摘 要

《南方和北方》是英国批判现实主义作家盖斯凯尔夫人的第二部以工业发展为题材的长篇小说，以女主人公玛格丽特从南方到北方的成长过程为主线，讲述了工业发展大背景下，南方和北方在经济、文化、生活等方面形成的巨大差异，从而呈现了一系列的矛盾冲突。本论文将围绕小说中的两大冲突展开，首先是女主人公举家北迁时父母之间发生的冲突，其次是到了北方后目睹到工人与工厂主之间的冲突。然后将女主人公置于冲突调解者的位置上，一方面，女主人公在家庭里扮演着贴心女儿这一角色，不断地缓和父母之间关于北迁的矛盾；另一方面，女主人公在社会上则扮演着智慧并正义的第三方这一角色，努力地协调工人和工厂主之间关于劳资的矛盾。透过女主人公所塑造出的这样一个敢于在工业革命背景下从家庭走向社会的新女性形象，本论文重点探讨其在调节冲突的过程中思想意识上的成长，并借此展现工业发展对女性的重要影响，从而探究工业发展下女性在自我成长过程中的意识觉醒。

关键词：盖斯凯尔夫人；《南方和北方》；冲突；调和；女性觉醒

ABSTRACT

North and South is the second industrial novel of Mrs. Gaskell, a famous writer of English Critical Realism. With the growth of the heroine, Margaret, from South to North, it presents a series of conflicts between South and North in economy, culture and life, etc. under the background of industrial development. This thesis focuses on the two conflicts of the novel, firstly, the conflict between the heroine’s father and mother before moving to the North; secondly, the conflict between employers and workers in North. As a mediator, on the one hand, the heroine plays the role of a sweet daughter in the family to constantly ease the conflict about moving to the North between parents; on the other hand, she is also a third party with intelligence and righteousness in the society to continually reconcile the conflict about labor and capital between employers and their men. On behalf of a new woman stepping into society from home in the background of industrial revolution, this thesis explores the consciousness of the heroine in the process of mediating the conflicts, shows the vital influence of industrial development to female, and discusses the awareness of women in the growth of themselves.

Key words: Mrs. Gaskell, North and South, Conflicts, Reconciliation, Awakening of female

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 3

2.1 Conflicts Between Parents and Between Employers and Workers 3

2.1.1 Moving to a new city 3

2.1.2 Breaking of the strike 4

2.2 Reconciliation of Conflicts 6

2.2.1 In the family, a conscientious daughter 6

2.2.2 In the society, a righteous mediator 7

2.3 Awakening of Self 8

2.3.1 Family responsibilities 9

2.3.2 Social responsibilities 10

3. Conclusion 11

Works Cited..................................................................................................................13

Bibliography.................................................................................................................14

Feminist Approach to Mrs. Gaskell’s North and South Through Conflicts

1. Introduction

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810 –1865), simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer, and short story writer in the Victorian period. In 1848, her first novel Mary Barton was published, then she was writing till the end of her life. Mrs. Gaskell created many excellent works, for example, Ruth (1853), North and South (1855), The Life of Charlotte Bronte (1857) and Wives and Daughters (1865-1866), etc. North and South makes a turning point in her literary creation, showing the traditional values of the heroine Margaret Hale from the South, and making a contrast with the uncaring exploitation of the northern industrial world personified in the factory owner John Thornton.

As Gaskell’s other works, North and South was originally published in Household Words as a serial in 1854, which was edited by Charles Dickens. At the end of 19th century and early 20th century, researchers abroad had few studies on Mrs. Gaskell and her works. It was not until the 1930s that industrial novels came back into the eye of the public, and Mrs. Gaskell’s industrial novels Mary Barton and North and South were read again by a few readers. In the 1950s, the critics of Marxism gave a high evaluation to Gaskell’s novels of social problems, then the critics, represented by Williams, made a Marxist interpretation to her works. During that time, a few of monographs and commentaries about Mrs. Gaskell came, such as Annette Hopkin’s Elizabeth Gaskell: Her Life and Works, etc. In the 1990s, Mrs. Gaskell and her works received great attention. Elizabeth Gaskell: the Critical Heritage, published in 1991, focused many important comments about writing styles and features on Mrs. Gaskell’s works. In 2002, Mrs. Gaskell was cited as a reference to the Victorian realism of Britain in The Oxford English Literary History. Since then, the status of Mrs. Gaskell in literary has gradually risen with much attention on her works. However, the study of her works is still few.