Controversy and Attack
The next novel, 'North
and South' is the second to deal with an industrial theme, and in many ways is
Mrs. Gaskell's most interesting book, though it is not her most successful. Her
heroine, Margaret Hale, is a girl from the South of England who finds herself
unwillingly transplanted to an industrial city, identifiable as Manchester. The
theme is the clash between the rough, vigorous Northern way of life and the
gentler, more 'civilised' Southern.
Right: Gaskell Tower,
Knutsford
This is a contrast which
we have already seen to exist in Mrs. Gaskell's own life - she too had a
Northern and Southern aspect. In 'North and South' the conflict is resolved;
the two are seen to be complementary, and their union is symbolised by
Margaret's marriage to a Northern manufacturer.
The novel unfortunately
has faults of structure and proportion, which make it impossible to place it in
the highest class. Had it avoided these faults, the strength of its theme and
the feeling and imagination behind it would have made it one of the greatest of
English novels. It is interesting to note Mrs. Gaskell's method of work. She
did not cut herself off in a quiet study. She wrote in a corner of the dining
room table, or in any other spot that happened to be unoccupied, in the
intervals of a busy family life.
Here is her own account of a mornings activity:
In the hour since
breakfast, I have had to decide on the following variety of important
questions: boiled beef - how long to boil? What perennials will do in
Manchester smoke? Length of skirt for a gown? Salary of a nursery governess?...
Read letters on the state of the Indian Army lent me by a very agreeable neighbour,
and return then with a proper note and as many wise remarks as will come in a
hurry. Settle 20 questions of dress for the girls...See a lady about a MS story
of hers, and give her disheartening but very good advice. Arrange about selling
two poor cows for one good one. See purchasers and show myself up to cattle
questions, keep and prices - and it's not half past ten yet!
The Life of Charlotte Bronte
Mrs. Gaskell had for
some time been a friend of Charlotte Bronte, the author of 'Jane "Eyre'.
Charlotte died in 1855 and her father, The Rev Patrick Bronte, asked Elizabeth
to write her biography. This was a brave choice on Mr. Bronte's part, for Mrs.
Gaskell at that time was looked on as a highly dangerous writer.
Left: Charlotte Bronte
She threw herself into
this task with impressive professionalism, chasing every scrap of information
and following in Charlotte's footsteps where she had been. The result ranks
second only to Boswell's 'Johnson' among the English biographies, and which, like
'Cranford' has run through edition after edition for more than a century.
In the short run,
however, the result was still more trouble for Mrs. Gaskell, who was altogether
too frank about Branwell Bronte's unhappy love affair with Mrs. Robinson, and also
about Cowan Bridge School, the original of the appalling 'Lowood' of 'Jane
Eyre'.
An edition of 'The Life
of Charlotte Bronte' had to be scrapped, and a public apology made in 'The
Times'. This was apparently done without Mrs. Gaskell's knowledge - she was in
Italy at the time, having taken care to be abroad on publication day - and her
own dry observation was that the next edition ought to contain an apology 'for
having offered so expensive an article as truth to the public'.
Academic year
2009/2010
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Natalia Quintana Morán
naquinmo@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press
Knutsford
Cheshire / Virtual Knutsford for all you need to konw about Knutsford.
19 Septiembre de 2009, 17:28
URL: http://www.virtual-knutsford.co.uk/frameset.php?main=/gaskell_main.htm
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