North and South is a really good novel which deals with a number of issues including labour disputes between mill owners and their workers. It is a more even-handed book than Gaskell's earlier work Mary Barton, acknowledging the complexity of the situation. The mill workers have some legitimate grievances, but often the mill owners are helpless to redress them without bankrupting their businesses, which would not only ruin them but throw all of their employees out of work. It's a fascinating look at the benefits of- as well as the problems created by- the Industrial Revolution.
This illustration is from Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel North and South. This scene takes place during a strike by the workers at the various mills in Milton. Mill owner Mr. Thornton has had Irish hands brought in to work his cotton machines while the strike drags on. This infuriates the strikers who form a mob and go to his house. Margaret Hale, who is there to borrow some medical supplies from his mother, challenges Thornton to face his workers and talk to them as men. He does so, but Margaret is made uneasy by the seething mob and intervenes, attempting to calm the men. One of the rioters hurls a stone- no doubt meaning to hit Thornton- which catches Margaret on the temple, cutting her head and temporarily stunning her. The incident has serious consequences for both Margaret and Thornton as well as the strikers. North and South is a really good novel which deals with a number of issues including labour disputes between mill owners and their workers. It is a more even-handed book than Gaskell's earlier work Mary Barton, acknowledging the complexity of the situation. The mill workers have some legitimate grievances, but often the mill owners are helpless to redress them without bankrupting their businesses, which would not only ruin them but throw all of their employees out of work. It's a fascinating look at the benefits of- as well as the problems created by- the Industrial Revolution.
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