North And South By Elizabeth Gaskell Analysis

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In the novel, North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell examines the nature of social authority and obedience and also delivers an insightful account of the role of middle class women in nineteenth century society. Through the main character Margaret Hale, Elizabeth Gaskell gives strength to the ‘weaker sex’ and portrays the father, Mr. Hale, as weak and emotional. This in turn feminizes Mr. Hale and masculinizes Margaret. In the dictionary, masculinity is described as having qualities traditionally ascribed to men, as strength and boldness. This concept is also shown in another work of literature, Le Père Goriot written by Balzac. Here we also see the patriarchal figure, Goriot, as weak and emotional. His life is run by his daughters. He gives up everything he has for them and we witness the downfall of his character within society. This weakness shown in Goriot feminizes him and his daughters, which shown to have all the power, are masculinized as far as their relationship with their father. While there are strong male characters in each book such as Mr. Thornton in North and South and Vautrin in Le Père Goriot , the two patriarchal figures in each book, Mr. Hale and Goriot, are both portrayed as weak, emotional and somewhat cowardly. In North and South, Mr. Hale is portrayed as weak; this forces Margaret to take on the male role. In addition to working to change for the better in the struggle between the classes, Margaret is at all times working to change and better hers elf. Margaret has physical feminine characteristics but her personality and her behavior is masculinized. Femininity is defined as the quality of being feminine; womanliness. I believe an important feminine characteristic is the ability to be nurturing and care for others, a characteristic of most mothers. Margaret is obviously not a mother yet but she does posses those qualities. We see it
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