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North and South

Elizabeth Gaskell

Start date: May 1, 2014

Finish date: May 31, 2014

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May 2014 - North and South

Bookshelf, Library Bag, or Donation Box (Reviews) North and South
By Shanea · 12 posts · 87 views

last updated Apr 14, 2016 10:21PM

North and South is Open
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Dec 18, 2012 Andrea rated it really liked it

First of all I have to point out that this classic is indeed a great source of information regarding the industrial bloom in Europe. There are many details, such as the wages, the work conditions, the strikes, the poor living conditions of the workers and the overall ignorance of the population, that give great insight into what those times were.

I did not appreciate Margaret's attitude. I know the author was inspired in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, thus creating some sort of Darcy-Elizabe First of all I have to point out that this classic is indeed a great source of information regarding the industrial bloom in Europe. There are many details, such as the wages, the work conditions, the strikes, the poor living conditions of the workers and the overall ignorance of the population, that give great insight into what those times were.

I did not appreciate Margaret's attitude. I know the author was inspired in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, thus creating some sort of Darcy-Elizabeth relationship between Margaret and Mr. Thornton. Sometimes I liked the way Margaret expressed herself and carried an air of dignity, often mistaken by pride and disdain, yet most of the time I really resented her nonsensical logic and ridiculous prejudice towards Mr. Thornton. He played the gentleman all the way through the story, but she was proving to be a girl with poor manners, even though her aunt Shaw gave her a good education and upbringing between the best of society. Margaret did not play a good person regarding her treatment towards Mr. Thornton, but she did play an outstanding daughter to both her mother and father, and excellent sister to her only brother, Frederick, who was on the run for insubordination to a superior in the navy.

Most of the conditions pictured in this novel were detrimental and grim, for it was a depressing image the dirty air and poor conditions of the workers painted. Bessy, a friend of Margaret who was sick by cotton poisoning, was very poor and had a father, Nicholas Higgins, who took the habit of drinking; proved to be an incredible example of how tragic the life in the industrial city could be. The extreme contrast between the north and the south were true to the novel's title, and it was no wonder why Margaret preferred the south, it being a place with healthier air and more peaceful ambient than that of the dirty north factories and gray surroundings.

Margaret's life during her stay in her aunt Shaw's house was very luxurious and carefree. She had a beautiful cousin named Edith who married a Captain Lennox, who had a brother called Henry, who made a marriage proposal to Margaret when he went to visit her to her home in Helstone. Margaret turned him down, the reason being she didn't have feelings for him and was not entirely aware of the right thing to do regarding a situation of the kind. She had never received a marriage or love proposal before, and she didn't know how to respond kindly to one, so she proved to be rather rude to Henry when he asked her to marry him. I think the immature attitude of Margaret is only natural, but it was also a consequence of her own pride, which I think was not at all like Elizabeth's pride in Pride and Prejudice. Margaret's pride was incredibly annoying and childish, not at all like Elizabeth's disdain towards Darcy's own egocentric nature. In short, Margaret had no justifiable reason to despise Mr. Thornton, while Elizabeth did have a reason to think ill of Darcy.

The book, as I said before, is a great source of knowledge regarding life during those times and it provides an almost genius contrast between the north and south of the country. As a classic, it earns its place as one of the most important and read, and I would recommend it to anyone who is studying industrialism. ...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Audrey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: england, fiction, favorites, classics, listens, favorite-heroines, saw-the-movie-first, 1850s, victorian

I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I saw the miniseries, way back in 2010 or so, and I’m so glad I finally did! I thought it was a wonderful novel—an excellent story full of well-drawn characters.

I guess I’ll start of with Margaret, whom this book is really about. One little thing that confused me was the incongruous descriptions of her appearance. Near the beginning of the book, she is alluded to as not being conventionally good-looking. But then, throughout the rest of the story, she pr ...more

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