An Analysis of the Heroine of North and South---Margaret Hale as an Independent Woman

Abstract

 Mrs. Gaskell is a very important woman writer in the 19^th century in Britain, and she is famous for her social novels, in which she highlights complicated social conflicts. North and South is usually considered as the turning point of Mrs. Gaskell’s literary creation, in which she suggests for the first time that there should be a hope of a reconciliation between the working class and the bourgeoisie. Also, the author vividly depicted an independent woman with a sharp mind and a deliberate manner in the book, that is, Margaret Hale. She seems to be very special when compared with the women around her and very attractive to men for her peculiar thoughts as well as her beautiful looks. This thesis mainly analyzes the attractive heroine of the novel in three aspects: her independent character, her independent action and her independent thoughts. What’s more, the thesis aims to shed light on the characteristics a “New Woman” should be endowed with. The heroine, to some extent, is the author Mrs. Gaskell herself, rejecting inferiority to men and defending the rights to express themselves freely. All in all, this thesis tries to enlighten people on woman’s position in today’s society by deriving some inspirations from the literary work.