North and South (novel)

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Title page from 1867, designed by George du Maurier

North and South is one of the industrial novels by British writer Elizabeth Gaskell , which was first published as a serial from September 1854 and was published in a revised version as a book in 1855. The novel is set in the fictional industrial town of Milton in Victorian England against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution . The work is both a development novel, which depicts the emotional and intellectual development of the main character Margaret Hale and the overcoming of her class, as well as a social novel , which offers an insight into life in an industrial city during industrialization .

Gaskell describes a workers strike and uprising in North and South . Although she goes into detail about the miserable living conditions of the workers, she does not take sides. It shows that workers and factory owners have good reasons for their position and that the situation only escalates because nobody understands the arguments of the other side. It advocates cross-class reconciliation and compromise and promotes cooperatives instead of unions .

The novel is particularly fascinating because of its detailed portrayal of the thoughts and feelings of John Thornton, the main male character, who does not take a back seat in favor of the main female character. Richard Armitage , who played John Thornton in the 2004 film , said of Elizabeth Gaskell, “She is probably the most exciting Victorian novelist to me. Unlike the others, she manages to penetrate the male mind. The man is usually just a fantasy figure. The idea that this male mind was described by a woman was brilliant. "

Origin and background

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote the novel on the order of Charles Dickens , which she gave in after prolonged pressure, for his magazine Household Words . She began work in early 1854, just as Dickens' serialized novel Hard Times was appearing in Household Words . This prompted her to ask Dickens if he was describing a strike in the Hard Times because she feared plagiarism allegations . Dickens was able to reassure her about this.

North and South was first published as a serialized novel from September 1854 to January 1855, for which Elizabeth Gaskell received a total of £ 600  . Elizabeth Gaskell changed the original title Margaret Hale to North and South at Dickens' urging . The style of the book, however, was not really suited to a serialized novel that requires a weekly climax. This became more and more frustrating for Dickens, as Elizabeth Gaskell was unwilling to adapt her writing style accordingly. Only at the end of the book was she ready to cut it.

The revised edition of the book appeared in 1855. Elizabeth Gaskell added the two chapters on Margaret's visit with Mr. Bell to Helstone and expanded the end from one chapter to four.

During the Industrial Revolution , the gentry , the predominantly southern English landed gentry defined by land ownership, lost its social importance, while the “industrial nobility”, the rich factory owners from Northern England, became increasingly numerous and politically influential. Elizabeth Gaskell was particularly interested in portraying the living conditions of industrial workers, as she was the wife of a Unitarian clergyman in Manchester , the center of the British cotton industry at the time. The fictional industrial town of Milton in the equally fictional county with the telling name Darkshire, in which the novel is set, is therefore also modeled on Manchester. The model for the workers' uprising was the uprising of the cotton workers in Preston on August 13, 1842, who demonstrated against the poor working conditions. At that time, four workers were killed when the army intervened.

With her industrial novels, Elizabeth Gaskell succeeded in drawing her contemporaries' attention to the social problems of the time far more emphatically than Benjamin Disraeli with his writings on the subject, because she portrayed believable people and not just abstractions.

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Margaret Hale, daughter of the southern English country pastor Richard Hale, belongs to the upper class because of her origins and upbringing, although her parents do not have any assets of their own. She and her mother are therefore shocked when Richard Hale leaves the Anglican Church due to a crisis of faith and the family loses their home and income. The Hales have to move to the up-and-coming industrial city of Milton in the north of England, because Richard Hale has the opportunity to work as a private tutor there, thanks to the mediation of his friend Mr. Bell.

Margaret is not only shocked by the contrast between the familiar rural idyll or elegant London and the dirty industrial city, but also by Milton society, which consists of rich factory owners whom she is not born “ gentlemen ” and therefore not as social equals looks at. A manufacturer belongs to them in the same class as a dealer. A first encounter with the factory owner John Thornton, a friend of Mr. Bell and a new student of her father, is therefore quite forced. Thornton, however, is fascinated by her. But since he is aware of her opinion about him, he does not expect much of a chance with her.

Margaret befriends Bessy Higgins, a terminally ill worker, daughter of local union leader Nicholas Higgins, who suffers from cotton- pollen. Through this friendship she gains a deeper insight into the living conditions of the working class.

Organized by Higgins, all cotton workers in the city go on strike to enforce a wage increase. With neither party willing to give in, the strike dragged on for weeks and the workers were starving. Margaret tries to alleviate their distress as much as possible. However, this brings them into conflict with Thornton and the other factory owners who do not understand their help.

When the starving workers find out that Thornton had brought scabs out of Ireland, the situation escalates and a riot breaks out. Again Margaret tries to mediate and stands between Thornton and the angry crowd. She is hit in the head by a stone intended for Thornton. The outbreak of violence ends the uprising and the strike.

Thornton, encouraged by the fact that Margaret saved him, proposes the next day, which Margaret takes very badly. She believes Thornton is only trying to protect her reputation, and sees herself confirmed again in her view that he is not a gentleman. She gives him to understand this in very clear words when she rejects his request.

Soon thereafter, Margaret's friend Bessy dies and her mother's condition, who has been ill for a long time, is also deteriorating. Since her imminent death is to be expected, Margaret informs her brother Frederick, who lives in Spain. He faces the death penalty for mutiny in England, which is why the Hales do not mention him to anyone. Frederick secretly pays a visit out of concern for his mother. Soon after, Mrs. Hale dies. That same evening, Margaret takes Frederick to the train station so that he can safely leave the country. When she says goodbye to him lovingly, she is watched by Thornton, who, however, does not know that it is her brother and that he thinks he is a lover of Margaret.

Shortly before Frederick can get on the train, he is recognized by the shady Leonards, who knows that his head has a reward. A scuffle ensues in which Leonards falls from the platform, but then gets up and disappears. Frederick just manages to catch the train to London.

Leonards is found dead a little later. Since there were witnesses to the scuffle who also recognized Margaret, she is questioned by a police inspector. Margaret, who does not know whether her brother has already left the country and fears for his safety, denies even having been at the station. The policeman threatens her with a public confrontation with the witnesses, where she has to present an alibi. When Thornton, the magistrate responsible for the investigation, learns of Margaret's involvement in the matter, he closes the investigation. Margaret finds it hard for Thornton to know about her lie. It is only when she is aware that she has lost his good opinion that she gradually realizes how much it meant to her.

Unemployed since the strike, Nicholas Higgins is encouraged by Margaret to apply to Thornton and is hired by Thornton, who is impressed by Higgins' straightforwardness and tenacity. In the period that followed, the two men came together and developed an understanding of the other's position.

When Margaret's father also dies, she returns to London to see her aunt. Her godfather, Mr. Bell, who also dies soon after, leaves her his fortune. Margaret misses Milton and realizes that she has always romanticized the South and its supposedly idyllic living conditions.

Thornton, on the other hand, is facing increasing economic difficulties. Since he was unable to fulfill his orders due to the strike, he can no longer meet his credit obligations and is eventually forced to close the factory. It is around this time that he learns from Higgins that the man he saw Margaret with at the train station was actually her brother.

Margaret's feelings for Thornton have completely changed since she had to assume that he no longer loves her and that she also thinks she is a liar. Henry Lennox, brother-in-law of her cousin Edith and her lawyer, meets Thornton on business matters in London and invites him to a dinner party at Edith's. Margaret and Thornton meet there for the first time in almost a year. The meeting is a bit forced.

When Margaret learns of Thornton's economic troubles, she wants to help him and invest the fortune she now has in his factory. She asks Henry Lennox to arrange everything and bring Thornton over for a business meeting. However, Henry does not appear at the appointed time, so Margaret is forced to speak to Thornton alone. On this occasion they finally admit their feelings for each other.

people

  • Margaret Hale - female protagonist. Belongs to the southern English gentry. Intelligent, outspoken and energetic, but initially filled with arrogance. Falls in love with Thornton.
  • Richard Hale - father of Margaret. South English country pastor who leaves the church due to a crisis of faith. Moves with his family to Milton, Northern England, to work as a private tutor.
  • Maria Hale (née Beresford) - Margaret's sickly mother. Can't come to terms with losing her position in society, moving to Milton and the society there.
  • Frederick Hale - brother of Margaret. Former naval officer. Lives under an assumed name in Spain as he faces the death penalty in England for mutiny. Usually never mentioned by his family because of this. Secretly visits when his mother is dying, getting Margaret into trouble.
  • Dixon - Longtime Hales maid, loyal to Mrs. Hale.
  • Edith Shaw - Margaret's married cousin and pen pal. Belongs to the upper class of London.
  • Anna Shaw (née Beresford) - Margaret's aunt and Edith's mother. Belongs to the upper class of London.
  • Henry Lennox - London attorney and Edith's brother-in-law. Margaret makes a marriage proposal, which she refuses.
  • Daniel Bell - wealthy Oxford academic, friend of Mr. Hale and Margaret's godfather. Leaves Margaret behind a sizable fortune.
  • John Thornton - male protagonist. Owner of a cotton mill and magistrate of the northern English city of Milton. After a family bankruptcy, he worked his way up to factory owner again in just 16 years and offers his workers comparatively good working conditions. Falls in love with Margaret.
  • Hannah Thornton - Thornton's mother. Intelligent, energetic and strong-willed. In love with her son.
  • Fanny Thornton - Thornton's sister. Self-centered, superficial and only interested in their own well-being. For a pecuniary drive, she marries the much older spinning mill owner Mr. Watson.
  • Jane - maid of the Thorntons.
  • Hywel Williams - Thornton's factory supervisor.
  • Mr. Watson - owner of a cotton mill; Fanny's fiancé and future husband.
  • Mr. Hamper - owner of a cotton mill
  • Mr. Slickson - owner of a cotton mill
  • Bessy Higgins - factory worker and Margaret's friend. Dies of the occupational disease of cotton pulp.
  • Nicholas Higgins - Bessy's father. Workers and union leaders. Organized a strike to push through wage increases.
  • Mary Higgins - Bessy's sister.
  • John Boucher - manual worker and involuntary union member. One of the ringleaders of the uprising. Eventually commit suicide.
  • George Leonards - son of a cloth merchant, seafarer; No good from the south, who recognizes Frederick Hale from his time on Orion . Dies under unsettled circumstances after a scuffle with Frederick.
  • Inspector Watson - Police officer investigating the death of Leonards.

Locations

  • London - Harley Street ; Home of the Shaws, Margaret spent her teenage years here
  • Milton / Milton-Northern - fictional industrial city modeled on Manchester ; Home of the Thorntons and birthplace of Daniel Bell
  • Helstone - fictional village in Devonshire / New Forest in southern England; Home of the Hales
  • Oxford

Film adaptations

Translations

  • Margarethe. A novella. Payne, Leipzig / Dresden 1865.
  • North and south. Translated by Christina Neth. 2nd, improved edition. Books on Demand, ISBN 978-3-7386-5446-2 .

further reading

A detailed description of the living and working conditions of English workers at the time of industrialization with a detailed description of Manchester can be found in Friedrich Engels : The Situation of the Working Class in England . The work is still considered the best study of the working class in Victorian England.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laurence Lerner: Introduction. In: Frank Glover Smith (Ed.): Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters. Harmondsworth, Penguin, p. 17.
  2. ↑ Rita Sherrow: Lie back and think of England in: Tulsa World . July 2, 2005. Quote: “She, for me, is probably the most exciting of the Victorian novelists. Unlike others, she manages to get inside the male mind. The male is usually only a fantasy figure. The idea that this male mind was written by a female writer was brilliant. ”
  3. ↑ a b c Edgar Wright : Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell . In: Dictionary of Literary Biography . Volume 21. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Michael Stapleton: The Cambridge Guide to English Literature . Book Club Associates, 1983, pp. 335-336, 641-642 .
  5. ^ A b Lesley McDowell: A woman out of her time. In: Sunday Herald. November 14, 2004.
  6. ↑ Kate Bartlett, Brian Percival, and Sandy Welch. Audio commentary on the North and South DVD . BBC DVD, 2005.

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