake and how he can prevent repeating it one way or another.

Later on in the novel we have new tragedies that occur, and unfortunately they are all for the worst and they all affect Henchard’s life.

His original wife had returned, not because she wanted to, but because she had no where else to go.

At her death he discovers Marie-Jane is not really his real daughter but that of the sailor who bought his wife. This is also his fault, if he had not drunk alcohol she wouldn’t have left him in the first place.

There came a point in the story when Henchard needed a new manager to smooth things out in his business, someone who knew the new tricks in the agricultural business. His biggest mistake ever in my opinion was hiring Farfrae. The reason he had done so was because he lacked patience. Instead of waiting one more day he had decided to hire the first person who came up to him with good ideas. Bringing Farfrae into his life was a huge mistake. There was only himself to blame.

Soon after he was in constant rivalry with him. It’s as if he had been cursed from then on. He had lost everything to Farfrae, his daughter, Lucetta, his position as Mayor, his company and all his money.

I believe that in life, “what is meant to happen will happen”; but at the same time we are given the chance to choose our paths. If we “play our cards right” we can achieve anything; but if our choices are taken too quickly without thought or research on what could happen in the long term, our lives would look similar to that of Henchard’s. at the end of the day I believe that we are responsible for our actions no matter how damaging they may be. Henchard played the wrong hand and didn’t see what was coming. I sympathize with Henchard’s lack of “luck” but you would have thought that he would have learnt his lesson by now.

Henchard is the only one to blame for his fate, for it is his fault.