Mary Barton Summary
Elizabeth Gaskell

Biography EssayA recent review of Mrs. Gaskell's critical reputation divided her critics into three camps. One group, now fading, still treats her mainly as the author of Cranford (1853). A second em... Read more

A recent review of Mrs. Gaskell's critical reputation divided her critics into three camps. One group, now fading, still treats her mainly as the author of Cranford (1853). A second emphasizes her "so... Read more

For some critics Elizabeth Gaskell was a conventional, middle-class Victorian wife and mother who accepted the values of her world and who also happened to write books--a feminine dove among literary ... Read more

In the essay that follows, Craik contends that although Gaskell's Mary Barton is concerned with issues of social reform, it avoids a didactic tone in order to emphasize realistic situations and... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hopkins explores the conditions surrounding the composition and publication of Mary Barton. It is unnecessary to assume at this juncture that had it not been for the loss ... Read more

In the following essay, Stoneman maintains that in Mary Barton, Gaskell creates a dichotomy between working-class ethics, based on mutual aid, and middle-class ethics, based on private property and au... Read more

In the following essay, Clapp examines differing levels of miscommunication in Mary Barton, including disjunction between individuals and groups in the novel, as well as between the author and the rea... Read more

In the following essay, Recchio discusses the differences in interpretation of Gaskell's novel between working-class students reading it for the first time and academic literary critics. &#x... Read more

In the following excerpt, Wildt examines the way Gaskell uses color to evoke mood and to portray moral truth in her novel. Gaskell uses color in establishing a moral tone as she constructs the plot... Read more

In the following essay, Brown disagrees with those critics who believe the heroine of North and South to be a more skillfully created character than Mary Barton, claiming that Barton is a more indepen... Read more

In the following excerpt, Lucas attributes the flaws in Mary Barton to Gaskell's failure to deal honestly with the social conditions she was attempting to represent. Was it embracing or aidi... Read more

In the following essay, Wheeler investigates the various literary sources that may have provided the inspiration for Gaskell's novel. Susanna Winkworth was one of many contemporaries who des... Read more

In the following essay, Culross disagrees with earlier critics who considered the romantic plot in Mary Barton unrelated to its social plot and claimed, therefore, that the novel lacked unity. Alth... Read more

In the following essay, Jordan discusses literary quotations and allusions in Gaskell's novel, concentrating on elements of Gothic discourse that appear after the murder of Harry Carson. Ray... Read more