Mary Barton
Ratings8
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings8
Average rating3.5
Mary Barton was praised by contemporary critics for its vivid realism, its convincing characters and its deep sympathy with the poor, and it still has the power to engage and move readers today. This edition reproduces the last edition of the novel supervised by Elizabeth Gaskell and includes her husband's two lectures on the Lancashire dialect. - ;'It's the masters as has wrought this woe; it's the masters as should pay for it.' Set in Manchester in the 1840s - a period of industrial unrest and extreme deprivation - Mary Barton depicts the effects of economic and physical hardship upon the city's working-class community. Paralleling the novel's treatment of the relationship between masters and men, the suffering of the poor, and the workmen's angry response, is the story of Mary herself: a factory-worker's daughter who attracts the attentions of the mill-owner's son, she becomes caught up in the violence of class conflict when a brutal murder forces her to confront her true feelings and allegiances. Mary Barton was praised by contemporary critics for its vivid realism, its convincing characters and its deep sympathy with the poor, and it still has the power to engage and move readers today. This edition reproduces the last edition of the novel supervised by Elizabeth Gaskell and includes her husband's two lectures on the Lancashire dialect. - ;This is Elizabeth Gaskell at her best, and Shirley Foster's edition is both sagacious and formally accurate. The appendices are invaluable and the explanatory notes are relevant without being obtrusive. A must for readers of Mary Barton. - Dr. Antonio Ballesteros-Gonz--aacute--;lez, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Reviews with the most likes.
my penguin classics edition lied and i'm not happy about it.
(if you have the penguin classics 1996 edition, the synopsis on the back is awful and should be disregarded)
a sort of precursor to gaskell's most famous work, north and south, mary barton begins delving into the struggles of the impoverished working class in 1840's england with the story of mary barton and those around her. in terms of learning about just how difficult life was during this period in time, i much prefer reading this than to a lecture in a class where the professor displays a bunch of depressing pictures on the projector.
there's a lot that goes on in this novel, which made it hard for me to put down when i had a chance to read it. each character is well-developed and has their own motivations and arcs throughout the book. recommended for classic literature readers who are a little fatigued when it comes to english historical fiction.
A few spoilers below.
Mary Barton is the story of a young woman living in industrial Manchester. Her mother has died and her brother has starved to death and her father has been laid off and is living in despair over all the things he has lost. Mary herself is learning to be a seamstress and she is loved by two men, one rich and one poor, and she favors the rich one. Until she abruptly does not. And then the rich man is found dead and the poor one accused of his murder.
I found the story deeply melodramatic, with the good very, very good and the bad concerned only with themselves, but I liked how the story highlighted the terrible lives of the working man and woman of the time. The story was compelling though I came to expect that if something could go wrong, it would. The ending felt improbable but satisfying.
