Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

Mary Barton is the only living child of John Barton, poor factory worker and Union
leader in Manchester. He hoped for better for her, so he apprenticed her to a dressmaker,
hoping that she could avoid the dreary life of a factory girl. Mary has high ambitions,
hoping to snare the attentions of the young Harry Carsons, son of the mill owner, and
thereby rise above poverty once and for all. However, because her neighbor and
childhood friend Jem ilson also adores her, and Mary must determine where her true
affections lie.
hile ! can say in retrospect that ! en"oyed reading Mary Barton, ! really struggled for
the first #$$ pages. ! could not connect to the characters, nor did ! find anything in the
plot engaging. %t about page #$$, things start to happen and ! didn&t need to force myself
to read for the last '$$ pages, as ! had for the beginning portion.
Mary Barton was (li)abeth *askell&s first novel, and ! wonder if the developmental flaws
are sincere, rather than the frustrations "ust being my problem. ! felt the characters were
described very beautifully, but from a distance+ that made it hard to engage myself in
their lives. Besides that, *askell literally took #$$ pages to set the stage for the main plot
of the novel. ,he way things were resolved in the last '$$ pages was rather unrealistic,
but satisfactory to me all the same.
! read somewhere that *aksell&s husband encouraged her to write this as a part of the
grieving process after the death of one of her sons. ,his book is full of grief. Most of it is
lower-class grief, in which we see the dire circumstances of those living at the poverty
level. ,here is some upper-class grief from the mill owner, but it did not seem sincere to
me. ! wonder if *askell was not as familiar with those people or if she "ust did not take
enough time to introduce those characters properly.
,he mill worker versus mill owner conflict seems to be a theme in *askell novels, as
North and South .which ! read a few weeks ago/ also e0amined the plight of the mill
workers and the conflict that arise from Unions. However, ! personally preferred the
comple0ities that were e0amined in North and South. hile Mary Barton did have some
lovely writing and interesting characters, ! found the focus of North and South to be
much more satisfying overall. ,he relationships developed in a more realistic way, and
we had sufficient time to get to know the characters as the action unfolded. ,o me, Mary
Barton seemed like a first attempt.
! read Mary Barton as part of the (li)abeth *askell Classics Circuit. ,wo other bloggers
read Mary Barton for the Circuit as well+ Becky&s Book 1eviews and 2ay&s Bookshelf.