Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern, and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice and it only served to make me like Thornton more (and perhaps like Margaret less). Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion it poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. The 2004 version renewed interest in the novel and attracted a wider readership. With Wives and Daughters (1865) and Cranford (1853), it is one of her best-known novels and was adapted for television three times (1966, 19). That is something that we did not get with Mr. North and South is a social novel published in 185455 by English writer Elizabeth Gaskell. The romance is satisfying and I particularly liked that the reader is given insight into John Thornton's mind and his feelings about Margaret. Hale and tries to be a friend to Margaret though she treats him with disdain.

He builds up his family's business and brings back their fortune after his father lost everything. In North and South Gaskell skilfully fused individual feeling with social concern, and in Margaret Hale created one of the most original heroines of Victorian literature. John Thornton is a much more admirable character from the beginning though he too is not without flaws. I think it is important for us to see how Margaret felt about the people of Milton and to watch how that sense of superiority gave way as she gained understanding and perspective. Margaret really shows her strength in the way she is there for her family and Bessy Higgins through the hardships they face.

At times she came across as snobby and condescending but she does improve over the course of the novel. Margaret as a protagonist is not always likeable.

North and south by elizabeth gaskell