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A review by fa1th_
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is what I imagine what a Victorian novel would be like.
I have watched the adapted BBC 2004 miniseries prior to reading the book, and I think it did me a lot of good, or else I wouldn't have such patience cracking down a 700 pages book. To put it poorly, this novel is sort of what I imagine Pride and Prejudice would be like, if it was set in the changing time of the Industrial Revolution. The world was filled with smoke and dirt, a whole lot dimmer, and death creeping in every corner. Similar premise to Austen's P&P, our heroine Margaret was the 'Prejudice' to Mr. Thornton's 'Pride', only in Gaskell's story, their opposing opinions were rooted in differences of class and in the culture. Both Margaret and Mr. Thornton were only a small fraction of the rapidly changes of time. I love what Gaskell did with her social commentary of the time, with Margaret moving from the leisure and comforting South to the cold and fast-moving North, her entire life was challenged and altered, same as her points of view.
I love Margaret as a protagonist. She was soft and kind yet strong-minded, while she began as a sheltered and prejudiced young lady living her privileged life in London, her world would soon never be peaceful again. Family troubles worried her to no end, deaths came one by one and not to mention a brother on the run with mutiny charges. At times I was so awe with her strength and resilience, because I would be in such a bad place if I'm in her shoes, this poor girl suffered so much with so many lost. With bleak changes both inside and outside of her home, Margaret was forced to grow up and be her own mistress, but she never lost hope and always strived to provide comfort to those who were in need. She was a bit haughty at first, upset by Milton's poverty and coldness, but quickly she realized her conceit and unfair judgement, and came to love Milton for what it was.
I also really love Mr. Thornton. He was a self-made man, a cotton-mill owner, which made Margaret turned her nose up at first. However, he proudly stood his ground, because he worked hard to earn his wealth and took care of his family, so his encounters with Margaret were clash of different ideas. Since I'm already using Austen as a comparison, I would like to mention that in this novel, we did get a lot more thoughts from the Mr. Thornton's point of view than Mr.Darcy. He was hopelessly in love with Margaret and it was clearly shown. Even though I must confess, as a reader in 2021, I kind of don't like Mrs. Thornton. Her attachment to her son was understandable, but sometimes she was so hostile and harsh to Margaret that I had to roll my eyes. Though Mr. Bell in the latter half behaved in a similar way as Margaret's protecter (side-note, love him, such a funny guy), thus eased off my dislike a bit, I just want her to be treated with kindness and love because she deserved all the love :'(
I enjoyed this story very much, the reason I deducted 0.5 in the rating was only because it was kind of depressing (in a typical Victorian classic literature way), so I wouldn't want to revisit it easily. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I picked it up, and I will continue with Gaskell's works whenever I'm able.
I have watched the adapted BBC 2004 miniseries prior to reading the book, and I think it did me a lot of good, or else I wouldn't have such patience cracking down a 700 pages book. To put it poorly, this novel is sort of what I imagine Pride and Prejudice would be like, if it was set in the changing time of the Industrial Revolution. The world was filled with smoke and dirt, a whole lot dimmer, and death creeping in every corner. Similar premise to Austen's P&P, our heroine Margaret was the 'Prejudice' to Mr. Thornton's 'Pride', only in Gaskell's story, their opposing opinions were rooted in differences of class and in the culture. Both Margaret and Mr. Thornton were only a small fraction of the rapidly changes of time. I love what Gaskell did with her social commentary of the time, with Margaret moving from the leisure and comforting South to the cold and fast-moving North, her entire life was challenged and altered, same as her points of view.
I love Margaret as a protagonist. She was soft and kind yet strong-minded, while she began as a sheltered and prejudiced young lady living her privileged life in London, her world would soon never be peaceful again. Family troubles worried her to no end, deaths came one by one and not to mention a brother on the run with mutiny charges. At times I was so awe with her strength and resilience, because I would be in such a bad place if I'm in her shoes, this poor girl suffered so much with so many lost. With bleak changes both inside and outside of her home, Margaret was forced to grow up and be her own mistress, but she never lost hope and always strived to provide comfort to those who were in need. She was a bit haughty at first, upset by Milton's poverty and coldness, but quickly she realized her conceit and unfair judgement, and came to love Milton for what it was.
I also really love Mr. Thornton. He was a self-made man, a cotton-mill owner, which made Margaret turned her nose up at first. However, he proudly stood his ground, because he worked hard to earn his wealth and took care of his family, so his encounters with Margaret were clash of different ideas. Since I'm already using Austen as a comparison, I would like to mention that in this novel, we did get a lot more thoughts from the Mr. Thornton's point of view than Mr.Darcy. He was hopelessly in love with Margaret and it was clearly shown. Even though I must confess, as a reader in 2021, I kind of don't like Mrs. Thornton. Her attachment to her son was understandable, but sometimes she was so hostile and harsh to Margaret that I had to roll my eyes. Though Mr. Bell in the latter half behaved in a similar way as Margaret's protecter (side-note, love him, such a funny guy), thus eased off my dislike a bit, I just want her to be treated with kindness and love because she deserved all the love :'(
I enjoyed this story very much, the reason I deducted 0.5 in the rating was only because it was kind of depressing (in a typical Victorian classic literature way), so I wouldn't want to revisit it easily. Nevertheless, I'm glad that I picked it up, and I will continue with Gaskell's works whenever I'm able.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Suicide, and Violence