Elizabeth Gaskell: Historical Consciousness and Politics of Gender in Selected Novels

This book attempts to trace Elizabeth Gaskell’s historical consciousness and gender awareness in her effort to provide a participant view of some of the most important events in 19th c. English history to communicate her feminine vision of life and her version of history. The book provides a brief account of the most important incidents of the 19th c. England and deals with the politics of gender to shed some light on sexuality and ideology of femininity. While chapter two and five focus on Gaskell’s ‘Condition-of-England’ novels, Mary Barton and North and South in which a shift happens from the narrative of social investigation, chapter three deals with Cranford tracing how Gaskell evokes the image of a female community. Chapter four deals with the situation of fallen women, and the use of penitential narrative in Ruth. Chapter six discusses insurgent individualism, historical romance, and the novel of petition in Sylvia’s Lovers. The conclusion drives attention on the fact that how historical consciousness and gender awareness enables a female author to communicate her vision of reality, life, sex and gender which in turn is reflected in the conscience of her nation. Read more