A snobbish Elizabeth, a broken Darcy, some insights, and an awful, improbable feminist ending
I read the novel without knowing there was a bbc series, and I’m not sure whether it affects my view. Set deep in the Industrial Revolutionary era of England, the novel tells of Margaret Hale, the independent, beautiful (but sometimes said to be not beautiful at all, yet nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful, if you know what the author means) daughter of a vicar forced to move from her beloved Southern country parish to the industrial Northern town of Milton. There she met the blue collars and the noble, iron-willed, wealthy mill owner Mr. Thornton. Liberally borrowing from Pride and Prejudice, Gaskell aimed at something much higher than “just a romance”. In my honest opinion, she leapt a distance before falling flat between a smart romance and a deep social commentary.
Like all self-conscious, educated good girls, Margaret was a snob. She sincerely went about saving the poor and miserable with a sub-conscious condescending air, God bless her. And like all common romance authors, Gaskell couldn’t help but rave about her heroine’s extreme beauty, virtue and intellect. We have various characters pondering aloud on the unique charisma of Margaret out of the blue. She was just, you know, so impossibly superior! In the words of the old Oxford don Mr. Bell (friend of Mr. Hale), Thornton must be a worm if he didn’t throw himself at this glorious creature’s feet!
Amidst admiration thicker than the choking smoke of Milton, there are actually things that lifted the novel above a penny romance. Gaskell did present both sides of a factory strike in a balanced manner, and there were glimpses of social insights in the cultural clash depicted between the North and South. Some of the dialogue was witty, albeit heavy, and Gaskell took pains to match speech to personality. We were treated with delicious documentations of the thoughts and feelings of the male side of romance in Thornton’s torture over the unattainable Margaret. And the string of misfortune that eventually forced Margaret to humble herself (just a little) almost justified the prior contrasting praises in the narrative. Overall the writing was uneven: some descriptions were well-done, while some scenes failed to flow smoothly. The many literary quotations peppered here and there seemed to do nothing but to inform us how well-read the author was.
Then came the anti-climatic blow. ***SPOILERS*** After missing in action for the longest time, the successful, proud Thornton suddenly showed up again in the last 10 pages as a poor man in distress. In several paragraphs of awkward (and dry) narrative, Gaskell would have readers accept that the whole industry basically tanked, bringing Thornton with it. The trauma somehow turned the business pragmatic into a dummy ideologue overnight, and readers had to suffer a solemn speech of Gaskell’s industrial/social sophistry from Thornton’s mouth. This was obviously very confusing also for the author, and our collective wonder of this puzzle was at last voiced by Mr. Lennox, “You've no idea what an agreeable, sensible fellow (Thornton) is. I can't conceive how he contrived to mismanage his affairs.” But never fear, for Thornton was granted the face-saving chance to (potentially) contrive to mismanage his business again! Gaskell conjured this miracle by turning Margaret into a rich heiress overnight and, in the nick of time (last 2 pages), have the two abruptly confessing to each other! Intriguingly, our independent heroine’s roaring financial power to save the fallen hero was endowed by the late fatherly Mr. Bell, who had been smitten by her feminine excellence! How on earth such an epitome of masculinity as Thornton, infinitely proud of his own strength, could instantly accept with grateful tears the money of a snobbish woman he loved to rebuild his damaged career without any mental struggle is beyond the scope of this novel.
This “happy” ending reads like one of those movies Disney is churning out these days – those types where the innocent prince got thrown into the most humiliating dangers for no reason other than that he can be saved by the princess in sweating armor – stuff that goes straight to dvd rental bins. Maybe Gaskell was really ahead of her time with her girl power thing. Or was it really just an everlasting cycle of social fads?
I’ll admit that I much prefer the proud Mr. Darcy doing noble favors for the prejudiced Elizabeth…or Prince Eric or the Beast fighting the antagonist in the heated climax – back in the days when Disney fairy tales were blockbusters. North and South is an average read; trying too hard to be big and belittling itself in the process.
I read the novel without knowing there was a bbc series, and I’m not sure whether it affects my view. Set deep in the Industrial Revolutionary era of England, the novel tells of Margaret Hale, the independent, beautiful (but sometimes said to be not beautiful at all, yet nonetheless breathtakingly beautiful, if you know what the author means) daughter of a vicar forced to move from her beloved Southern country parish to the industrial Northern town of Milton. There she met the blue collars and the noble, iron-willed, wealthy mill owner Mr. Thornton. Liberally borrowing from Pride and Prejudice, Gaskell aimed at something much higher than “just a romance”. In my honest opinion, she leapt a distance before falling flat between a smart romance and a deep social commentary.
Like all self-conscious, educated good girls, Margaret was a snob. She sincerely went about saving the poor and miserable with a sub-conscious condescending air, God bless her. And like all common romance authors, Gaskell couldn’t help but rave about her heroine’s extreme beauty, virtue and intellect. We have various characters pondering aloud on the unique charisma of Margaret out of the blue. She was just, you know, so impossibly superior! In the words of the old Oxford don Mr. Bell (friend of Mr. Hale), Thornton must be a worm if he didn’t throw himself at this glorious creature’s feet!
Amidst admiration thicker than the choking smoke of Milton, there are actually things that lifted the novel above a penny romance. Gaskell did present both sides of a factory strike in a balanced manner, and there were glimpses of social insights in the cultural clash depicted between the North and South. Some of the dialogue was witty, albeit heavy, and Gaskell took pains to match speech to personality. We were treated with delicious documentations of the thoughts and feelings of the male side of romance in Thornton’s torture over the unattainable Margaret. And the string of misfortune that eventually forced Margaret to humble herself (just a little) almost justified the prior contrasting praises in the narrative. Overall the writing was uneven: some descriptions were well-done, while some scenes failed to flow smoothly. The many literary quotations peppered here and there seemed to do nothing but to inform us how well-read the author was.
Then came the anti-climatic blow. ***SPOILERS*** After missing in action for the longest time, the successful, proud Thornton suddenly showed up again in the last 10 pages as a poor man in distress. In several paragraphs of awkward (and dry) narrative, Gaskell would have readers accept that the whole industry basically tanked, bringing Thornton with it. The trauma somehow turned the business pragmatic into a dummy ideologue overnight, and readers had to suffer a solemn speech of Gaskell’s industrial/social sophistry from Thornton’s mouth. This was obviously very confusing also for the author, and our collective wonder of this puzzle was at last voiced by Mr. Lennox, “You've no idea what an agreeable, sensible fellow (Thornton) is. I can't conceive how he contrived to mismanage his affairs.” But never fear, for Thornton was granted the face-saving chance to (potentially) contrive to mismanage his business again! Gaskell conjured this miracle by turning Margaret into a rich heiress overnight and, in the nick of time (last 2 pages), have the two abruptly confessing to each other! Intriguingly, our independent heroine’s roaring financial power to save the fallen hero was endowed by the late fatherly Mr. Bell, who had been smitten by her feminine excellence! How on earth such an epitome of masculinity as Thornton, infinitely proud of his own strength, could instantly accept with grateful tears the money of a snobbish woman he loved to rebuild his damaged career without any mental struggle is beyond the scope of this novel.
This “happy” ending reads like one of those movies Disney is churning out these days – those types where the innocent prince got thrown into the most humiliating dangers for no reason other than that he can be saved by the princess in sweating armor – stuff that goes straight to dvd rental bins. Maybe Gaskell was really ahead of her time with her girl power thing. Or was it really just an everlasting cycle of social fads?
I’ll admit that I much prefer the proud Mr. Darcy doing noble favors for the prejudiced Elizabeth…or Prince Eric or the Beast fighting the antagonist in the heated climax – back in the days when Disney fairy tales were blockbusters. North and South is an average read; trying too hard to be big and belittling itself in the process.
