The title of the novel, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell reinforces the idea of the conflicts that surround urbanisation as the north (Milton) represents industrialisation and all things new while the south (Helstone) encompasses urban living and the past. This essay aims to discuss the different layers of conflict between the north and the south and how the novel may be read as both an industrial novel and a romance novel. This essay aims to discuss how the novel tackles the conflicts in society which eventually leads to the romantic interests of the novel representing a connection between the two worlds of the past and the present.
The Victorian era prevailed under the reign of Queen Victoria, thus the realist novel emerged during this era with industrialisation taking place and the age of improvement occurring, society felt both optimistic about the future and pessimistic about the uncertainties it holds . Realism texts like, North and South is a mimetic novel as it attempts to to hold up a mirror to society, to the conditions in England at the time and the conflicts that surrounded it in order for the readers to become reflective of the world. Gaskell lived in this time period and thus stands in as a didactic writer, meaning a writer who intends to teach a lesson, North and South reflects the consequences of industrialisation by revealing, responding and interpreting public conflicts, conflicts of the individual and conflicts of society . Gaskell then uses the theme of romance to draw in the readers.
The train and the invention of the steam engine plays an important role in the novel as it is a modern invention and also the creation of the train lead to the construction of railroads which essentially changes the urban ...
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...ith modernity and their resolution held a hope and understanding for the future. This essay has discussed how the novel tackles the conflicts in society which eventually leads to the romantic interests of the novel representing a connection between the two worlds of the past and the present.
Works Cited
B. Knezevic, “The Novel as a Cultural Geogrophy: Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South”, SRAZ LVI, 85-105 (2011).
Beck, R. H. “What is Romantic Love? Margaret Hale and Ruby Ruggels Reply.” The Victorian Web. 1995, Available URL: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/trollope/rhbromance.html
Craik, W.A. “Elizabeth Gaskell and the English Provincial Novel.” London: Metheun and Co Ltd, 1975.
Gaskell, E, “North and South”, London: Penguin Books, 1986.
Walker, Hugh. The Literature of the Victorian Era. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1910
...ow this transformation extends further over time, from the quiet town of Amiens to the liberty of 1970s London. Their resistance to the horrors of the War, to patriarchal systems and to social formalities led to significant turning points in the novel, giving us the sense of a theme of revolution on a personal and social level throughout making it the core element of the novel. The differences between the pre-war and post-war period are contrasted episodically by Faulks, and via the female protagonists, he is able to represent very openly how society has transformed. Faulks is able to very cleverly wrong foot the modern reader with the initial realist portrayal of a oppressive husband, illicit relationships and the gore of war. However, it serves only to provide him a platform from where he can present a more buoyant picture of societal and personal transformation.
In Stephen Dunn’s 2003 poem, “Charlotte Bronte in Leeds Point”, the famous author of Jane Eyre is placed into a modern setting of New Jersey. Although Charlotte Bronte lived in the early middle 1800’s, we find her alive and well in the present day in this poem. The poem connects itself to Bronte’s most popular novel, Jane Eyre in characters analysis and setting while speaking of common themes in the novel. Dunn also uses his poem to give Bronte’s writing purpose in modern day.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000. p. 2256
Clements, Victoria. Introduction. A New-England Tale. By Catharine Maria Sedgwick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Lipking, Lawrence I, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume 1c. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
reflects upon the theme of the novel. As it highlights the fact that if people in the society
The salient ideas in the novel are religion, culture, and materialism. This three are the major struggles through which the protagonist encounters throughout his existence. The auxiliary points are sin, gender inequality, and communication. These ones play a less outstanding, but a substantial part in the protagonist’s life.
This includes the historical period of the writing of the novel, the symbolic meaning of the plot and other parts of the narrative, and the characters which help us understand the way we should act in society being just, empathetic and
In North and South by the Victorian Novelist, Elizabeth Gaskel, the towns in the book were given different names than they were in England during the nineteenth century. The population growth, diseases, and sanitation was similar throughout all of England, however most research focuses on London, England due to London being one of the largest cities in England.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
The setting for this novel was a constantly shifting one. Taking place during what seems to be the Late Industrial Revolution and the high of the British Empire, the era is portrayed amongst influential Englishmen, the value of the pound, the presence of steamers, railroads, ferries, and a European globe.
Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Gaskell was a writer from the Victorian Period. She was a woman with a great passion for social causes such as women’s issues and the inequalities of class and gender. She expressed her passions on these subjects through the writing of most of her novels. A few of these works such as Ruth and The Life of Charlotte Bronte proved to be very controversial and had a negative effect on her writing career.
In this book review I represent and analyze the three themes I found the most significant in the novel.
The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Christ Carol T., Catherine Robson, and Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.