My Thoughts on Reading the First Fifteen Chapters:
In
the fairy world of Harley Street, London, where Titania curls up,
asleep on the chesterfield, Margaret Hale inhabits a world pleasure and
ease, where friends are defined as the people you dine with more
frequently than any others, and emotions are never so strong that they
cannot be appeased with a culinary delicacy. But, under the superficial
veneer of perfection, we see a world in which a nine-year-old girl,
separated from her parents for the first time must muffle her homesick
sobs uncomforted. Margaret, surrounded by an assortment of frivolous
behaviour is a model of balanced thinking and clear perception, keeping
the fairy tale alive, and her individually intact (although subdued).
She is in tune with all that goes on around her and constantly fills in
the gaps in courtesy created by her aunt and cousin: she sees when the
guests have been left unattended, and rises unbidden to be a page-turner
while Edith plays the piano. The poor country cousin, she has lived in
Harley Street as a companion to Edith for many years. Now, Edith is to
be married to Captain Lennox and will be living in Greece; Margaret
will return to her parents' home in Helstone.
Helstone,
as described by Margaret is like a village in a Tennyson poem; a small
parish in the New Forest, too sacred and special for her to discuss
flippantly with Mr. Henry Lennox, the brother of Edith's fiance, who
teases her about it's fairy tale qualities. When she returns to
Helstone from London, Margaret revels in the outdoor world and enjoys
long walks with her father; she visits with the local inhabitants and
has freedoms she could not enjoy in the city. But like Harley Street,
the life in Helstone is couched in the language of fairy tales; Dixon,
lady's maid to Mrs. Hale considers herself "the good and protecting
fairy whose duty it was to baffle the malignant giant, Mr. Hale." (21)
In
Harley Street we have glimpsed Margaret's self-restraint (in contrast
with the behaviour of impulsive Edith), but when she returns to Helstone
it is challenged in quick succession by an unwanted marriage proposal,
and the revelation that her father is giving up his livelihood as an
Anglican minister and relocating the family to a northern industrial
town. While Mr. Hale, dithering and indecisive, desires a change in
external surroundings to distract him from the challenges of his
decision, Margaret is able to draw on her own inner strength and resolve
and to accept his decision. Emotionally orphaned by her parents,
Margaret is nevertheless able to move forward. In one day, Margaret has
made the transition from girl to woman (by a marriage proposal), and
from child to adult, with all the responsibilities that entails. She
now joins the other adults indoors, her life of freedom in nature has
been left behind. It is only through her strength of mind that she is
able to survive this transition. Lack of moral fortitude and
self-control is exhibited by each of her parents in turn and serves as
contrast for Margaret's strength of character.
Margaret
is not without her doubts and anxieties, however. In the privacy of
her bedroom, she is able to go over all her thoughts about her day, the
proposal, and her father's resignation from the church. It is here,
alone, that she is able to get in touch with her darkest fears. This is
Margaret's Dark Night of the Soul:
That
morning when she had looked out, her heart had danced at seeing the
bright clear lights on the church tower, which foretold a fine and sunny
day. This evening - sixteen hours at most had passed by - she sat
down, too full of sorrow to cry, but with a dull cold pain, which seemed
to have pressed the youth and buoyancy out of her heart, never to
return. [...] She looked out upon the dark-gray lines of the church
tower, square and straight in the centre of the view, cutting against
the deep blue transparent depths beyond, into which she gazed, and felt
that she might gaze for ever, seeing at every moment some farther
distance, and yet no sign of God! It seemed to her at that moment, as
if the earth was more utterly desolate than if girt in by an iron dome,
behind which there might be the ineffaceable peace and glory of the
Almighty: those never-ending depths of space, in their still serenity,
were more mocking to her than any material bounds could be - shutting in
the cries of earth's sufferers, which now might ascend into that
infinite splendour of vastness and be lost - lost for ever, before they
reached His throne. (40)
Closed off, even
temporarily from the comfort of her spirituality, and her religious
faith, Margaret is also challenged by her isolation in society. She
realizes the implications of her father's resignation: they will no
longer be accepted by their familiar society, either in Helstone, or in
Harley Street. One night whilst walking in the garden, Margaret sees
the poachers who roam the New Forest in the dark. In the past "the wild
adventurous freedom of their life had taken her fancy," but this night
she is very afraid. She is entering a dark forest of her own as she
leaves Helstone, and like the poachers will be outside the bounds of
law-abiding, socially-acceptable, church-approved society that is her
familiar home. They will have to make their own rules and set their own
boundaries in a foreign and (perceived) hostile environment. As a
child, the freedom and excitement of the poacher's life thrilled her;
now, as an adult, she recognizes the dangers that come with such a
life. When she is very nearly locked outdoors in the dark, she fears
her imminent exclusion from acceptable society.
But
onward they must move, and Margaret maintains her role, and controlling
her behaviour so well that the servants assume she does not have any
strong feelings about Helstone, although her heart is breaking. It is
Margaret who makes all the arrangements for the move, taking the
leadership role from her parents who have abdicated all their
responsibilities. In the transition from Helstone (Heaven) to
Milton-Northern (Hell) is a short stay in Heston (Purgatory) where they
are able to live fully in the present, where Margaret sits and rests,
walks on the beach. But although these Elysian Fields are enticing, she
must continue to move forward. On the train approaching Milton, they
see the "deep lead-coloured cloud hanging over the horizon in the
direction in which it lay," (55) and Margaret is trepidatious but
stolid.
The dark cloud over Milton foreshadows the
darkness and gloom that will surround them as they settle in to their
new home. The fog surrounds them, pressing in upon them, and the
stupour and sense of isolation that results increases the potential for
lethargy. The potential for everyone to sink into a deep lethargy and
depression is very real. Mrs. Hale has no inner strength upon which to
call in these times of difficult transition. Her fondest attributes
have been her status and her beauty. When these fail to support her she
begins to collapse. However, Mr. Hale is energized by his interactions
with his pupils, the bustle of commerce, the machinery of industry and
the men of power. Margaret too, reminded of Henry Lennox's ability to
change his thoughts, to put negative thoughts away from himself, begins
to venture forth, and feels more comfortable in Milton when she meets
local factory workers Nicholas Higgins and his daughter Bessy. Home is
where the heart is, and for Gaskell, and for
Margaret, the bonds of the heart are formed by connections made with
people.
Until this point, we have gotten to know
Margaret through her actions and her thoughts. While still in Helstone,
Elizabeth Gaskell had described Margaret's appearance ironically,
comparing her to a subservient beauty:
Her mouth was wide; no rosebud
that could only open just enough to let out a 'yes' or 'no,' and 'an't
please you, sir.' But the wide mouth was one soft curve of rich red
lips; and the skin, if not white and fair, was of an ivory smoothness
and delicacy. If the look on her face was, in general, too dignified
and reserved for one so young, now, talking to her father, it was bright
as the morning, - full of dimples, and glances that spoke of childish
gladness, and boundless hope in the future." (17-18)
For
the first time, we now see Margaret from the perspective of a
stranger. In Milton, she meets Mr. Thornton, a mill-owner with whom Mr.
Hale has formed a connection. When Margaret and Mr. Thornton are
thrown together unexpectedly, we see a different Margaret. He is
over-awed by her undeniable beauty, by her social graces and her simple
elegance. "Mr Thornton was in habits of authority himself, but she
seemed to assume some kind of rule over him at once," for:
Margaret
could not help her looks; but the short curled upper lip, the round,
massive up-turned chin, the manner of carrying her head, her movements,
full of a soft feminine defiance, always gave strangers the impression
of haughtiness. (58)
Margaret, on the other hand,
is dismissive of Mr. Thornton, although she does notice that he is
"sagacious and strong, as becomes a great tradesman." Her prejudice of
what she calls "shoppy people" is clear. However, she is able to see in
his attitude a man "of resolution and power." Ironically, she has seen
him at a moment of uncharacteristic weakness.
Veering
again from the predominant point of view of the Hales, Elizabeth Gaskell
changes perspective, and takes us inside the Thornton home as Mr.
Thornton prepares to visit the Hales for tea. In a home that reflects
the well-ordered and disciplined lives of the inhabitants, the books lie
in careful arrangement and the surfaces are clean and well-polished.
Mrs. Thornton and her son both share the same decisive step, just as
they share the same hard resolve and uncompromising focus. Their
relationship is open, honest and easy - everything Margaret's
relationship with her mother is not. This contrast continues as
Thornton enters the Hale home and sees the graceful cares and hominess
that his own austere and showy home lacks.
Margaret
has more opportunity to observe Mr. Thornton and although she finds that
she "liked his smile," she is at odds with his defence of free market
economics and his rejection of the way of life in southern England as
indolent. Mr. Thornton believes in a free market, one in which the
market, free from legislative interference will find it's own balance.
He has a perspective on the industry that none of the Hales have. He
claims that "the power of masters and men became more evenly balanced;
and now the battle is pretty fairly waged between us." (78) And the
war-time terminology is apt, although the Hales are not comfortable with
his discussion in terms of outright class battle. To illustrate his
economic theories he uses his own life as an example of how, by
self-denial and good habits he has risen to a place of authority in
Milton society. His life story, although more dramatic, and more tragic
parallels the transition Margaret has just made, with the loss of all
that was important to him, and the necessity "to become a man (as well
as I could) in a few days." (78)
North and South is a
kind of inverted fairy tale. From her place in refined and educated
London society, Margaret is removed through no fault of her own, and
ends up in a very different life that involves work as a scullery maid,
doing the laundry in a pokey kitchen. Mr. Thornton has definite ideas
about the power of self-denial and hard work resulting in an elevation
of "authority and order." the Hale's loss of social status can be
equated with Thornton's own disgrace when he was removed from school and
had to become a wage-earner for his mother and sister.
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| Elizabeth Gaskell |
A deeply ingrained sense of responsibility is a
central characteristic of Margaret's socialism, and is the focus of her
debate with Mr. Thornton about his workers. He fails to see, as she
does, that as a recipient of his mother's wisdom and good teaching that
he has a duty to pass these skills along to his workers. As a
capitalist, he is more inclined to see that he and his workers are in an
economic relationship for the duration of their working hours, and that
he bears no responsibility for them afterwards. This, he claims, is
none of his business. If the workers were only to apply themselves,
they too could rise to positions of authority. Margaret asserts this as
a moral responsibility (invoking Biblical teaching), although not
perhaps a legal one, while Thornton looks to the rules of capitalist
economics for his guidelines.
If the industrial workers
are treated as children, Margaret believes they will remain infantile
in their development, but if the mill owners, and others in authority
were to act as mentors, to teach the skills of self-denial, and
discipline, then they would stand more chance of elevation. To
re-enforce the point beyond demonstrating the obvious examples amongst
the mill owners and the workers, Elizabeth Gaskell gives Mr. Thornton
the most weak-willed, the most frivolous, petty and silly sister it is
possible to imagine. In the character of Fanny Thornton we see
Elizabeth Gaskell's argument for the necessity of offering a guiding
light to those without internal strength of character. Raised by the
same domineering mother, John and Fanny Thornton are the products of
both their own natures, and the influence of their powerful mother.
Whereas she taught all these skills of discipline and self-denial to her
son, she had abdicated her responsibilities for teaching Fanny. She
had accepted that Fanny was weak-willed and:
she
felt instinctively that nothing could strengthen Fanny to endure
hardships patiently, or face difficulties bravely; and though she winced
as she made this acknowledgement to herself about her daughter, it only
gave her a kind of pitying tenderness of manner towards her; much of
the same description of demeanour with which mothers are wont to treat
their weak and sickly children.
If Mrs. Thornton
had only exposed Fanny to the same rigorous upbringing, as she did for
her more loved son, perhaps she could have overcome some of her natural
defaults and been a person of more depth and less impulsive frivolity
and weakness.
Illness as a manifestation of this
weakness of character is demonstrated in the character of Mrs. Hale,
who, unable to adapt to the changed circumstances of their new life in
Milton has no inner resources left and literally cannot stand on her own
feet. The illness experienced by Bessy Higgins, the cotton worker
Margaret be-friends, is not however a matter of her own individual
weakness so much as an indication of the weakness of the system that
caused her illness. Like the peasants trampled under the feet of the
triumphal returning generals, the Industrial Revolution has it's own
innocent victims. Getting to know Bessy greatly influences Margaret's
attitudes toward the economic system she sees as responsible for her
friend's illness.
It is also hearing the details of her
brother Frederick's exile that re-enforces for Margaret the importance
of her socialism, and her Christian moralism. Frederick had been
convicted of mutiny aboard his naval vessel, and fearing for his life
had fled the country. He had lived many years abroad, finally settling
in Spain. It is the main tenent of the Hale family that:
Loyalty
and obedience to wisdom and justice are fine; but it is still finer to
defy arbitrary power, unjustly and cruelly used - not on behalf of
ourselves, but on behalf of others more helpless. (100)
Helping
the helpless is also a central tenent of Christ, and as Margaret nurses
both Bessy and her mother and encourages Thornton to do the same with
his workers, she is bolstered to hear the story of her brother who made
such a courageous sacrifice for the weaker members of his crew.
These are my thoughts, such as they are as I read the first quarter section of
North and South. I am thoroughly enjoying Elizabeth Gaskell's writing. There is much to ponder in every short chapter.
(Please see here for my thoughts on
Part Two)
11. City of the Mind by Penelope Lively Matthew Halland, a successful architect, lives in London and is going through the final stages of a divorce. He is a man who lives in his mind most of the time, so although not much happens in the way of a plot, this novel is rich and rewarding to read. I especially enjoyed the way Penelope Lively plays with the themes of time, and the investing and divesting of objects with meaning that happens constantly in the lives of the characters. City of the Mind was not the easiest read of the year, but it was a lot of fun to read.
