North and the South by Elizabeth Gaskell is a novel dominated by the struggle between powerful personalities. The novel's Bildungsroman style explores the coming of age of Margaret Hale, the nineteen-year-old protagonist, and the "struggles" she faces and worries she "wrestles" with. Alongside Margaret, Gaskell introduces characters including Mr Thornton, Mr Hale and Nicholas Higgins, who, in a sense, have a powerful personality, which may not be authoritative or physically "powerful", but as a character he plays a "powerful" powerful literary role within the novel. Through careful analysis of Gaskell's choice of language, structure, and form, each character's "struggle" can be assessed through the presentation and exploration of social concerns related to autonomy and the value of class in the context of 'England of 1850. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The character of Margaret Hale, as the protagonist, dominates Gaskell's novel. Gaskell's working title for her novel, first published in Dicken's Household Words between 1854 and 1855, was "Margaret Hale", which illuminates the significance of her character. However the title changed; North and South, proposed by Dicken himself, suggests that Margaret's personal struggles appear "secondary" to the broader theme of class conflict.[1] Margaret's character struggles with class conflict, and more specifically female autonomy, exemplified in her developing relationship with Bessy Higgins; Margaret regards "more sadly than Bessy, the contrast between them". The “contrast” appears to be problematic enough for Gaskell to force Margaret to reflect “painfully” on the differences between the two friends, which, upon reflection, mirrors Margaret's evolving views of the people of the North. Margaret seems to observe the behavior of everyone she comes into contact with, process it, and adopt the parts that will serve to improve her own character. She also uses every inconvenient or difficult moment to improve her character, both consciously and unconsciously, which exemplifies the struggle for her feminine self-determination in her relationship with Mr. John Thornton. Margaret does not accept the assumption that women are inferior in any particular. , and revels in his eloquence and personal strength; which is often evident in his convincing and somewhat provocative tone. For example, Margaret flirtatiously provokes disagreement from Mr. Thornton when discussing the vexed topic of class struggle in Milton, North, "'Ma,' said Margaret softly," with "what she said only [irritating] him ." Margaret's subdued tone implies that she understands that her rebuttal is controversial and that, contextually, for a woman to speak out against a man in the patriarchal society her character is struggling to come to terms with illuminates Margaret's true personality. Margaret's true character is one that has to deal with her repressed feelings for John Thornton, a man she considers beneath her social status, which is evidence therefore suggesting that her "powerful personality" faces the struggles of class conflict, which is a recurring theme throughout the novel. The relationship between Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton personifies the social divide between the North and the South; and Margaret's struggle to evolve into a less bold and outspoken Southerner. "The North in mid-Victorian fiction is not simply a place represented by a figure of capitalist values ​​of which Manchester was often the symbol"[2], illustrates theGaskell's presentation of Thornton's conventional attitude to government determining political economy, and how, as a multifaceted and sympathetic character, he exemplifies how a Northern man need not have his ability to succeed squandered by his class social. Mr. Thornton struggles to justify to Margaret how he believes that "it is one of the great beauties of our system, that a worker can rise to the power and position of a master." Although Gaskell suggests to her middle-class readers that Margaret struggles with the affection she feels towards Mr. Thornton, in contrast, Thornton apparently has no difficulty. The literary use of free indirect discourse within the omniscient narrative exemplifies the continually conflicting opinions that people of the North and South use to justify themselves to their companions, which is helpful in observing the evolution of the relationship between Margaret and Mr. Thornton. After meeting Margaret, every detail of her character seems to fascinate Thornton, for example while having tea at the Hale house, Gaskell introduces Thornton as fascinated by a bracelet on Margaret's arm, which required "replacing it", "until it tightened the soft flesh,” Thornton “observed” Margaret struggle with this tiny imperfection in her dress, enough to suggest that she observed “much more carefully than she listened to her father.” Through the examination of the couple's relationship, Thornton's character undertakes a transformative journey that provides Gaskell's contemporary readers with thought-provoking questions regarding the struggle for social responsibility and how a responsible society should be run. In contrast, Mrs. Hale's characterization suggests that the North and even the South is dominated by the struggle of personalities , although not necessarily from the “powerful” ones. Mrs. Hale, much like her daughter Margaret, struggles with the loss of her idyllic life in Helstone, where Margaret's depiction of the two places exemplifies the female character's point of view. on their homes, all the while essentially commenting on their declining social status. Margaret describes Helstone as "like a village in a poem, in one of Tennyson's poems", where the cottages had "roses growing everywhere". The manufacturing town of Milton-Northern can't be more different; it had a “lead-colored cloud” hanging above it, and its air “had a slight taste and odor of smoke.” Mrs. Hale's health deteriorates immensely over the period of moving from the South to the North, and this physical struggle she endures is juxtaposed with the psychological turmoil she evokes about herself. A sense of regret in choosing a spouse is evident in Mrs. Hale's character, particularly when compared to the domineering and matriarchal character of Aunt Shaw, whereby her choice to marry for status was only positive, compared to Mrs. Hale. marrying because of the love she felt for Mr. Hale, which unfortunately led to her moving to the industrialized north. If not a "powerful personality" in Gaskell's novel, the literary purpose of the character of Mrs. Hale is considered, and arguably her purpose is one of satirical juxtaposition between the characters as a whole. So her refutation and dislike of everything industrialized and 'northern', contrasts with Margaret's ever-evolving views on the learnings she has made; exemplified in Bessy and Mr. Nicholas Higgins. Gaskell is known for writing "in the dialect", that is, the way characters of a certain background speak. He does so in this novel in the case of Bessy and Nicholas Higgins, who are daughter and father, poor workers from Milton who have befriended Miss Hale and who play a central role in arousing her.