The biggest difference among the various versions of the novel is the ending. But before you get too excited, you should know that in all versions, Elizabeth-Jane marries Donald Farfrae and Michael Henchard exiles himself from Casterbridge, eventually dying in the cottage of a former employee just before Donald and Elizabeth-Jane find him. (Yep, it's depressing, but that's typical of a Thomas Hardy novel.) The main difference between the versions is the reasons Michael Henchard gives for leaving Casterbridge and whether or not he returns to see Elizabeth-Jane on her wedding day.