Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1854): An Introduction to the NovelLeitura em 6 minutos

“A girl in love will do a good deal”, says John Thornton, the love interest of the protagonist of North and South (1854): an industrial novel which along with titles such as Mary Barton (1848) and Cranford (1853) composes the wide range of works written by Elizabeth Gaskell (1810 – 1865). Throughout the plot of North and South, the reader is met with the contrast between social and economic scenarios of two different English regions, in a novel that encompasses class conflicts, cultural shocks as well as the personal development of the main character, Margaret Hale.

Born in London, Elizabeth Gaskell was a middle-class English novelist whose works offered a wide-ranging view of the Victorian Era – the period which was ruled over by Alexandrina Victoria, better known as Queen Victoria. It was a period characterized by the impact of the aftermath of Industrial Revolution, which brought on massive socio-economic change to the English society of the 19th century, including the rise of the industrial working class and the social ramifications of new structures of labor.  In North and South, Gaskell explored the daily life of an industrial city and the conflicts between workers and manufacturers. She approached and critiqued the problems inherent to this new structured under a humanized outlook – a tempered perspective which would take shape in Margaret Hale.

Margaret Hale spent years living with her aunt and cousin in London. However, she goes back to her parents’ house after Edith gets married. Due to the fact her minister father makes the difficult decision of leaving the church, Miss Hale is soon forced to leave her rural and idealized Helstone and move to Milton Northern, a place which embodied the impacts of the Industrial Revolution. The novel reveals Margaret was responsible not only for telling her mother about her father’s decision but also for a lot of – if not most – duties in her household – including the ones which were supposed to be taken care of by her father.

‘Mamma! Papa is going to leave Helstone!’ she blurted forth. ‘He’s going to leave the Church, and live in Milton-Northern.’ There were the three hard facts hardly spoken.’ (Chapter 5, p. 44)

After leaving the South, she encountered a wide range of people strictly concerned about working in the cotton mill industry and the amount of money they would make in order to provide for their families and themselves. The most compelling character belonging to this class is Nicholas Higgins.

Mr. Higgins is a character who advocated for the rights and welfare of the working classes. He became acquainted with Margaret due to his daughter’s, Bessy Higgins, friendship with the southern girl.

‘Her father had left her to go into Milton upon some business; and on the road home she met her humble friends. The girl looked wistfully at the flowers, and, acting on a sudden impulse, Margaret offered them to her. Her pale blue eyes lightened up as she took them, and her father spoke for her. ‘Thank yo, Miss. Bessy’ll think a deal o’ them flowers; that hoo will; and I shall think a deal o’ yor kindness. Yo’re not of this country, I reckon?’ (Chapter 8, p. 74)

Unfortunately, the bond between the two young women came to a premature end as Bessie dies on account of a lung disease acquired due to pollution and poor working conditions in the factories. Miss Hale’s relationship with the Higgins family, fortunately, led Margaret to sharpen a sense of social justice since she had the opportunity to closely accompany the harsh conditions and poverty faced by the workers. Higgins, on his turn, developed awareness into the perspective of the upper class and the challenges they faced through his interactions with Miss Hale.

A parallel concerning the class differences can be traced through an analysis of both Higgins and John Thornton. Thornton is the manufacturer who develops an acquaintance with the Hale family after becoming a pupil of Mr. Hale’s. Mr. Thornton is described as a proud and ambitious self-made man who is dedicated to his work and the success of his mill. He was a good businessman although he did not care much for his workers’ rights and welfare, which caused a lot of disagreements between him and Margaret Hale. Thornton is a character who undergoes significant development throughout the novel as he learns to overcome his prejudices and understand the struggles faced by the workers in his industry. Margaret and John, moreover, develop a deeper connection and overcome their differences by the end of the plot, eventually evolving to a romantic relationship.

Much like the protagonist of Aurora Leigh, Elizabeth Barret Browning’s novel in verse, North and South’s Margaret Hale diverges from the Victorian standard for female behaviour. Throughout the book, the reader perceives that she is constantly assuming every role in her household (even in the occasion where she was supposed to grieve for her mother’s death she had to deal with her brother’s arrangements to return to Spain) – roles expected to be played by the man in the house under a patriarchal organization of society. Besides her family issues, Margaret was also always attempting to mediate the tensions between the workers and their master, Mr. Thornton.

‘Mr. Thornton,’ said Margaret, shaking all over with her passion, ‘go down this instant, if you are not a coward. Go down and face them like a man. Save these poor strangers, whom you have decoyed here. Speak to your workmen as if they were human beings. Speak to them kindly. Don’t let the soldiers come in and cut down poor-creatures who are driven mad. I see one there who is. If you have any courage or noble quality in you, go out and speak to them, man to man.’ (Chapter 22, p. 194)

Margaret believed and sought harmony not only within her household, but also in the stratified society she had to face.

Miss Hale cultivates a deep sense of empathy as she immerses herself in a new culture and interacts with its people. Rather than simply perceiving and understanding one side, Margaret develops empathy for the struggles faced by all groups. She recognizes the humanity and individuality of the workers and their desire for better lives, while also acknowledging the challenges faced by the manufacturers in a rapidly changing world. She is an important character as she mediates dichotomies in the novel and helps establish a peaceful dialogue between the upper and the working class, understanding and feeling compassion for both sides.

Joseph W. Childers has argued in “Industrial culture and the Victorian Novel” that “a neat separation of industrialism and the novel is nearly impossible before 1832 to 1867” and that “novels turned to the record of industrialism” (2000, p. 78). Thus, North and South becomes an instrument to understand and to study Victorian society. In the same manner that Aurora Leigh represented Elizabeth Barret Browning’s social and political beliefs about the organization of Victorian culture, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Margaret Hale embodies the author’s critique of her society. Margaret can be understood, therefore, as a vehicle through which the author explores the complexities of class conflicts.

REFERENCES

Childers, J. (2000). Industrial culture and the Victorian novel. In: David, Deirdre (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel (Cambridge Companions to Literature, pp. 77-96). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521641500.005

GASKELL, Elizabeth. North and south. global grey, 2018.