GREAT LITERARY LADY: Margaret Hale
One of literature’s best political heroines, Elizabeth Gaskell’s Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe, pictured above in the BBC’s North And South) is a manifestation of the English middle classes during the industrial revolution. Moving to the factory town of Milton, Margaret gets caught up in the struggle between the workers and employers.
While there, she grows better acquainted with its workers, and is sympathetic towards their courage in the face of hardship, but she finds herself in conflict as her relationship with cotton-mill owner Mr Thornton develops.
Through Margaret, the intermediary between employer and employee, readers are able to empathise with the argument for and against the industrial revolution. Her strong will allows her to vocalise the conflict at the heart of our industrial revolution, but it isn’t always to her advantage. In a pivotal scene, Margaret’s desire to intervene lands her in the middle of a mob, where she is struck down. She sees a side of the workers she had refused to acknowledge, and her understanding of the factory owners grows as Mr Thornton comes to her rescue.
Although fans of Margaret will enjoy witnessing her growing relationship with Thornton, there is no doubt that her primary role is sociopolitical. Embodying the middle classes, striving for a solution to the struggle between workforce and employers, Margaret is an early example of an independent, politically engaged female character.
While there, she grows better acquainted with its workers, and is sympathetic towards their courage in the face of hardship, but she finds herself in conflict as her relationship with cotton-mill owner Mr Thornton develops.
Through Margaret, the intermediary between employer and employee, readers are able to empathise with the argument for and against the industrial revolution. Her strong will allows her to vocalise the conflict at the heart of our industrial revolution, but it isn’t always to her advantage. In a pivotal scene, Margaret’s desire to intervene lands her in the middle of a mob, where she is struck down. She sees a side of the workers she had refused to acknowledge, and her understanding of the factory owners grows as Mr Thornton comes to her rescue.
Although fans of Margaret will enjoy witnessing her growing relationship with Thornton, there is no doubt that her primary role is sociopolitical. Embodying the middle classes, striving for a solution to the struggle between workforce and employers, Margaret is an early example of an independent, politically engaged female character.