North and South

By Elizabeth Gaskell, 1854

“ I was too busy to think about any dead people, with the living pressing alongside of me, neck to neck, in the struggle for bread”

Mr. Thornton

“But work grew scarce, while bread grew dear, And wages lessened, too; For Irish hordes were bidders here, Our half-paid work to do.” Corn Law Rhymes

Margaret Hale is forced to leave her quiet South of England to the industrial town of Milton, in the North. There, she discovers a brutal world both on the side of the cotton-mill owner Mr. Thornton and on the side of the workers. Workers and masters are on the verge of a crisis.

The initial title of the novel was ‘Margaret Hale’ corresponding to the main character who has to adapt to its new environnment. However, her editor, Charles Dickens in person, decided to change it to ‘North and South’ reflecting the clash between the industrial and agricultural regions. The two titles are actually two aspects that I appreciated: the main character development through the novel and the depiction of the Industrial Revolution in England.

1) All in all, I have a positive impression on this story. Margaret Hale is a convincing active hero as shown during the riot scene where she protects the mill-owner Mr. Thornton from being hurt. I really liked that the characters come from various background : workers and masters, from North and from the South. It gives a global image of the era.

2) I rather disliked the narration. I think the author involves herself a lot during dialogues and I felt it annoying somehow. Also as I took time to read this novel, it was sometimes hard to follow or to come back to the plot, which again made me take more time to catch the train… That’s why I took 3 months in the end. I have nonetheless to mention the 2004 mini-series adaptation which I think made the story a lot more dynamic. For once I prefer the film rather than the novel!

3) The novel is critical of the British cotton industry. The author first of all highlights the workers conditions. For instance, in the mill, cotton microparticules are inhalated by workers causing severe health problems, that leads to the death of a worker in the novel. Milton is also socially unhealthy because of the bad relationships between the mill-owners and the workers, querelling between each other. At last, Gaskell mentions the laissez-faire policies, accepting for example the arrival of low-paid Irish workers to break the strike. Historically, Milton is a clear counterpart of Manchester, that was nicknamed “Cottonopolis” during the Industrial Revolution.

4) At a larger scale, the novel comes in a time of reforms. Gaskell’s positions for better workers conditions looks like Friedrich Engel’s 1845 work about Manchester. Some protests occurred during the period for better democracy and political economy, opposing wage cuts, with the Chartism since 1838. We can finally mention Benjamin Disreali, future prime minister, who wrote “Sybil, or The Two Nations” in 1845, a novel also about the working class condition.

Don’t hesitate also to read the Wikipedia article as it is well done!

See you soon!

Medicis