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Literary Criticism

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Money has been said to be the root of evil, yet it forms a “necessary but uncertain feature” (Poovey 57) of a capitalist and consequently, modern society. With the rise of industrialization in Victorian England, the simultaneous abhorrence and dependency that characterized the middle-class Victorian perspective regarding money-making practices created complex moral, social, and economic codes of conduct.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, North and South is particularly interesting because of the way in which it engages these complex ideas. As Gaskell’s main character, Margaret Hale, moves from the idyllic south of England to an industrial town in the North, she must learn how to move throughout the economic society of Milton while maintaining the morality of a Victorian middle-class woman.

Within Milton, the connection between relationships and economics are tightly intertwined. Characters participate in relationships that turn into business and in business deals that turn into relationships. The societal ideologies which govern one bleed into the governance of the other. Although Margaret does not participate economically in the social environment of Milton, she certainly does participate emotionally, and the relationships she creates often follow a pattern similar to that of an economic investor.

Throughout North and South, Margaret assumes the role of an investor in a relationship-based economy as she accepts the cost of various emotional burdens. Similar to a financial economy, as characters make emotional bids on her, Margaret seeks to accept those with low risk and high return value. The relational economy of Milton takes time to understand and throughout the novel Margaret must learn how to participate wisely in the risk-based economy. As she discovers, the best investments allow Margaret to approach her situation from a position of power and consequently give her the freedom to freely participate in the economy of emotion.

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as part of a class

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Jamie Horrocks

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Economic Relationships: An Exploration of Margaret’s Relationships in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South

Money has been said to be the root of evil, yet it forms a “necessary but uncertain feature” (Poovey 57) of a capitalist and consequently, modern society. With the rise of industrialization in Victorian England, the simultaneous abhorrence and dependency that characterized the middle-class Victorian perspective regarding money-making practices created complex moral, social, and economic codes of conduct.

Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel, North and South is particularly interesting because of the way in which it engages these complex ideas. As Gaskell’s main character, Margaret Hale, moves from the idyllic south of England to an industrial town in the North, she must learn how to move throughout the economic society of Milton while maintaining the morality of a Victorian middle-class woman.

Within Milton, the connection between relationships and economics are tightly intertwined. Characters participate in relationships that turn into business and in business deals that turn into relationships. The societal ideologies which govern one bleed into the governance of the other. Although Margaret does not participate economically in the social environment of Milton, she certainly does participate emotionally, and the relationships she creates often follow a pattern similar to that of an economic investor.

Throughout North and South, Margaret assumes the role of an investor in a relationship-based economy as she accepts the cost of various emotional burdens. Similar to a financial economy, as characters make emotional bids on her, Margaret seeks to accept those with low risk and high return value. The relational economy of Milton takes time to understand and throughout the novel Margaret must learn how to participate wisely in the risk-based economy. As she discovers, the best investments allow Margaret to approach her situation from a position of power and consequently give her the freedom to freely participate in the economy of emotion.