Hello
Thanks for asking about "Mary Barton" and women's 'social issues'.
The main discussion point here is how much the novel suggests radical
or progressive social values and how much it supports a conventional
Victorian kind of femininity. To most nineteenth-century critics the
very idea of a female author taking an active interest in social
problems seemed radical. Today, we have to consider whether Gaskell
was a great advocate of social reform and/or an author supporting
traditional women's virtues like putting others first. In this novel
these questions are mostly explored through the developing character
of Mary, but you can also look at the kinds of womanhood explored via
Alice, Esther, Margaret etc.
So, you have to weigh up how much the novel supports social reform
including a change in the role of women (e.g. showing Mary as an
active, independent type), and how much it approves of women
displaying traditional virtues like helping others (e.g. Mary re Jem
and her father). Is the author's "loyal account of ....domestic
routines" a sign of her (progressive) sympathy with the preoccupations
of the working classes, or with women's traditional concerns or both
at once?
Should we agree with the critic who thinks the novel expresses
"feminism....within accepted boundaries"? Or with the idea that
Mary's marriage etc. represents a "retreat" from independence? Or do
you think Mary is the "model of a self-sacrificing heroine"? (all
quotes from articles cited below)
(Note that social issues in general, not just women's social issues,
are a central theme in "Mary Barton" as well as much of Gaskell's
other work.)
Resources on the net:
A thesis about Gaskell's heroines and the way they develop and mature.
Concludes:
"....Elizabeth Gaskell had faith in her sex as more than just the
Victorian ideal of the "angel in the house" and was determined to show
that her heroines would not pale in the face of adversity but change
and adapt and become stronger for the challenge, for without challenge
or change comes stagnation"
"Growing Heroines: Elizabeth Gaskell's Women" Elizabeth Malcolm
(check the introduction and conclusion as well as the chapter on Mary
Barton)
http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/eamward/gaskell.htm
...........................................................
A 1906 introduction to the Knutsford edition by A.W.Ward giving some
idea of nineteenth century attitudes, underlining that the work had to
have both literary merit and a "simple unpretentiousness" to be
acceptable.
"Its literary merits were recognised without
stint, even by those who took objection to the conclusions which
they supposed it to advocate on the burning public question of the
times. "
http://lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/EG-Ward-1.html
.....................................................
An essay by Josie Billington in the online Literary Encyclopedia,
including commentary on class-related issues in the novel and
concluding:
"It would be a mistake.....to regard Mary’s character and story as
simply a way out of the issues raised by the work since she is
initially the novel’s chief way into them."
http://www.literarydictionary.com/LitEncycFrame.htm
(click on 'one work' then search for "Mary Barton")
....................................................................
You may well find more useful material on "The Gaskell Web" at:
http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Gaskell.html
I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear, or you have trouble
with any of the links, please feel free to request clarification.
Regards - Leli
search used:
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