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North and South (1854 novel)
Encyclopedia
North and South is an Industrial novel
by Elizabeth Gaskell
. It first appeared as a twenty-two-part weekly serial from September 1854 to January 1855 in the magazine Household Words
. It was published as a book, in two volumes, in 1855.
The novel is set in the fictional town of Milton-Northern, in the industrial-era
North of England. The heroine, Margaret Hale
, is a new arrival in the town. She remembers her former home in the South
as a rural
paradise
, and is critical of industrialism. Her opinions are challenged through her relationships with mill-owner John Thornton
and the working class
Higgins family.
North and South was adapted for television by the BBC
in 1975 and again in 2004.
Besides including scenes of industrial strife, North and South is a courtship-and-marriage story with richly complex elements including class conflict
, religious doubts, maternal struggles, and naval mutiny. Gaskell's heroine, Margaret Hale, grows up in a country parish town in the south, but when her father renounces the Church, he uproots his family, and Margaret finds herself facing a new life in the fictional industrial town of Milton. Finding it hard to adjust to the strange customs and mannerisms of the north, Margaret befriends a working-class family and gains first hand knowledge of and sympathy for an industrial family's difficulties. Meanwhile, Margaret is thrown into the acquaintance of John Thornton, her father's Classics pupil and the local factory master. Margaret is shocked to learn that Thornton was once a 'shop-boy', and Margaret's southern prejudices struggle to understand Thornton, who, as a mere manufacturer, should not fit her idea of 'gentleman'. Meanwhile, Thornton finds himself falling for the proud, austere Miss Hale, who, though far poorer than he, holds herself like a lady and is like no northern woman. Thornton and Margaret, even while falling for each other, frequently come into conflict over the conditions of the working class in England. In an ongoing subplot, Margaret's brother, Frederick, is a fugitive on exile in Spain, unable to return to England because he is wanted for naval mutiny.
Up to the end of the 18th century in England, power was in the hands of the landowning aristocracy--based in the sprawling landscapes of the south. The industrial revolution in England unsettled the centuries old class structure, placing wealth and power in the hands of manufacturers who mass-produced goods in the rugged landscapes of the north. Vast towns such as Manchester, which Gaskell modeled her fictional "Milton" after, were hastily constructed to house the workers who moved from the semi-feudal countryside to work for wages in the new factories. In this way, the south came to represent the past, aristocratic ways--where landowners inherited their property, gathered rents from farmers and peasants, and upheld a certain obligation for their tenants' welfare. The north, meanwhile, came to represent the future: its leaders were 'self-made' men--like Gaskell's hero, John Thornton-- who accumulated wealth as working, middle-class entrepreneurs. Philanthropy, or charity--giving something for nothing--was in their view a dangerous imbalance to the relation between employers and employees, the exchange of cash for labour.
The novel has frequently been favourably compared to the similarly-focused Shirley
by the better-known novelist and friend of Gaskell, Charlotte Brontë
.
When the North and South came out as a book, it included a preface stating that because of restrictions of the magazine format, the author was unable to develop the story as she wished, and that accordingly "various short passages have been inserted, and several new chapters added."
Settling in smoky Milton, the Hale women are troubled by urban dirt and commercial go-getting. Mr. Hale now works as a tutor. His favourite pupil is the important manufacturer, Mr. Thornton. Staying to tea, Thornton debates with the naive, "humanistic" Hales about the condition of the working class, strikes, and the other mill owners. Margaret sees Thornton as coarse and unfeeling but also as admirable in the way he's made his way up from poverty. He sees her as haughty but lovely and intelligent.
Margaret begins to warm up to Milton when she befriends Nicholas Higgins, a factory worker, and his consumptive daughter Bessy, who is about Margaret’s age. Margaret visits the family as often as she can, but her own mother is becoming seriously ill, too.
Although Thornton has tried to get his mother to like and visit the Hales, there is no love lost between them. Mrs. Thornton sees Margaret as haughty, and feels exceptionally possessive toward her son. When a mob of striking workers threaten violence on Thornton and his factory--he has brought in cheap Irish workers to break the strike--Margaret encourages him to go down and appease the mob. He does so, and is in great danger. Realizing this, she puts herself between Thornton and the mob and is struck down by a hurled stone. Soldiers arrive and the mob disperses. While carrying Margaret indoors, Thornton realizes that he has fallen in love with her.
After his mother convinces him that Margaret cares for him. Thornton asks her to marry him. She declines, insisting that she would have intervened to save any man threatened by a mob. When Mrs. Thornton learns that her son has been rejected by Margaret, she hates her all the more. But when the dying Mrs. Hale asks Mrs. Thornton to look after Margaret, she promises to intervene if Margaret is about to make a mistake.
Margaret’s brother, Frederick, who is wanted for his part in a morally justifiable naval mutiny, secretly visits their dying mother. When Margaret takes him to the train station on his return to London, Thornton sees them and supposes Frederick to be Margaret’s lover. On the train platform, a man called Leonards recognizes Frederick. Leonards served with Frederick but did not mutiny and now wants to hand Frederick in to get a reward. Frederick pushes Leonards over the platform a few feet onto the tracks, then jumps into the train. Leonards dies shortly after. When Margaret is questioned by the police about the scuffle on the platform, she lies, saying she wasn’t there. As the magistrate overseeing the investigation into Leonards's death, Thornton knows of Margaret’s lie but covers up for her. Margaret begins to realize she has feelings towards him.
Bessy dies. Her father Nicholas gets a job with Thornton, who, mainly to avoid seeing Margaret, has stopped his tutorials with Mr. Hale. In the meantime, Mr. Bell, Thornton’s landlord and an old friend of Hale's from Oxford, comes to visit the Hales in Milton, and Hale repays the visit by going to Bell in Oxford. There, suddenly, he dies.
Aunt Shaw and Captain Lennox are summoned to take Margaret back to London. Shortly after a visit with Margaret to Helstone, Bell also dies, leaving his considerable property to Margaret.
Thornton suffers grave financial losses: the market fluctuates, and his timing, and luck, have been bad. He comes to London to confer with the lawyer, Lennox, about his next move. He has found out from Higgins that Margaret was protecting her brother, Frederick, at the train station. Frederick is now safely back in Spain.
Finally alone together, Thornton and Margaret admit their love for one another. Her inherited money will save the mill and the jobs of the mill workers.
s based on Gaskell's novel. A 1975 version by Midlands playwright David Turner
featured Rosalind Shanks
as Margaret Hale and Patrick Stewart
as John Thornton, while a 2004 adaptation by Sandy Welch of North & South
featured Daniela Denby-Ashe
and Richard Armitage
respectively in these roles.
has released two adaptations of North and South; a sequel entitled Northern Light in which John and Margaret set up a model village
to improve their workers lives and What You Wish For, a historical fantasy
in which a modern day woman finds herself trapped within the story of North and South.
Industrial novel
The industrial novel is a genre of early Victorian literature. A subclass of the social novel, it portrays the difficult conditions of life of the urban working class during the Industrial Revolution...
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson , often referred to simply as Mrs Gaskell, was a British novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era...
. It first appeared as a twenty-two-part weekly serial from September 1854 to January 1855 in the magazine Household Words
Household Words
Household Words was an English weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens in the 1850s which took its name from the line from Shakespeare "Familiar in his mouth as household words" — Henry V.-History:...
. It was published as a book, in two volumes, in 1855.
The novel is set in the fictional town of Milton-Northern, in the industrial-era
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
North of England. The heroine, Margaret Hale
Margaret Hale
Margaret Hale is the heroine of Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel North and South. Indeed, Gaskell wanted the title of North and South to be Margaret Hale.- Descriptions :From Chapter Seven......
, is a new arrival in the town. She remembers her former home in the South
Southern England
Southern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
as a rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
, and is critical of industrialism. Her opinions are challenged through her relationships with mill-owner John Thornton
John Thornton (North and South)
- Biography :John Thornton grew up in Milton, in the north of England with his mother, Hannah Thornton, father, and sister, Fanny Thornton. John's father committed suicide when John was a teenager, forcing John to quit school and work to support his mother and sister...
and the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
Higgins family.
North and South was adapted for television by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1975 and again in 2004.
Themes
Gaskell had originally titled the novel Margaret Hale, but agreed to the publisher's suggestion of the more topically suggestive North and South, alluding to the contrast between the way of life in the industrial north of England and agricultural south.Besides including scenes of industrial strife, North and South is a courtship-and-marriage story with richly complex elements including class conflict
Class conflict
Class conflict is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests between people of different classes....
, religious doubts, maternal struggles, and naval mutiny. Gaskell's heroine, Margaret Hale, grows up in a country parish town in the south, but when her father renounces the Church, he uproots his family, and Margaret finds herself facing a new life in the fictional industrial town of Milton. Finding it hard to adjust to the strange customs and mannerisms of the north, Margaret befriends a working-class family and gains first hand knowledge of and sympathy for an industrial family's difficulties. Meanwhile, Margaret is thrown into the acquaintance of John Thornton, her father's Classics pupil and the local factory master. Margaret is shocked to learn that Thornton was once a 'shop-boy', and Margaret's southern prejudices struggle to understand Thornton, who, as a mere manufacturer, should not fit her idea of 'gentleman'. Meanwhile, Thornton finds himself falling for the proud, austere Miss Hale, who, though far poorer than he, holds herself like a lady and is like no northern woman. Thornton and Margaret, even while falling for each other, frequently come into conflict over the conditions of the working class in England. In an ongoing subplot, Margaret's brother, Frederick, is a fugitive on exile in Spain, unable to return to England because he is wanted for naval mutiny.
Up to the end of the 18th century in England, power was in the hands of the landowning aristocracy--based in the sprawling landscapes of the south. The industrial revolution in England unsettled the centuries old class structure, placing wealth and power in the hands of manufacturers who mass-produced goods in the rugged landscapes of the north. Vast towns such as Manchester, which Gaskell modeled her fictional "Milton" after, were hastily constructed to house the workers who moved from the semi-feudal countryside to work for wages in the new factories. In this way, the south came to represent the past, aristocratic ways--where landowners inherited their property, gathered rents from farmers and peasants, and upheld a certain obligation for their tenants' welfare. The north, meanwhile, came to represent the future: its leaders were 'self-made' men--like Gaskell's hero, John Thornton-- who accumulated wealth as working, middle-class entrepreneurs. Philanthropy, or charity--giving something for nothing--was in their view a dangerous imbalance to the relation between employers and employees, the exchange of cash for labour.
The novel has frequently been favourably compared to the similarly-focused Shirley
Shirley (novel)
Shirley is an 1849 social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre . The novel is set in Yorkshire in the period 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812...
by the better-known novelist and friend of Gaskell, Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
.
When the North and South came out as a book, it included a preface stating that because of restrictions of the magazine format, the author was unable to develop the story as she wished, and that accordingly "various short passages have been inserted, and several new chapters added."
Characters
- Miss Margaret Hale — The protagonist
- Mr. John Thornton — The owner of a local mill, a friend and student of Margaret's father, and Margaret's love interest.
- Nicholas Higgins — An industrial worker whom Margaret befriends. He has two daughters, Bessy and Mary.
- Mrs. Hannah Thornton — Mr. Thornton's mother, who dislikes Margaret
- Fanny Thornton — Younger sister of Mr. John Thornton
- Bessy — Nicholas Higgins's daughter, who suffers from a fatal illness from working the mills
- Mary — Nicholas Higgins's youngest daughter
- Mr. Richard Hale — Margaret's father, a dissenter who leaves his vicarage in Helstone to work as a private tutor in Milton
- Mrs. Maria Hale — Margaret's mother, a woman from a respectable London family.
- Dixon — A servant of the Hales, very loyal and devoted to Mrs. Hale
- Mr. Bell — An old friend of Mr. Hale, god-father to Margaret and her brother
- Mrs. Shaw — Margaret's aunt, Edith's mother, and Mrs. Hale's sister
- Edith — Margaret's cousin, married to Captain Lennox
- Mr. Henry Lennox — A young lawyer, brother of Captain Lennox. Margaret refuses his suits early in the story
- Frederick Hale — Margaret's older brother, a fugitive living in Spain since his involvement in a mutiny while serving in the British Navy
- Leonards — Frederick's fellow sailor who didn't mutiny and wants to hand Frederick in to get a reward
Summary
Because of theological doubts, the Rev. Mr. Hale gives up his living as a Church of England priest. He, his wife, and their daughter, Margaret, leave the idyllic village of Helstone, in Hampshire in the South, and move to Milton, an industrial town in the North. For most of her youth Margaret, now eighteen or nineteen, has been brought up in London by her wealthy Aunt Shaw; she has rejoined her parents only after the marriage of her vivacious but shallow cousin Edith to Captain Lennox. The captain's brother, Henry, a rising barrister, had asked for Margaret's hand but, regarding him as just a friend, she declined his offer.Settling in smoky Milton, the Hale women are troubled by urban dirt and commercial go-getting. Mr. Hale now works as a tutor. His favourite pupil is the important manufacturer, Mr. Thornton. Staying to tea, Thornton debates with the naive, "humanistic" Hales about the condition of the working class, strikes, and the other mill owners. Margaret sees Thornton as coarse and unfeeling but also as admirable in the way he's made his way up from poverty. He sees her as haughty but lovely and intelligent.
Margaret begins to warm up to Milton when she befriends Nicholas Higgins, a factory worker, and his consumptive daughter Bessy, who is about Margaret’s age. Margaret visits the family as often as she can, but her own mother is becoming seriously ill, too.
Although Thornton has tried to get his mother to like and visit the Hales, there is no love lost between them. Mrs. Thornton sees Margaret as haughty, and feels exceptionally possessive toward her son. When a mob of striking workers threaten violence on Thornton and his factory--he has brought in cheap Irish workers to break the strike--Margaret encourages him to go down and appease the mob. He does so, and is in great danger. Realizing this, she puts herself between Thornton and the mob and is struck down by a hurled stone. Soldiers arrive and the mob disperses. While carrying Margaret indoors, Thornton realizes that he has fallen in love with her.
After his mother convinces him that Margaret cares for him. Thornton asks her to marry him. She declines, insisting that she would have intervened to save any man threatened by a mob. When Mrs. Thornton learns that her son has been rejected by Margaret, she hates her all the more. But when the dying Mrs. Hale asks Mrs. Thornton to look after Margaret, she promises to intervene if Margaret is about to make a mistake.
Margaret’s brother, Frederick, who is wanted for his part in a morally justifiable naval mutiny, secretly visits their dying mother. When Margaret takes him to the train station on his return to London, Thornton sees them and supposes Frederick to be Margaret’s lover. On the train platform, a man called Leonards recognizes Frederick. Leonards served with Frederick but did not mutiny and now wants to hand Frederick in to get a reward. Frederick pushes Leonards over the platform a few feet onto the tracks, then jumps into the train. Leonards dies shortly after. When Margaret is questioned by the police about the scuffle on the platform, she lies, saying she wasn’t there. As the magistrate overseeing the investigation into Leonards's death, Thornton knows of Margaret’s lie but covers up for her. Margaret begins to realize she has feelings towards him.
Bessy dies. Her father Nicholas gets a job with Thornton, who, mainly to avoid seeing Margaret, has stopped his tutorials with Mr. Hale. In the meantime, Mr. Bell, Thornton’s landlord and an old friend of Hale's from Oxford, comes to visit the Hales in Milton, and Hale repays the visit by going to Bell in Oxford. There, suddenly, he dies.
Aunt Shaw and Captain Lennox are summoned to take Margaret back to London. Shortly after a visit with Margaret to Helstone, Bell also dies, leaving his considerable property to Margaret.
Thornton suffers grave financial losses: the market fluctuates, and his timing, and luck, have been bad. He comes to London to confer with the lawyer, Lennox, about his next move. He has found out from Higgins that Margaret was protecting her brother, Frederick, at the train station. Frederick is now safely back in Spain.
Finally alone together, Thornton and Margaret admit their love for one another. Her inherited money will save the mill and the jobs of the mill workers.
Television
The BBC have produced two television serialSerial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
s based on Gaskell's novel. A 1975 version by Midlands playwright David Turner
David Turner (dramatist)
David Turner was a British playwright.From a working class background, he studied French at Birmingham University and subsequently worked as a school teacher in that city...
featured Rosalind Shanks
Rosalind Shanks
Rosalind "Rosalie" Shanks is a British actress. Shanks starred as Margaret Hale in North and South, in 1975, with Patrick Stewart as John Thornton. In 1964, she won the Carleton Hobbs Bursary Award for radio drama.-Select filmography:...
as Margaret Hale and Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
as John Thornton, while a 2004 adaptation by Sandy Welch of North & South
North and South (2004 TV serial)
North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One between November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale , a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave...
featured Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Denby-Ashe
Daniela Denby-Ashe is an English actress, best known for playing the character Janey Harper in the sitcom My Family.-Early life:...
and Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (actor)
Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
respectively in these roles.
Literature
Catherine WinchesterCatherine Winchester
Catherine Winchester is the author of the Past paranormal romance series and two historical novels.She currently resides in Edinburgh with her family and three dogs.-Biography:...
has released two adaptations of North and South; a sequel entitled Northern Light in which John and Margaret set up a model village
Model village
A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, in most cases built from the late eighteenth century onwards by industrialists to house their workers...
to improve their workers lives and What You Wish For, a historical fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
in which a modern day woman finds herself trapped within the story of North and South.
External links
- North and South – complete book in HTML one page for each chapter.
- North and South free ebook in PDF, PDB and LIT formats
- in Mobipocket format
- Read aloud by volunteers in MP3 format (free, public domain)
- North and South, the Musical - a new musical based on E. Gaskell's novel
- Northern Light
- What You Wish For
- Catherine Winchester - Official Website