Friday 15 February 2019

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1855)


After watching the BBC version of North & South multiple times and enjoying it so much, I decided it was time to read the novel.
What the movie doesn’t portray, due to obvious time constraints, is the depth of thought and exploration of character that Gaskell put into her work. Nuances, pertinent quotations at the beginning of each chapter, descriptions of landscape and people, the thought processes of the various characters etc. went by the wayside in the translation from book to movie. In some ways the movie and book were totally different experiences; almost two different stories, but in other ways they complemented each other.



If you’ve read Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell’s first book, it’s almost a foreshadowing of North & South as it takes place in an industrial town for the most part and deals with the social problems that surfaced in that setting.

Margaret Hale and her parents leave their beloved village in the south of England to live in the industrial north when her father gives up his role of vicar after struggling with a matter of conscience.
Their new life in Milton (a fictional town akin to Manchester) brings them into contact with mill owners and workers and they are caught up in the tension between the two.
The movie focuses on the relationship between Margaret and Mr. John Thornton, an abrasive, driven,  mill owner who had worked hard to rise from impoverished circumstances to his current position.
They meet when the Hales rent a house from him and over time Thornton comes to love her and declares himself. Margaret scorns him at first but over a period of time she begins to appreciate and understand him and see him differently.

The book shows a much better development of this relationship than the movie. I enjoyed this conversation between the two of them early on in their relationship after Margaret asked Thornton if he thought a certain man, Mr. Morison, was a gentleman:

‘I am not quite the person to decide on another’s gentlemanliness, Miss Hale. I mean, I don’t quite understand your application of the word. But I should say that this Morison is no true man. I don’t know who he is; I merely judge him from Mr. Horsfall’s account.’

‘I suspect my “gentleman” includes your “true man.”’

‘And a great deal more, you would imply. I differ from you. A man is to me a higher and a completer being than a gentleman.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Margaret. ‘We must understand the words differently.’

‘I take it that “gentleman” is a term that only describes a person in his relation to others; but when we speak of him as “a man,” we consider him not merely with regard to his fellow-men, but in relation to himself - to life - to time - to eternity. A cast-away lonely as Robinson Crusoe - a prisoner immured in a dungeon for life - nay, even a saint in Patmos, has his endurance, his strength, his faith, best described by being spoken of as “a man.” I am rather weary of this word “gentlemanly,” which seems to me to be often inappropriately used, and often, too, with such exaggerated distortion of meaning, while the full simplicity of the noun “man,” and the adjective “manly” are unacknowledged - that I am induced to class it with the cant of the day.’

Mr. Hale tutored John, who not having had opportunity for a proper education in his youth, now sought to study the Classics. The two men became good friends and Mr. Hale thought highly of his student but realised that his daughter didn’t. In a conversation regarding this Margaret said:

‘He is a man of great strength of character — of unusual intellect, considering the few advantages he has had.’

And Mr. Hales very astute answer, which I think is a wonderful observation about intellect generally:

‘Not so few. He has led a practical life from a very early age; has been called upon to exercise judgment and self-control. All that develops one part of the intellect. To be sure, he needs some of the knowledge of the past, which gives the truest basis for conjecture as to the future; but he knows this need - he perceives it, and that is something. You are quite prejudiced against Mr. Thornton, Margaret.’




Hard times come upon John Thornton and he is tempted to speculate. His father had done so and when his attempts failed he had committed suicide leaving his wife to bring up John and his younger sister on her own. This had left a profound mark on John. His success as a self-made man and his moral character as to how he conducted his business dealings was something he was rightly proud of.
One night he was very low as he contemplated his future. I loved this conversation he had with his mother who was not very endearing in the movie but redeemed herself here:

‘I have so worked and planned. I have discovered new powers in my situation too late — and now all is over. I am too old to begin again with the same heart. It is hard, mother.’

He turned away from her, and covered his face with his hands.

‘I can’t think,’ said she, with gloomy defiance in her tone, ‘how it comes about. Here is my boy - good son, just man, tender heart - and he fails in all he sets his mind upon: he finds a woman to love, and she cares no more for his affection than if he had been any common man; he labours, and his labour comes to nought...
‘I sometimes have wondered where justice was gone to, and now I don’t believe there is such a thing in the world...’

‘Mother!’ said he, holding her gently in his arms, ‘who has sent me my lot in life, both of good and of evil?’

She shook her head. She would have nothing to do with religion just then.

‘Mother,’ he went on, seeing that she would not speak, ‘I, too, have been rebellious; but I am striving to be so no longer. Help me, as you helped me when I was a child. Then you said many good words - when my father died, and we were sometimes sorely short of comforts - which we shall never be now; you said brave, noble, trustful words then, mother, which I have never forgotten, though they may have lain dormant. Speak to me again in the old way, mother. Do not let us have to think that the world has too much hardened our hearts. If you would say the old good words, it would make me feel something of the pious simplicity of my childhood. I say them to myself, but they would come differently from you, remembering all the cares and trials you have had to bear.’

‘I have had a many,’ said she, sobbing, ‘but none so sore as this. To see you cast down from your rightful place! I could say it for myself, John, but not for you. Not for you! God has seen fit to be very hard on you, very.’
She shook with the sobs that come so convulsively when an old person weeps. The silence around her struck her at last; and she quieted herself to listen. No sound. She looked. Her son sat by the table, his arms thrown half across it, his head bent face downwards.

‘Oh, John!’ she said, and she lifted his face up. Such a strange, pallid look of gloom was on it, that for a moment it struck her that this look was the forerunner of death; but, as the rigidity melted out of the countenance and the natural colour returned, and she saw that he was himself once again, all worldly mortification sank to nothing before the consciousness of the great blessing that he himself by his simple existence was to her. She thanked God for this, and this alone, with a fervour that swept away all rebellious feelings from her mind.

It was passages like the one above that gave an entirely different aspect on the character of both mother and son, aspects that the movie didn't portray in any depth. In fact, John Thornton seemed to be quite an irreligious man.

Another character that the movie didn’t really show to advantage was that of Henry Lennox, Margaret’s other suitor. He is shown to be jealous and full of rivalry towards Thornton but he actually helped Margaret and John in the end by bowing out and allowing them to meet on their own. He realised that he would never win Margaret and had the decency not to begrudge another who could. I thought he got a bit of a raw deal in the film.

The more I read Gaskell’s work, the more I appreciate her literary skill and her ability to craft a rich & satisfying story, as may be seen if you compare even two of her books, say Cranford and North & South.
In North and South Elizabeth Gaskell’s Christian beliefs were woven into the story very naturally along with some very thoughtful themes on the nature of man and character traits: rich and poor, masters and workers, men and women, social problems, class structure, trade unions, family life, pride and humility, prejudice and understanding...this is an excellent read and the movie is lovely even if it only deals with a small portion of the whole. I totally recommend both!

Ebooks Adelaide has a free, well done Kindle version.

North & South is my choice for no. 8) A Novel with a Christian Theme in the 2019 Christian Greats Challenge.

#christiangreats




12 comments:

Brian Joseph said...

I have been meaning to read this for some time. I think that I would really like this. The characters and everything else sounds so well fashioned. Gaskel sounds a lot like Anthony Trollope, who is a writer that I love.

Super review as usual.

Carol said...

Gaskell reminds me a little of Dickens - just the social commentary aspect. She is more realistic than he & not at all melodramatic. I’ve been enjoying listening to some of Trollope’s books.

Laura Jeanne said...

A couple of years ago I read North and South and loved it so much. It felt like me to be another Pride and Prejudice, only in a different, more humble setting. I then went on to watch the mini series, but I did not like it much at all - as you have described, it diverges quite strongly from the book in many respects. I felt like they were trying to make the story into more of a modern one. I remember being shocked in the beginning when the first time we see Mr. Thornton he's beating a guy up - that never happened in the book! And at the end when the two of them get into a railway carriage (alone) and start smooching - that did not happen in the book as Margaret was quite a proper young lady and would never have done such a thing. I felt like in general they were taking out much of what was noble and good in the characters and debasing them to make it more of a gritty story. Still worth watching perhaps, but it was a disappointment to me watching it immediately after reading the book.

Lark said...

I've always wondered what this one was about. Great summary and review. Gaskell is one of those authors that I really want to read more of this year.

Carol said...

Hi Laura Jeanne, I usually always read the book before I watch the movie but I don't think I'd heard of the book when the movie first came out. That is the problem with movies that are based on older books. I watched a version of Persuasion that was so anachronistic that I had to laugh at some parts, however I was able to enjoy the movie for its own sake - it helps that the ones I watch are usually always British & the scenery shots are superb :)

Carol said...

Thanks, Lark. I've noticed I tend to get stuck on an author for a period of time. This year it looks like it's Gaskell!

Cleo @ Classical Carousel said...

This novel is one of my favourite but of Gaskell's works, I still like Ruth best. Great review!

Ruthiella said...

I've never seen the adaptation but I did like the book. Your experience certainly supports my tendency to read the book before I seen any interpretation of it on film. Even if the adaptation is fairly accurate, it is interesting to see where it diverges from its source material.

Jeannette said...

I recently watched the movie of this story and have not ever read any Gaskill so I very much appreciated your generous review and the quotes you used to example what the movie did not, and perhaps could not, convey.

Carol said...

Cleo, it's on my list now!

Ruthiella, it's unusual for me to watch the movie first but I hadn't heard of the book until the movie came out. I usually get so frustrated with film adaptions but I really liked how this one was done even though it didn't follow the storyline to a good extent.

Jeanette, thanks! Hope you enjoy the book if you get to read it.

Elena Alice said...

I definitely agree with you, Carol: Although I loved the BBC adaptation, it just couldn't capture the whole beauty and skillful writing of the book. I too was surprised by the deeper character development of Henry Lennox and Mrs. Thornton. I disliked them in the film but could understand and appreciate them more in the book. I have both Cranford and Wives and Daughters on my Classics list, so I am looking forward to more Gaskell!

Carol said...

I also have her Life of Charlotte Bronte & look forward to reading it one of these days.