North and South is a social novel published in 1854–55 by English
author Elizabeth Gaskell.It is one of her best-known novels and was adapted for
television three times. At first, Gaskell wanted the novel to be titled after the
heroine, Margaret Hale, but Charles Dickens, the editor of Household Words, the
magazine in which the novel was serialised, insisted on North and South.
After her cousin Edith Shaw’s wedding, eighteen-year-old Margaret Hale returns
from London to Helstone, the small Southern England village where her
father, Richard Hale, and her mother, Maria Hale, still live. Mr. Hale confides that
he must no longer be a minister in the Church of England; the entire family must
move to Milton, a Northern industrial city, where Mr. Hale will work as a private
tutor.
Soon after their arrival in Milton, Margaret meets John Thornton, a young,
successful cotton-mill owner who will be her father’s primary pupil. Margaret
finds him “not quite a gentleman.” She especially dislikes the way he speaks about
employers and workers. Thornton, meanwhile, admires Margaret’s beauty, but
thinks her proud.
While walking through the streets of Milton, Margaret befriends a working-class
father and daughter, Nicholas Higgins and Bessy Higgins, and begins visiting
Bessy often. Bessy is dying of a respiratory illness she contracted after years of
working in a cotton mill. Mrs. Hale is also sickened by the smoky atmosphere, and
she soon receives a fatal diagnosis.
Thornton’s workers participate in a city-wide labor strike, protesting a reduction in
wages. Margaret begs Thornton to speak to the crowds “as if they were human
beings.” When he faces them, however, some men begin to throw clogs at him.
Margaret protects Thornton who confesses his love after.
Soon, Bessy dies; one of her last requests is that her father be kept from drinking.
Mrs. Hale’s condition worsens, and she dies. While Margaret’s father and brother
are crippled with grief, Margaret takes responsibility arranging the funeral. Before
the funeral, her brother Frederick must flee for Spain, and Margaret accompanies
him to the train station. Thornton rides by and sees the two together, imagining
Frederick must be Margaret’s lover. While at the station, a former shipmate of
Frederick’s, Leonards, recognizes and drunkenly threatens Frederick, and he
pushes Leonards off the platform.
A few days later, Leonard died as a result of his fall. Margaret says she was not
there. Thornton, who’s a town magistrate, hears about the case and decides to keep
Margaret from public shame.
Mr. Hales dies and Margaret is left for her godfather. Later Mr. Bell dies of a
stroke, and Margaret inherits his wealth. She decides that she must “take her life
into her own hands”.
Some time later, Margaret and Thornton are reunited at a dinner in London.
Margaret hears about Thornton’s failure in his business. He hopes this
acquaintance will lessen the bitterness of any future strikes. When Margaret hears
Thornton’s new outlook, she draws up a business proposal whereby some of her
money can be used to save Marlborough Mills. She and Thornton acknowledge
their love for one another and are united at last.