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A review by emeraldgarnet
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
5.0
I love 'North and South' primarily because it is a well-done novel with class conflict, both between the two romantic leads as well as the wider cast of characters. It's at once both a romance and a social novel and these different streams complement one another.
Early on, we see how Mr Hale unreasonably uses Margaret Hale as a go-between for difficult conversations with his wife. It's cowardly behaviour on his part and too much of a burden to place on the shoulders of someone so young.
When John Thornton and Margaret Hale first meet, we see Margaret described through John's eyes as though she were royalty: "[She had] a large Indian shawl, which hung about her in long heavy folds, and which she wore as an empress wears her drapery." Just a couple of paragraphs later, we learn that: "Mr. Thornton was in habits of authority himself, but she seemed to assume some kind of rule over him at once. He had been getting impatient at the loss of his time on a market-day, the moment before she appeared, yet now he calmly took a seat at her bidding." John is hooked from that first meeting even though he doesn't realise it and would rather believe he wants "nothing more to do with these Hales, and their superciliousness."
From that very first meeting, there is an awful lot of judgement and prejudice from both John towards Margaret and from Margaret towards John. Yes, there's a lot to overcome between the two of them...
And the first handshake, that first handshake: "He shook hands with Margaret. He knew it was the first time their hands had met, though she was perfectly unconscious of the fact."
It is at the gathering where Margaret and John shake hands for the first time that Margaret begins to see John in a new light. Initially, she viewed him as beneath her, as uncouth and mercenary. But on that night she sees him among his fellow businessmen and realises he is "so straightforward, yet simple and modest, as to be thoroughly dignified...He was regarded by [his peers] as a man of great force of character; of power in many ways. There was no need to struggle for their respect. He had it, and he knew it; and the security of this gave a fine grand quietness to his voice and ways, which Margaret had missed before."
There's also a discussion that night between John and Margaret about the meaning of the word 'gentleman' and if it is even desirable to be a gentleman in the first place. It's really illuminating of both their characters.
Then there's the pivotal scene where Margaret shields John from the baying and ferocious crowd. Afterwards, she lies injured and at death's door. It is at that point that John articulates his love for Margaret for the first time: "Oh, my Margaret—my Margaret! no one can tell what you are to me! Dead—cold as you lie there, you are the only woman I ever loved! Oh, Margaret—Margaret!" Margaret isn't anywhere near expressing the same sentiments, either to John or to herself, however.
A short while later it is John who makes the first declaration of love between the pair, before Margaret has even realised any feelings on her side, and he accepts that his sentiments aren't returned: "One word more. You look as if you thought it tainted you to be loved by me. You cannot avoid it. Nay, I, if I would, cannot cleanse you from it. But I would not if I could. I have never loved any woman before: my life has been too busy, my thoughts too much absorbed with other things. Now I love, and will love. But do not be afraid of too much expression on my part."
At a key juncture when Margaret thinks she has done something to decrease herself in John's eyes, she places his good opinion on the same level as God's opinion. She asks herself why this is so, but is unable to admit her true feelings for John to herself.
After many twists and turns, we get to the ending where we (and Margaret) learn that John has paid a visit to Helstone: "I wanted to see the place where Margaret grew to what she is, even at the worst time of all, when I had no hope of ever calling her mine. I went there on my return from Havre."
And of course John Thornton is a self-made man and I've got a lot of time for that.
Early on, we see how Mr Hale unreasonably uses Margaret Hale as a go-between for difficult conversations with his wife. It's cowardly behaviour on his part and too much of a burden to place on the shoulders of someone so young.
When John Thornton and Margaret Hale first meet, we see Margaret described through John's eyes as though she were royalty: "[She had] a large Indian shawl, which hung about her in long heavy folds, and which she wore as an empress wears her drapery." Just a couple of paragraphs later, we learn that: "Mr. Thornton was in habits of authority himself, but she seemed to assume some kind of rule over him at once. He had been getting impatient at the loss of his time on a market-day, the moment before she appeared, yet now he calmly took a seat at her bidding." John is hooked from that first meeting even though he doesn't realise it and would rather believe he wants "nothing more to do with these Hales, and their superciliousness."
From that very first meeting, there is an awful lot of judgement and prejudice from both John towards Margaret and from Margaret towards John. Yes, there's a lot to overcome between the two of them...
And the first handshake, that first handshake: "He shook hands with Margaret. He knew it was the first time their hands had met, though she was perfectly unconscious of the fact."
It is at the gathering where Margaret and John shake hands for the first time that Margaret begins to see John in a new light. Initially, she viewed him as beneath her, as uncouth and mercenary. But on that night she sees him among his fellow businessmen and realises he is "so straightforward, yet simple and modest, as to be thoroughly dignified...He was regarded by [his peers] as a man of great force of character; of power in many ways. There was no need to struggle for their respect. He had it, and he knew it; and the security of this gave a fine grand quietness to his voice and ways, which Margaret had missed before."
There's also a discussion that night between John and Margaret about the meaning of the word 'gentleman' and if it is even desirable to be a gentleman in the first place. It's really illuminating of both their characters.
Then there's the pivotal scene where Margaret shields John from the baying and ferocious crowd. Afterwards, she lies injured and at death's door. It is at that point that John articulates his love for Margaret for the first time: "Oh, my Margaret—my Margaret! no one can tell what you are to me! Dead—cold as you lie there, you are the only woman I ever loved! Oh, Margaret—Margaret!" Margaret isn't anywhere near expressing the same sentiments, either to John or to herself, however.
A short while later it is John who makes the first declaration of love between the pair, before Margaret has even realised any feelings on her side, and he accepts that his sentiments aren't returned: "One word more. You look as if you thought it tainted you to be loved by me. You cannot avoid it. Nay, I, if I would, cannot cleanse you from it. But I would not if I could. I have never loved any woman before: my life has been too busy, my thoughts too much absorbed with other things. Now I love, and will love. But do not be afraid of too much expression on my part."
At a key juncture when Margaret thinks she has done something to decrease herself in John's eyes, she places his good opinion on the same level as God's opinion. She asks herself why this is so, but is unable to admit her true feelings for John to herself.
After many twists and turns, we get to the ending where we (and Margaret) learn that John has paid a visit to Helstone: "I wanted to see the place where Margaret grew to what she is, even at the worst time of all, when I had no hope of ever calling her mine. I went there on my return from Havre."
And of course John Thornton is a self-made man and I've got a lot of time for that.