Is North and South a romance with a backdrop of Industrial Revolution era England, or social commentary wrapped in a romance? I turned this question oIs North and South a romance with a backdrop of Industrial Revolution era England, or social commentary wrapped in a romance? I turned this question over and over as I read North and South. The language Mrs. Gaskell uses is at times unabashedly romantic--Mr. Thornton pants and his heart quivers at the thought of Margaret, and Margaret blushes and knots herself up in confusion around her feelings towards Mr. Thornton. Yet the discussions about class, employer-employee relations, and the role of religion and spirituality in everyday life are rife throughout the novel, with keen insights of the mutual dependence of the workers of the world and the leisure class. Indeed, the earliest interactions between hero and heroine are verbal sparrings about class and an economy based on manufacturing goods.
What makes me give this book five stars is not the romance nor the readability. Quite honestly, the sections of the book that are written in dialect I had an extremely hard time understanding, though I could tell that it was a vital part of the tapestry Mrs. Gaskell was weaving. But every couple of chapters there were insights that were gorgeous in their simple and profound truths. " 'it is the town life', said she. 'Their nerves are quickened by the haste and bustle and speed of everything around them, to say nothing of the confinement in these pent up houses, which of itself is enough to induce depression and worry of spirit.'" True enough now as then. Margaret's development from self-righteous nineteen year old to humble and contrite twenty year old is gracefully written, as is the character of the proud Mr. Thornton. Perhaps the romance is a bit overblown a times, but it does make the heart flutter a bit, and it is nice of Mrs. Gaskell to give us a happy ending when she could have easily and perhaps more realistically not done so. Still, there is heartbreak and realism enough as Margaret painfully sees the weaknesses in her parents as well as the injustice of the world around her while remaining devoted to God and goodness. North and South is a complex novel, both crowd pleasing and philosophical. It lacks the darkness of Dickens, but contains more social realism than the Brontes. I want to read it again ready, this time not to watch the plot unfold, but to hear out what insights Mrs. Gaskell is giving us into the plight of the working man. Hence five stars, despite the imperfections....more
I think the comment I have heard most about this book is "essential". It is. The stories that husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnI think the comment I have heard most about this book is "essential". It is. The stories that husband and wife team Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn recount to us of women in Asia and Africa who have been raped, beaten, and mutilated, could be horrific. Instead, the authors offer us hope in the form of women who used their suffering to survive and grow stronger. Kristof and WuDunn give examples of the countless things we can do to help stem the tide of global gender inequality, from donating money to starting a movement. This is not light reading, but it is necessary and enthralling. ...more
It's odd and wonderful how the same book reads when read and different times in ones life.
I have always been a staunch defender of this book against It's odd and wonderful how the same book reads when read and different times in ones life.
I have always been a staunch defender of this book against those who would categorize it as chick lit. The satire, the vaguely socialist message that no one should be treated differently according to their wealth and status. The love story is well written and nuanced, obviously standing the test of time.
Something has changed for me in the reading of PnP, however. Maybe it's because I'm about to have a daughter of my own and I've spent a lot of time contemplating what it's gonna be like parenting a teenager. So many mothers of older children have told me how their teenagers treat them like they're dumb, hopelessly out of tune with the ways of the world. Isn't this just how Elizabeth sees and treats her mother? Isn't Elizabeth still a young adult herself, not one and twenty? Mrs Bennet is portrayed as vapid, shrill, ignorant and hideously embarrassing to Elizabeth herself, yet it isn't it Mrs Bennet who is most aware of what will happen to her daughters if they don't do well by themselves in marriage? Her husband, the smart and sympathetically played Mr Bennet, is truly the one who seems out of touch with his daughters fates if they don't find a well to do match. Neither does Elizabeth seem inclined to give her younger sisters any slack. They are silly, stupid, and without any redeeming features...isn't it just like an older sister to see her younger sisters that way?
With this in mind, my entire perception of PnP shifted. The subjectivity of the narrator seems glaringly obvious and calls into question the very sharpness and satire that makes this book great. Is Lizzie. and therefore Austen a sly and brilliant social commentator, or simply superior, lacking in compassion towards those not as bright as she?
It's hard to evaluate. So much has changed, from the status of women to the access we all have to information and education. Yet this reading gave me more sympathy for Mrs Bennet, the younger Bennet sisters, and indeed all the other characters who are portrayed as narrow-minded and foolish in their way--which, by my count, greatly outnumber those with understanding and intelligence. To me, this seems so much like a smart person in their early twenties just coming into their own in any time period.
With this reading, I saw PnP as being almost young adult literature. The themes of differentiating from ones parents and family, of first love and realizing that your convictions aren't always the right one, of figuring out how you fit into society at large and growing apart from your childhood friends (a shout out to the wonderful Charlotte Lucas)--all of theses fit into YA literature, and all are encompassed in PnP. I'm interested in how I'm going to read this book in another 5 to 10 years. We'll see. ...more
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