"The Old Nurse's Story" is a short story by English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. It was published in 1852, allegedly at the behest of Charles Dickens. The story is what one might call a "classic" ghost story, as it contains many elements readers may recognize as traditional: a somewhat deserted mansion, mysterious music playing from a broken organ, and the appearance of a phantom child. The story is also concerned, as many of Gaskell's works are, with the interactions of various social classes as well as moral lessons of jealousy, cruelty, and revenge.
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...
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Upon hearing of the death of her friend Charlotte Brontë on 31 March 1855, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell wrote, "I loved her dearly, more than I think she knew. I shall never cease to be thankful th...
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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 ...
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The English author Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) wrote sociological novels that explored the ills of industrial England and novels of small-town life that are penetrating studies of character.Elizabet...
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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...
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Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell