摘 要

《南方与北方》是英国女作家伊丽沙白·盖斯凯尔写于1885年的小说，盖斯凯尔夫人在这本书中着重展现了一位年轻女孩从英国南方乡村移居到北方工业城镇所产生的生活变化和自身成长蜕变。作者通过女主人公玛格丽特的视角，描绘了两种不同的社会坏境，英国南方是悠闲、宁静的乡村生活，北方则是喧闹、发达的工业社会。

本篇论文将集中在小说女主人公玛格丽特所表现的女性主义的发展及其因素。从三个方面剖析影响女性意识发展的因素，首先分析女主人公自身独立的性格特点和独特的社会态度；接着分析家庭环境背景带来的影响和当时社会背景下其他女性遭遇所产生的冲击；最后探讨当时的社会坏境，工业革命的影响和男权社会下女性地位低下等社会因素。玛格丽特所反映出的女性意识也反射出当时社会女性主义的发展。

关键词：《南方与北方》；玛格丽特；女性意识；男权社会

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1 Personal causes leading to the rise of female consciousness 2

2.1.1 Margaret’s spiritual pains 2

2.1.2 Margaret’s personal characteristics 3

2.1.3 Margaret’s view of marriage 3

2.2 Family and other typical female images’ influences contributing to the rise of female consciousness 4

2.2.1 Psychological weakness of Margaret’s father 4

2.2.2 The death of Margaret’s mother 5

2.2.3 The missing of Margaret’s brother 6

2.2.4 Bessie’s death caused by pollution and depression 6

2.3 Social background contributing to the rise of female consciousness 7

2.3.1 The difference between north and south 7

2.3.1.1 The Industrial Revolution 7

2.3.1.2 The difference between north and south 7

2.3.2 The patriarchal society 8

3. Conclusion 9

Works Cited 10

Bibliography 11

An Analysis of Female Consciousness in Margaret in North and South

1. Introduction

Elizabeth Gaskell is an extraordinary female novelist in English literature. Mrs. Gaskell experienced a lot of misfortune from her family and social disturbance all her life, but she never gave up. She took up her pen and devoted herself to writing her traumatic memory. Her novels and short stories are filled with humanity and compassion. Mrs. Gaskell has been well remembered for her novels in which she deals with various subjects with impressive and remarkable characters.

Mrs. Gaskell is well-known for her industrial novel North and South, which is published in 1855. Its description presents the comparison and collision between the feudal social structure and the emerging industrial society with the rapid development of capitalism. Some western critics think that North and South can be regarded as the most important and outstanding novel of the 1840s.

With the rise of Western feminism in recent years, more and more feminist novels have attracted renewed interest and attention. North and South is one of them. The novel presents a typical southern girl’s growth in the industrial city Milton. Her life experience in Milton indicates that women under the influence of industrial revolution have begun to make breakthroughs, walk out and take part in the public activities. And it also reflects female pursuit of independence.

Many scholars have made a study of North and South. Some researches interpret Mrs. Gaskell’s works from the perspective of feminism, but fail to explore its deep connotation. Elliott analyzes the female marriage concept in the Victorian era under the influence of the Industrial Revolution by focusing on the heroine’s view about marriage in North and South.（Elliott，1994）

Most studies of North and South mainly focus on its comparison with Mary Barton from the perspective of emotional structure, theme and etc. Ning Yuanyuan attempts to reinterpret the themes of Mary Barton and North and South and explore the continuity of the themes in the two novels. The two novels have double structures —the industrial problems and women’s self-awareness.（Ning, 2006）Gu Qiaoling focuses on feminism through analyzing the physical pain that women suffer in the male-dominated society and exploring the spiritual pain the heroine suffers in her confrontation with males in the patriarchal society.（Gu, 2011）

On the basis of existing researches, this thesis analyzes female consciousness in the heroine Margaret from different angles, and explores the causes leading to the germination and development of female consciousness in Margaret.

1. Demonstration

Feminism is originally an ideological and political movement, which aims to gain equality in political, economic, cultural and human rights aspects. Then it gradually develops into a global cultural trend: feminism should promote the potential value of women which is covered by male power.

This part is divided into three parts. The first part probes into the personal factors, including the heroine’s characteristics and opinion. The second part focuses on the influences of her family, including her father’s personality weakness, the death of her mother and her brother’s disappearance. The third part focuses on the social background, including Industrial Revolution, the different environment and the patriarchal society.

2.1 Personal causes leading to the rise of female consciousness