is mary barton an industrial novel_201200

8/14/2019 Is Mary Barton an Industrial Novel_201200

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Is Mary Bar ton an Indust r ia l Novel?

Tatsuhiro Ohno

I . In t roduct ion

John Bar ton was the or ig ina l t i t le , confesses El izabeth Gaskel l to

Mary Greg, the s is ter - in- law of W. R. Greg, the most eminent det rac to r o f

Mary Bar ton (1848) , Round the character o f John Bar ton a l l the others

formed themselves; he was my hero, the person w i th whom al l my sym-

path ies went , w i th whom I t r ied to ident i fy mysel f a t the t ime [o f wr i t -

ing] . 1 A confess ion of a s imi lar in tent ion is made in a le t ter to Ju l ia

Lamont , her f r iend. 2 In her Preface to th is novel , moreover , Gaskel l de-

c lares that her compass ion towards Manchester labourers mot ivated her

wr i t ing i t .

Cr i t i cs op in ions about i ts protagonis t d i f fer depending on the i r re-

sponses to these author ia l avowals . Some favour John Bar ton, the epi t -

ome of Manchester s pover ty -s t r icken workers ; o thers the eponymous

hero ine Mary Bar ton, h is daughter . 3

These in terpretat ions, advanced through the i r own ind iv idual ap-

proaches, are a l l sound and enl ightening. Regret tab ly , however , none of

the cr i t i cs I have consul ted take a formal approach to determin ing the

novel s protagonis t . The unders tanding of a novel w i l l be great ly pro-

moted i f i ts s t ruc ture is seen c lear ly a longs ide i ts theme , because theme

and s t ruc ture are usual ly in t r i cate ly in terwoven, as themes are conveyed

only through s t ruc tura l e lements , and as s t ruc ture invar iab ly mi r rors the


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author s in tent ions. Accord ing ly , i f her in tent ions regard ing her protago-

n is t , h idden in the novel s s t ruc ture, were expla ined, we might be able to

end the debate as to wh o her cent ra l character i s .

In the fo l low ing argument , we are t ry ing to demonst rate that Mary

Bar ton and her love are cent ra l to the des ign of the novel , and that her

fa ther s t ragedy const i tu tes on ly one of i ts two main p lo ts . Th is d iscus-

s ion depends on the resul t o f the invest igat ions made of the f requency of

the main characters appearances. We are a lso t ry ing to show that the

author s own remarks on th is f i c t ion before and af ter i ts publ icat ion are

mis leading. Our analys is , i f successfu l ly conducted, w i l l a f fec t the read-

ing of Mary Bar ton as an indust r ia l novel .

I I . Characters Ac t iv i t ies

To c lar i fy the novel s formal scheme, I have const ruc ted as prec ise a

chronology as poss ib le by check ing ca lendar fac ts and f igures scat tered

over the whole tex t . 4 As scene progress is not a lways in para l le l w i th

chapter progress, some chapters are d iv ided in to appropr ia te numbers of

scenes, to which Scene Numbers are a l located. In addi t ion, the length of

each scene is spec i f ied by the number of pages for the la ter analys is o f

scene propor t ions . Emphas is is p laced on the ce l ls cor responding to

Mary s adventurous s ix -days to es tab l ish Jems innocence by co lour ing

them grey s ince th is per iod p lays a s ign i f i cant par t in the s t ruc ture of

th is f i c t ion. The subsequent explanat ion w i l l be bet ter unders tood i f Ta-

b le 1: Chronology and Scenes in Mary Bar ton i s re fer red to whenever

necessary, together w i th F igure 1: Main Characte rs in Mary Bar ton .


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Table 1: Chronology and Scenes in Mary Bar ton

T im e I n f e r r e d Sce n e

Chapter

Year

Month

Day

Num-

ber

open

end

pages Br ie f Su m m a r y o f Ea ch Sce n e

1 1 1 11 10

A t Green He y F ie l ds , JohnBar ton te l l s George Wi l sonabou t m iss ing Es ther and p i t i -l ess mas te rs .

2 2 11 18 7 .5 A tea -par t y a t the Bar tons

1 8 3 4 5o n ed a y

3 1 8 2 2 4 t he dea th o f Mrs Bar ton3

1 8 3 7 4 2 2 2 8 6Mary i s appren t i ced to MrsS immonds .

5 2 8 3 0 1 Ano ther year passes on .

46 30 40 11

Mary s f i r s t meet ing w i thMargare t Jenn ings a t o ld A l -i ce s dwe l l i ng

1 8 3 8 o n ed a y

7 4 0 4 5 5 . 5 Job Le igh appears .wi nt e r

8 4 5 4 8 2Mary and Margare t becomec lose f r i ends .5

2o n ee ve -n in g

9 48 62 15Jem saves h is fa ther f rom thef i re a t Carsons m i l l .

o n ee ve -n in g

10 63 74 11 .5t he p l i gh t o f the s ta rv ingDavenpor ts

n e x td a y

11 74 82 8George Wi l son ca l l s on JohnCarson to have an in f i rmaryorder fo r Ben Davenpor t .

6 3

a f e wd a ysla t e r

1 2 8 2 8 3 0 . 5 Ben s funera l

1 3 8 3 8 5 2 Mrs Davenpor t s recovery

o n ed a y

1 4 8 5 9 0 5t he dea th o f the Wi l son tw ins ;Jems con fess ion o f l ove toMary7

3o r4 n e x t

m o r n in g

1 5 9 0 9 2 3Mary p re fe rs Har ry Carson toJem as her mar r iage par tner .

4o n e

Su n -d a y

1 6 9 3 9 6 3 Jems f ru i t l ess v i s i t t o Mary

sp r i n g 1 7 9 6 9 8 2 . 5Bar ton i s appo in ted a Man-ches te r de lega te to theChar t i s t pe t i t i on .

o n en ig h t

1 8 9 8 1 0 2 4

Neighbours come to Bar ton shouse w i th the i r demands onthe Par l i ament .

5 n e x tm o r n -

i n g1 9 1 0 2 10 4 2

Bar ton s depar tu re fo r Lon-don ; Sa l l y Leadb i t te r appears .

8

o n ee ve -n in g

20 104 111 7

George Wi l son s suddendea th ; Margare t te l l s Mary herdebu t as a s inger .

9

7n e x te ve -n in g

21 111 12 9 18Bar ton te l l s Job , Margare t ,and Mary h is b i t t e r exper i -ences in London .

1 8 3 9

2 2 1 3 0 1 3 6 6 . 5Bar ton becomesop ium-add ic ted .

1

o n ea f t e r -n o o n

2 3 1 3 6 1 4 2 6 . 5 Mary s v i s i t t o Jane Wi l son1 0

1 8 4 0

2 11 24 142 145 3

Bar ton tu rns a dea f ea r toEs ther s warn ing aga ins tMary ; Es ther i s impr i soned .


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2 5 1 4 6 14 8 3 Bar ton s search fo r Es ther

o n ee ve -n in g

2 6 1 4 8 15 4 5 . 5

Soon a f te r re jec t ing Jemsproposa l , Mary d iscovers heis the man she t ru l y l oves .

n e x t

d a y2 7 1 5 4 15 5 0 . 5

Mary s avo idance o f Har ry

11

e ve -n in g

2 8 1 5 5 16 2 7 . 5Har ry s v i c ious in ten t ions re -vea led

2

2 9 1 6 2 16 4 2Har ry and Jems con t ras t i veapproaches to Mary

4 30 1 6 4 16 9 4 . 5Mary con f ides her love fo rJem to Margare t .

1 2

5 3 1 1 6 9 17 2 4Mary meets Wi l l a t Jane Wi l -son s house .

1 3 9 3 2 1 7 3 18 3 11Wi l l en te r ta ins h is new f r i endsw i th h i s ta les .

3 3 1 8 4 18 6 2 . 5 Esther s re lease1 4

10 3 4 1 8 6 19 7 11 Jems in te rv iew w i th Es ther

3 5 1 9 7 20 4 8mutua l d i s t rus t be tween mas-

te rs and workers14 3 6 2 0 4 20 6 1. 5

Mary no t i ces Wi l l s l ove fo rMargare t .

1 5

15 3 7 2 0 6 2 11 5. 5t he scu f f l e be tween Har ry andJem

3 8 2 11 21 7 5 . 5Har ry d raws a ca r i ca tu re o fworker de lega tes .1 6

16Tue

3 9 2 1 7 22 4 7 An assass in i s chosen .4 0 2 2 4 23 0 6 . 5 Wi l l s fa rewe l l v i s i t t o Mary

1 74 1 2 3 0 23 6 6

Bar ton s assass ina t ion o fHar ry

18T h u

4 2 2 3 7 25 0 13 Har ry s body i s b rough t home1 8

4 3 2 5 0 25 1 1Carson swears vengeance onthe murdere r .

4 4 2 5 1 25 5 4 . 5 Mary ca l l s a t Jane Wi l son shouse to see decay ing A l i ce .

4 5 2 5 5 25 8 3Mary hears Har ry s dea th f romSal ly .

1 9

4 6 2 5 8 26 5 6 . 5a d isgu ised po l i ceman s in te r -v iew w i th Jane

19Fr i

4 7 2 6 5 27 2 7 . 5

Mary hears f rom Jane tha t he rson was a r res ted on susp ic iono f murder ing Har ry.

2 0

4 8 2 7 2 27 3 1 Mary d reams o f he r mother .2 1 4 9 2 7 3 28 5 12 Esther s v i s i t t o Mary

5 0 2 8 5 29 0 5 . 5

The sc rap o f paper her aun thas b rough t revea ls to Marytha t the murdere r i s he r fa -ther .

2 2

5 1 2 9 0 29 8 7 . 5Mary s e f fo r t s to p rove Jemsa l ib i beg in .

2 3 5 2 2 9 8 31 2 14 Mary rece ives a subpoena .

20Sa t

5 3 3 1 2 31 7 4 . 5

Mary f i nds tha t Jane a lso hasrece ived a subpoena ; A l i cebecomes unconsc ious .

5 4 3 1 7 31 9 2 . 5Mary te l l s Jane her p lan o frescu ing Jem.

2 4

5 5 3 1 9 32 2 3Mary s anx ie ty abou t Jane ss t reng th

2 5

21Su n

5 6 3 2 3 33 2 9Jane s de te rmina t ion to go tothe t r i a l

2 6 5 7 3 3 2 33 6 4Mary d iscovers in L i ve rpoo ltha t Wi l l has a l ready le f t h i s

lodg ing .

2 7

1 8 4 0

3

22M o n

5 8 3 3 6 34 5 9Mary s i t s i n a boa t to ca tchthe John Cropper .


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5 9 3 4 5 3 5 1 6 . 5Mary s message i s heard byWi l l .2 8

6 0 3 5 1 3 5 3 2 . 5 Ben S tu rg is takes Mary home.

6 1 3 5 4 35 7 4

Mr Br idgenor th , Jems a t to r -ney , i nc l i nes to th ink h im in -

nocen t .2 9

6 2 3 5 7 3 6 0 2 . 5Job goes to Wi l l s l odg ing tof ind Mary s ac t ion o f the day .

3 0 6 3 3 6 0 3 6 5 5 . 5Job Legh dece ives Jane toassure her o f he r son s sa fe ty .

2 2M o n

6 4 3 6 6 3 7 1 5 . 5Mary spends the n igh t a t theS tu rg ises s home.3 1

6 5 3 7 1 3 7 1 0 . 5 Mary s s leep less n igh t

3 2 6 6 3 7 2 3 9 4 2 2Jem w ins the ve rd ic t o f No tGu i l t y .

2 3Tue

6 7 3 9 4 39 5 2 Mary becomes de l i r i ous .

2 4 6 8 3 9 5 3 9 9 3The Wi l sons re tu rn home tosee dy ing A l i ce .

6 9 3 9 9 4 0 0 1 . 5 t he dea th o f A l i ce Wi l son

7 0 4 0 0 40 5 5 A l i ce s funera l

3 3

2 8Su n 7 1 4 0 5 4 0 8 3 . 5 John Bar ton reappears .

2 9 7 2 4 0 9 4 1 2 4Jem nurses Mary a t the S tu r -g ises s house .

3

o n ed a y

7 3 4 1 2 41 3 1 Mary g radua l l y recovers .

5 [ ? ] 7 4 4 1 3 4 1 9 6 Jem and Mary re tu rn home.7 7 5 4 1 9 4 2 1 1 . 5 Bar ton s agony

3 4

7 6 4 2 1 42 4 3

Mary hears f rom Sa l l y tha tJem was d ismissed f rom h isfoundry.

7 7 4 2 4 4 2 6 2 . 5Jem d isc loses to Mary h isp lan o f emig ra t ion .

7 8 4 2 6 42 7 1

Jane Wi l son g ives Mary a

hear ty we lcome.

7 9 4 2 7 4 3 3 5 . 5Bar ton s con fess ion o f h i sgu i l t

8

8 0 4 3 3 43 8 5 Carson reads the B ib le .

3 5

8 1 4 3 8 43 9 1 Bar ton d ies in Carson s a rms.9

8 2 4 3 9 4 4 2 2 . 5Jem h ides the t ru th f rom h ismother fo r Mary s sake .

8 3 4 4 2 44 4 3Jems ta l k w i th h i s fo rmermaste r

3 6

8 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 2 . 5Jane s condo la to ry v i s i t t oMary.

3 7

1 0

85 447 458 11Carson asks Job and Jemabout the de ta i l s o f the mur -der .

8 6 4 5 8 45 9 1 The emig ra t ion p lan i s a r -ranged .

o n ee ve -n in g

8 7 4 5 9 4 6 0 1 . 5Mary and Jem ta lk abou tEsther .

1 8 4 0

4

n e x td a y

8 8 4 6 0 4 6 3 2 . 5 t he dea th o f Es ther

3 8

1 8 4 2o r 4 3

[ ? ]

l a t e a u -t u m n

8 9 4 6 3 46 4 1Mary and Jem l i ve a happyl i f e in Canada .

t o t a l p a g e s 4 6 3

Page re fe rences a re to the Wor ld s C lass ics ed i t i on .


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Table 2: Character s Act iv i t ies in Mary Bar ton i s a dev ice to d isp lay who

is ac t ive in each of the scenes which Table 1 prov ides. I f a character

appears in a cer ta in scene, h is or her ce l l i s pa inted deep grey. I f not ,

i t i s b lank. I f he or she is on ly re fer red to by others inc lud ing the nar ra-

tor , i t i s co loured l ight grey . In a scene in which a character d ies , the

re levant ce l l i s c rossed.

For example, Chapter 1 , which re la tes the af ternoon excurs ion of the

Bar tons and the Wi lsons to Green Heys F ie lds , features a l l members of

both fami l ies , so that the i r ce l ls are shaded deep grey . On the other

hand, Esther and Al ice Wi lson are on ly spoken of in the conversat ion

between John Bar ton and George Wi lson; 5 thus , the i r ce l ls are co loured

l ight grey . No ment ion is made of o ther main characters in th is chapter ;

therefore, the i r ce l ls are b lank. Because the f i rs t two pages (83-85) o f

Chapter 7 , or Scene 13, g ive only the nar rator s explanat ion of Mrs

Davenpor t s recovery , and her br ie f a l lus ions to the Wi lsons, A l ice, Mar -

garet , Mr and Mrs Bar ton, and Mary s f l i r ta t ion w i th Har ry Carson, these

characters ce l ls are a l l t in ted l ight grey . The l ight grey ce l ls which

somet imes appear in Mrs Bar ton s co lumn af ter Scene 3 show that she is

s t i l l ment ioned even af ter her death.

Table 2 a lso helps to show the progress of an episode in the p lo t : for

ins tance, Mary s f i rs t reunion w i th Jem s ince her re jec t ion of h is pro-

posal on an evening in February 1840 (Chapter 11: Scene 26) takes

place dur ing the ass izes of 23 March 1840 (Chapter 32: Scene 66) , in-

asmuch as Scene 66 is the f i rs t scene af ter Scene 26 for which the i r

ce l ls are both imbued w i th deep grey . L ikewise, Table 2 shows that


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Table 2: Characters Ac t iv i t ies in Mary Bar ton

a c t i v e r e f e r r e d n o n - a p p e a r a n c e d e a d

T i m e I n f e r r e d M a i n C h a r a c t e r s

Pa

rt

Cha

pter

Yea

r

Mon

th

Day

Scene

No.

Pages

(%)

MaryBa

rton

MrsBar

ton

Esther

George

Wil-

son

Jane

Wilson

Alice

Jem

Will

Margare

t

Job

Leg

h

Mrs

Daven-

port

Sally

Lead-

bitter

Harry

JohnCa

rson

JohnBa

rton

1 1 2 . 2

2 2 1 . 61 8 3 4 5o n ed a y

3 0 . 93

1 8 3 7 4 1 . 35 0 . 2

46 2 . 41 8 3 8 o n e

d a y 7 1 . 2w i nt e r

8 0 . 4

5

2o n ee v e -n i n g

9 3 . 2

o n ee v e -

n i n g

1 0 2 . 5

n e x td a y

1 1 1 . 76 3

a f e wd a y sl a t e r

1 2 0 . 1

1 3 0 . 4

o n ed a y

1 4 1 . 1

73o r4

n e x tm o r n -

i n g

1 5 0 . 6

4o n e

S u n -d a y

1 6 0 . 6

s p r i n g 1 7 0 . 5

o n en i g h t

1 8 0 . 9

5 n e x tm o r n -

i n g

1 9 0 . 4

8

o n ee v e -n i n g

2 0 1 . 5

9

7n e x te v e -n i n g

2 1 3 . 9

1 8 3 9

2 2 1 . 4

1

o n ea f -

t e r - n oo n

2 3 1 . 41 0

11 2 4 0 . 62 5 0 . 6

o n ee v e -

n i n g

2 6 1 . 2

n e x td a y

2 7 0 . 111

e v e -n i n g

2 8 1 . 6

2

2 9 0 . 4

4 3 0 11 2

5 3 1 0 . 9

1 3 9 3 2 2 . 43 3 0 . 5

1 41 0 3 4 2 . 4

3 5 1 . 7

1 4 3 6 0 . 31 5

1 5 3 7 1 . 2

3 8 1 . 2

Part

I

1 6 1 6 T u e3 9 1 . 5

a c t i v e 21 3 2 6 7 7 8 3 8 4 4 2 4 1 1

5

P a r t I

1 8 4 0

3

r e f e r r e d 13 6 8 1

311 7 1

4 2 4 5 1 5 19 6 2

1


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P a r t I s u b t o t a l 1 34 9 1

019

18

14

22 5 1

2 9 5 7 23 7 3

6

4 0 1 . 4 1 7

4 1 1 . 3 1 8

T h u4 2 2 . 8

1 84 3 0 . 2 4 4 1

4 5 0 . 6 1 94 6 1 . 4

1 9 F r i

4 7 1 . 6 2 04 8 0 . 2

2 1 4 9 2 . 6 5 0 1 . 2

2 25 1 1 . 6

2 3 5 2 3

2 0 S a t

5 3 1

5 4 0 . 5 2 45 5 0 . 6

2 5

2 1S u n

5 6 1 . 9 2 6 5 7 0 . 9 2 7 5 8 1 . 9

5 9 1 . 4 2 8

6 0 0 . 5 6 1 0 . 9

2 96 2 0 . 5

3 0 6 3 1 . 2

2 2M o n

6 4 1 . 2

3 1 6 5 0 . 1 3 2 6 6 4 . 8

PartII

3 32 3 T u e

6 7 0 . 4

a c t i v e 21 0 2 0 1

0 6 1 3 5 11 4 2 0 3 1

r e f e r r e d 5 4 1 3 6 7 22

13 1 3 3 0 1

5 2 12P a r t I I

s u b t o t a l 2 26 4 3 3 1

613

23

16 6 1

4 7 2 15 5 1

3

2 4 6 8 0 . 6 6 9 0 . 3 7 0 1 . 1

3 32 8

S u n 7 1 0 . 8 2 9 7 2 0 . 9

3

o n ed a y

7 3 0 . 2

5 [ ? ] 7 4 1 . 3 7 7 5 0 . 3

3 4

7 6 0 . 6

7 7 0 . 5

7 8 0 . 2 7 9 1 . 2

8

8 0 1 . 1

3 5

8 1 0 . 2 9

8 2 0 . 5 8 3 0 . 6 3 68 4 0 . 5

3 7

1 08 5 2 . 4 8 6 0 . 2

o n ee v e -n i n g

8 7 0 . 3

1 8 4 0

4

n e x td a y

8 8 0 . 5

PartIII

3 8

1 8 4 2o r 4 3

[ ? ]l a t e a u t u m n 8 9 0 . 2

a c t i v e 16 0 1 0 8 1 2

1 2 5 9 0 1 0 4 6

r e f e r r e d 6 1 2 2 5 4 1 2 6 5 1 0 5 3 11P a r t

I I I

s u b t o t a l 3 22 1 3 2 1

3 5 22 4 1

114 1 1 5 7 1

7

A c t i v e S c e n e s 58 3 5 6 2

514

30 8 1

824 8 5 4 8 2

2

R e f e r r e d S c e n e s 24

11

11

18

22

18

37

17

11

13 5 5 3

911

44

G r a n d T o t a l 9 9 . 2 82

14

16

24

47

32

67

25

29

37

13

10

43

19

66

M a i n C h a r a c t e r sMB

Mrs

B Esth

er

GW

JW

AW

Jem

W

ill

MJ

JL

Mrs

D

SL

HC

JC

JB


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Mary s meet ing w i th her fa ther on 5 Apr i l (Chapter 34: Scene 74) comes

about 18 days af ter h is d isappearance on 18 March (Chapter 17: Scene

40) . Never the less , the most in teres t ing resul t demonst rated by Table 2 is

that i t i s not John Bar ton but Mary Bar ton who is most ac t ive throughout

the novel , 6 and that Jem Wi lson is one of the three major characters . 7

Th is is d is t inc t ly shown by the numbers in the Grand Tota l box at the

bot tom of Table 2. They a lso br ing in to sharp re l ie f the ex is tence of the

two p lo ts focus ing on John and Mary , and Jems deep invo lvement in

them. Before mov ing on to a c loser examinat ion of the novel s dou-

b le-p lo t compos i t ion, a few remarks should be made concern ing F igure

2: Scene Percentage in Mary Bar ton .

F igure 2: Scene Percentage in Mary Bar ton

1 2 3 4 5 67 8

9

10

26

28

29

30

31

3233343536373839

40414243444546

474849

5051

52

5657

6365

8085

11 12

13

14

15

16

86 87 8889

17

18

1920

27

25

2122 23

24

55

54

53

59

58

62

61

60

64

66

6869 70

73

76

67

72

71

75

74

78 8177

8483

8279

Th is 3-D p ie char t p ic tures the percentage of each of the scenes

which are prov ided in Table 2. F igure 2 throws l ight on two s ign i f i cant

features of the novel s s t ruc ture. F i rs t , more than one th i rd of the to ta l


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number of pages is ass igned to Chapters 17-33, or Scenes 40-67, which

por t ray John Bar ton s murder o f Har ry Carson, Mary s f rant ic e f for ts to

prove Jems innocence, h is t r ia l , and her co l lapse.8

That 37 percent o f

the s tory is spent nar rat ing only s ix days f rom 18 to 23 March 1840, a l -

though the book as i t s tands covers e ight or n ine years in to ta lthis fac t

is cur ious enough to make us suspect that i t conceals an impor tant key

to unders tanding of the author s purpose. 9 F igure 2 a lso suggests that

the novel i s const ruc ted in three par ts : In t roduct ion (Chapters 1-16:

Scenes 1-39) , Development (Chapters 17-33: Scenes 40-67) , and F ina le

(Chapters 33-38: Scenes 68-89) . The percentage of the tex t a f forded to

each par t i s roughly 48%, 37%, and 15%.

I t has long been h igh l ighted that Mary Bar ton has two main p lo ts :

John Bar ton s murder p lo t and Mary Bar ton s romance p lo t . 1 0 A br ie f

summary of each would be as fo l lows:

JOH N S PL OT: r i ch people s lack of sympathy for the poorJohn

Bar ton s murder o f Har ry CarsonJem Wi lsons t r ia lJohn Bar -

ton s confess ionJohn Carsons forg ivenessJohn Bar ton s

death;

MARY S PL OT: Jems love for Maryher assoc iat ion w i th

Har ryher recogni t ion of her love for Jemthe murder o f

Har ryher ef for ts to prove Jems innocencehis t r ia lher

marr iage to h im.

The f i rs t p lo t s apparent ly sudden d isappearance af ter John Bar ton s ac t

of v io lence has been cr i t i c ized espec ia l l y by those who favour John Bar -

ton as the novel s cent ra l character . 1 1 Converse ly , th is dual i ty i s eu lo-


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age of P lot F low . In the f i rs t par t , the two p lo ts are in t roduced in para l -

le l . In the middle sect ion, the i r threads are c lever ly condensed in to

Mary s d i lemma. In the f ina l par t , the love between Mary and Jem r ipens

into mar r iage, whereas John Bar ton s confess ion and death br ing about

John Carsons unders tanding of the workers ; thus end both p lo ts . Some

Figure 3: Image of P lot F low

cr i t i cs evaluate Mary s p lo t as less ar res t ing, less s t r ik ing ly or ig ina l ,2 1

[deal ing] w i th secondary characters , 2 2 and o f secondary impor -

tance . 2 3 Hopk ins d isparages it : A l though the t i t le d i rec ts that Mary

should bear the respons ib i l i ty o f the cent ra l f igure, she does not s tep

forward in th is ro le unt i l the la t ter par t o f the s tory .2 4

In cont ras t ,

Shels ton f inds a pos i t i ve and deeper meaning in her s tory l ine: Mary s

s tory is in tegra l f rom the s tar t .2 5

So does Colby : Throughout the

novel Mary is por t rayed as act ing ; 2 6 h is remark is upheld by

Fryckstedt 2 7 and Uglow. 2 8

Our scrut iny of the novel s s t ruc ture reveals that Mary is present


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throughout the novel , and that , even i f the focus appears to sh i f t in the

middle f rom Johns conf l i c t to Mary s romance, i t i s because he tempo-

rar i l y h ides h imsel f f rom the readers eyes, not because she makes a

sudden appearance in the l imel ight . Whatever Gaskel l s la ter fee l ings

about the cent ra l i ty o f John Bar ton, Easson wr i tes , she d id accept the

t i t le Mary Bar ton and Mary s is the dominant consc iousness, through

which much of the ac t ion is mediated . 2 9 Our s t ruc tura l analys is en-

dorses h is asser t ion.

I I I . Conc lus ion

To e luc idate the s t ruc ture of Mary Bar ton , we f i rs t concentrated on the

deta i ls o f dates and t imes in the novel to const ruc t an accurate chronol -

ogy. This demonst rated that the s tory opened in May 1834 and ended in

the autumn of 1842 or 1843. Next , we examined the main characters

appearances in each scene the chronology prov ided. Table 2: Charac-

ters Ac t iv i t ies in Mary Bar ton showed that i t was Mary Bar ton not John

Bar ton who was most ac t ive in the s tory , and that Jem Wi lson was one of

the three leading characters . F igure 2: Scene Percentage in Mary Bar -

ton d isp layed that Gaskel l used th i r ty -seven percent o f her to ta l number

of pages to descr ibe Mary s s ix -days of desperate ef for ts to prove Jems

al ib i . F igure 2 a lso showed that the s tory cons is ted of three par ts : in t ro-

duct ion, development , and f ina le . Accord ing to Table 2, Mary and John

were the most ac t ive characters in the in t roductory par t ; Mary in the de-

ve lopment par t ; and, Mary and Jem in the f ina le . Th is three-par t s t ruc-

ture fa i th fu l l y re f lec ts the content o f each par t , and the author s des ign


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for weav ing the two p lo ts together .

S ince the date of i ts publ icat ion, Mary Bar ton has been cons idered

as one of those so-ca l led indust r ia l , soc ia l , or Condi t ion of England

novels . The most feas ib le reasons for th is in terpretat ion would be: the

author s announcement in the Preface that she has wr i t ten her book to

g ive some ut terance to the Manchester fac tory-workers agony of suf fer -

ing for which the r ich have shown l i t t le sympathy; 3 0 the ear ly rev iewers

condemnat ions of her account o f indust r ia l employers lack of compas-

s ion for the i r employees; and, her na ive response to these rev iews, es-

pec ia l l y W. R. Gregs . The Manchester magnates re futat ions of the

charges which Gaskel l s indust r ia l p lo t leve l led agains t them was vented

by some of the ear ly rev iewers . 3 1 One of the most prominent c r i t i cs

among them was W. R. Greg, the essay is t and indust r ia l i s t , who a l lo-

cated most o f h is essay 3 2 to a defence of the employers ra ther than to

any l i terary apprec iat ion of the work .3 3

I t would not be unfa i r to say these ear ly judgements dec ided the d i -

rec t ion of Mary Bar ton s recept ion. The s t ruc tura l analys is o f the book,

however , shows that the t rue protagonis t i s not John Bar ton but h is

daughter . I t i s reasonable to conc lude, therefore, that the main purpose

of the novel i s not to spot l ight the p l ight o f John Bar ton in order to

s t ress the indust r ia l masters merc i lessness, but to te l l a love s tory ,

agains t the background of the everyday l i fe o f Manchester s pov-

er ty -s t r icken people, w i th John and Mary as the i r representat ives .3 4

We must recal l that Gaskel l s confess ion that John Bar ton was her

hero, as quoted at the beginn ing of th is paper , was made in response to


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Notes

1

The Let ters of Mrs Gaskel l , ed. J . A. V. Chapple and Ar thur Pol lard

(Manchester : Manchester Univers i ty Press, 1966) , p . 74. At the begin-

n ing of th is o f ten-quoted le t ter , Gaskel l mis takenly conjec tures that the

wr i ter o f the cr i t i ca l remarks is Samuel Greg, her corespondent s hus-

band and W. R. Gregs brother (El izabeth Gaskel l : The Cr i t i ca l Her i tage ,

ed. by Angus Easson (London: Rout ledge, 1991) , p . 163; Jenny Uglow,

El izabeth Gaskel l : A Habi t o f Stor ies ( London : F abe r and F abe r , 1993 ) ,

p . 160 ; A . W. War d , I n t r oduc t i on , M ar y Ba r ton : A T a l e o f M anc hes te r

L i f e , by E l i z abe th Gas k e l l , Vo l . 1 o f T he Wor k s o f M r s Gas k e l l , 8 v o l s

(New York : AMS Press , 19 72) , p . l xv ) .

2Let ters , p . 70.

3 Comments in favour o f John are found in W. A. Cra ik (El izabeth Gas-

kel l and the Engl ish Prov inc ia l Novel (London: Methuen, 1975) , p . 35) ,

Monica Cor rea Frycks tedt (El izabeth Gaskel l s Mary Bar ton and Ruth : A

Chal lenge to Chr is t ian England (Stockholm: A lmqv is t & Wiksel l In terna-

t ional , 1982) , p . 98, p .102) , Margaret Ganz (El izabeth Gaskel l : The Ar t is t

in Conf l i c t (New York : Twayne, 1969) , p . 63) , Win i f red Gr in (El izabeth

Gaskel l : A Biography (Oxford: Oxford Univers i ty Press, 1980) , pp. 87-88) ,

A. B Hopk ins (El izabeth Gaskel l : Her L i fe and Work (London: John Leh-

mann, 1952) , pp. 76-77) , Margaret Lane ( In t roduct ion, Mary Bar ton: A

Tale of Manchester L i fe , by E l izabeth Gaskel l (London: Dent , 1977) , p .

v i i ) , Ar thur Pol lard (Mrs Gaskel l : Novel is t and Biographer (Cambr idge,


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MA: Harvard UP, 1967) , pp. 109-10) , Thomas E. Recchio ( The Problem

of Form in Mrs Gaskel l s Mary Bar ton : A Study of Myth ic Pat tern ing in

Real is t i c F ic t ion , Studies in Engl ish L i terature: Engl ish Number (1985) ,

p. 30) , A ina Rubenius ( The Woman Quest ion in Mrs Gaskel l s L i fe and

Works (Upsala: A. -B. Lundequis tska Bokhandeln, 1950) , p . 230) , John

Geof f rey Sharps (Mrs Gaskel l s Observat ion and Invent ion: A Study of

Her Non-Biographic Works (Frontwel l , Sussex: L inden Press, 1970) , p .

57, p . 59, pp. 67-68) , Kath leen T i l lo tson ( Novels of the Eighteen-For t ies

(London: Oxford Univers i ty Press, 1962) , p . 211) , Anna Unswor th

(El izabeth Gaskel l : An Independent Woman (London: Minerva Press,

1996) , pp. 42-43) , and Edgar Wr ight ( Mrs Gaskel l : The Bas is for Reas-

sessment (London: OUP, 1965) p. 31, p . 35, p . 233; In t roduct ion, Mary

Bar ton: A Tale of Manchester L i fe , by E l izabeth Gaskel l (Oxford: OUP,

1987) , p . xv) . Meanwhi le , those for Mary in Tessa Brodetsky (El izabeth

Gaskel l (Leamington Spa: Berg, 1986) p. 16) , Robin B. Colby ( Some

Appointed Work to Do: Women and Vocat ion in the F ic t ion of E l izabeth

Gaskel l (Westpor t , CT: Greenwood Press, 199 5) , p . 36, p . 40 , pp. 44-45) ,

Dei rdre d A lber t is (Dissembl ing F ic t ions: E l izabeth Gaskel l and the Vic-

tor ian Social Text (New York : St Mar t in s Press, 1997) p. 50) , Angus

Easson (El izabeth Gaskel l (London: Rout ledge & Kegan Paul , 1979) , p .

73, p . 78; In t roduct ion, Mary Bar ton: A Tale of Manchester L i fe (K ruml in ,

Ha l i fax : Ryburn Pub l i sh ing , 1993) , pp . 15-16) , Cora l Lansbury (El iza-

beth Gaskel l (Boston: Twayne, 1984) , p . 17) , H i lary M. Schor (Sche-

herezade in the Marketp lace: E l izabeth Gaskel l and the Vic tor ian Novel


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21

t ion is g iven a s ign i f i cant amount o f space in the novel , spanning severa l

chapters . I t i s c lear that Gaskel l v iewed these events as a c ruc ia l ex-

press ion of Mary s ident i ty ( Some Appointed Work to Do , p . 41) , and

by Edgar Wr ight (Mrs Gaskel l , p . 233) .

1 0 Par t icu lar ly by Chr is Bald ick ( In Frankenste in s Shadow: Myth, Mon-

s t ros i ty , and Nineteenth-Century Wr i t ing (Oxford: C larendon Press,

1987) , p . 84) , Cra ik (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 5 , p . 31) , d A lber t is (Dissem-

bl ing F ic t ions , p . 50) , Ka te F l i n t ( E l i z abe th Gas k e l l , Wr i t e r s and T he i r

Work (P l ymouth : Nor thco te House, 1995) , p . 15 , p . 17) , Ga l l agher (The

Indust r ia l Reformat ion , p . 67, pp. 75-78, pp. 81-82, p . 280) , Ganz

(El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 69, p . 73) , Stephen Gi l l ( In t roduct ion, Mary Bar -

ton: A Tale of Manchester L i fe , by E l izabeth Gaskel l (Harmondswor th:

Penguin Books, 1976) , pp. 21-22) , Hopk ins ( El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 76) ,

Lansbury (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 10, p . 17) , Recchio ( The Problem of

Form , p . 20, p . 29) , Schor ( Scheherezade in the Marketp lace , pp. 14-15,

p. 17, p . 20, p . 33, pp. 37-38) , Shels ton ( In t roduct ion, p . xxv i ) , Patsy

Stoneman (El izabeth Gaskel l (Br ighton, Sussex: Harvester Press, l987) ,

p . 84) , T i l lo tson ( Novels of the Eighteen-For t ies , pp. 213-14) , Uglow

(El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 206) , Michael Wheeler (The Ar t o f A l lus ion in Vic-

tor ian F ic t ion (London: Macmi l lan, 1979) , p . 46, pp. 59-60; Engl ish F ic-

t ion of the Vic tor ian Per iod 1830-1890 , 2 n d ed (London: Longman, 1994) ,

p. 40) , Raymond Wi l l iams (Cul ture and Soc iety 1780-1950 (Harmonds-

wor th: Penguin Books, 1979) , pp. 100-01) , and Edgar Wr ight ( In t roduc-

t ion, p . x iv, pp. xv i i -xv i i i ) .


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1 1 Cra ik (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 5) and Ganz ( El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 69)

asser t that two p lo ts are too much for a s ing le work , whi le Ganz ( El iza-

beth Gaskel l p . 73) , Gi l l ( In t roduct ion, pp. 20-21) , Hopk ins (El izabeth

Gaskel l , pp. 76-77) , T i l lo tson ( Novels of the Eighteen-For t ies , p . 213) ,

and Wi l l iams (Cul ture and Soc iety , pp. 100-02) lament that the change of

emphas is ha l fway through the novel represents a f law in i ts theme and

shape.

1 2 Lansbury argues that John Bar ton s dec l ine of fers a v iv id cont ras t to

h is daughter s r i se (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 17) ; Schor (Scheherezade in

the Marketp lace , p . 15) and Stoneman ( El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 79) observe

that Mary s whole s tory unfo lds the process of her acqui r ing the abi l i ty to

speak for her own se l f .

1 3 Except ions are, i f any , Frycks tedt ( John Bar ton is absent f rom the

moment he murders Henry Carson unt i l he returns at the end ( El izabeth

Gaskel l s Mary Bar ton and Ruth, p . 98) ) , Gal lagher ( The conc lud ing

chapters of Mary Bar ton re turn us to the s tory of John ( The Indust r ia l

Reformat ion , p . 83) ) , and Schor ( [T ]he workers p lo t [ i s ] revealed again

at the novel s end ( Scheherezade in the Marketp lace , p . 16) ) .

1 4Hopk ins , El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 77.

1 5 Lane, In t roduct ion, p . v i i i .

1 6 Mar ia Edgewor th qtd. in Easson, Cr i t i ca l Her i tage , p . 90. Unmi t i -

gated pra ise is bestowed upon the author s por t rayal o f Mary s breath-

tak ing expedi t ion espec ia l l y by E l l i s H. Chadwick ( Mrs Gaskel l : Haunts ,

Homes, and Stor ies (London: S i r Issac Pi tman & Sons, 1913) , p . 166)


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and Edgar Wr ight (Mrs Gaskel l , p . 268) .

1 7 The p lo t in ter re la t ion in Par t I I i s d iscussed by Cra ik ( El izabeth

Gaskel l , p . 31, p . 35) , Gal lagher ( The Indust r ia l Reformat ion , p . 83) ,

Ganz (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 69) , Hopk ins (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 76) , E.

Hol ly P ike (Fami ly and Soc iety in the Works of E l izabeth Gaskel l (New

York : Peter Lang, 1955 ) , p . 41) , Schor ( Scheherezade in the Marketp lace ,

p . 40) , and Wheeler ( Engl ish F ic t ion , p . 40) . Bes ides, i ts occur rence

even in Par ts I and I I I i s suggested by Cra ik ( El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 35) ,

Gal lagher (The Indust r ia l Reformat ion , p . 82) , Shels ton ( In t roduct ion, p .

xxv i ) , Uglow (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 206) , Wheeler (The Ar t o f I l lus ion , p .

59) , and Edgar Wr ight ( In t roduct ion, p . x iv ) .

1 8Cra ik , El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 35.

1 9Easson, In t roduct ion, p . 16.

2 0 St r ic t l y speak ing, Chapter 5 is the longest , but i t i s composed of two

scenes.

2 1Cra ik , El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 35.

2 2 Gera ld Dewi t t Sanders , El izabeth Gaskel l (1929; New York : Russel l

& Russel l , l971) , p . 28.

2 3J . G. Shar ps, Mrs Gaskel l s Observat ion and Invent ion , p . 68.

2 4 El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 76.

2 5 In t roduct ion, p . xx iv .

2 6 Some Appointed Work to Do , p . 36.

2 7 El izabeth Gaskel l s Mary Bar ton and Ruth, p . 98.

2 8 El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 200.


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2 9 El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 78. He is championed by Brodetsky : [T ]he

change of t i t le was reasonable, and i t was obv ious ly cons idered a more

at t rac t ive one (El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 16) .

3 0MB , p . xxxv i .

3 1 I tem Nos. 16, 17, 19, and 23 in Eassons Cr i t i ca l Her i tage .

3 2 I tem No. 23 of Eassons Cr i t i ca l Her i tage .

3 3 He is deprecated by J . G. Sharps: Greg is gu i l ty misreading in re-

gard ing John Bar ton s a t t i tude as that o f the average workman ( Mrs

Gaskel l s Observat ion and Invent ion , p . 65) .

3 4 T i l lo tsons asser t ion that Manchester l i fe i s the keystone which

gives the novel the uni ty ( Novels of the Eighteen-For t ies , p . 210, p . 214)

is conv inc ing enough; so are Wi l l iamss and Edgar Wr ight s : The rea l ly

impress ive th ing about the book is the in tens i ty o f the ef for t to record, in

i ts own terms, the fee l o f everyday l i fe in the work ing-c lass homes

(Cul ture and Soc iety , p . 99) ; [C ]onstant ly present as an essent ia l set -

t ing for the characters and the compl icated p lo t i s Manchester ( Mrs

Gaskel l , p . 32) . Opin ions which suppor t these are found in Easson

(Cr i t i ca l Her i tage , p . 14; In t roduct ion, p . 12) , Hopk ins (El izabeth Gaskel l ,

p . 71, p . 73) , Lansbury ( El izabeth Gaskel l , p . 12) , Shels ton ( In t roduct ion,

p. xx i i ) , Shei la M. Smi th ( The Other Nat ion: The Poor in Engl ish Novels

of the 1840s and 1850s (Oxford: C larendon Press, 1980) , p . 84) , Jane

Spencer (El izabeth Gaskel l , Women Wr i ters (London: Macmi l lan, 1993) ,

p. 34, p . 40) , and Edgar Wr ight ( In t roduct ion, p . xv i i ) .

3 5 Let ters , p . 120; Valent ine Cunningham, Everywhere Spoken Against :


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is mary barton an industrial novel_201200

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