Published 1848 / Length 379 pages
‘The rich man dines, while the poor man pines … Would brothers do as they?’
Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life encapsulates the lot of the middle and working classes during the 1840s, a time of social and economic turmoil. Through realistic and well-developed characters, Gaskell depicts the contrasting lives of the factory workers and their masters, juxtaposing the wealth of the latter with the poverty of the former, and showing the gradual rise of the antagonistic trade unions.
Set against this backdrop of oppression and suffering is the story of Mary Barton, the novel’s romantic protagonist. We follow her character as she is seduced by the rose-coloured life of her father’s enemy, rejects the love of her childhood friend, and becomes unwittingly caught up in an investigation into a violent murder. Involving comic scenes, vivid images, strong female characters, romance and crime, Gaskell engages the reader from beginning to end, posing questions that are still significant today.
‘With so much emphasis on the oppressive life of the workers during this period, it might be assumed that this is a bit of a dull read, but I found it completely the opposite. The historical insight is interesting without being too arduous and Mary is a strong and likeable character.’ – VICTORIA, 22
• The title of the novel is Mary Barton; the subtitle A Tale of Manchester Life. Which best sums up the story?
• Examine Gaskell’s depiction of the trade unions. To what extent do you think she agreed with their ideas?
• Mary and Alice are two of the strongest characters in the novel. Do you think that the book is written from a feminist point of view?
• A strong theme is the question of ‘nature versus nurture’ – the narrator likens the ‘uneducated’ to the monster in Frankenstein, because without education they have no moral grasp of good and evil. How far would you agree that knowledge of good and evil is taught?
• Gaskell was the first novelist to replicate the working-class language of Manchester in literary form, and went further than any other contemporary writer in depicting the appalling plight of the industrial poor of the 1840s.
• Gaskell lived in Manchester, where she was involved in charity work and spent time trying to help the poor.
• Mary Barton was a successful debut. Gaskell went on to write forty-eight more works, including North and South (1855), which was made into a BBC TV drama in 2004.
• Frankenstein by MARY SHELLEY – deals with the question of nature versus nurture.
• North and South by ELIZABETH GASKELL – follows the journey of another romantic heroine during the upheavals in the 1840s industrial North.
• The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by ROBERT TRESSELL – a socialist classic examining the impact of capitalism and trade unions on the working class.