North and South Analysis

North and South (Are you Surprised?) Holy smokes. We're open-mouthed with surprise here. Who would have thought that a novel named North and South would take place in the northern and southern r...

Third-Person Omniscient At first it might seem like the narrator of this book is third-person omniscient, since it sticks pretty closely to Margaret Hale's point of view. But as the story gets g...

Realism, Pastoral, Family Drama The genre of North and South is probably one of the most interesting things about this novel. The book actually draws from several genres at once before settling...

Educated, Compassionate The narrator's tone in this book pretty much reflects the kind of spirit Gaskell would like her readers to apply to the real world. Gaskell obviously places a high value on...

Like many nineteenth-century writers, Elizabeth Gaskell is a pretty big fan of long, flowing sentences. In just the second paragraph in the book, she gives us this whopper: "They had been t...

On the surface, the title of North and South isn't a tough one to figure out. The main character (Margaret Hale) travels with her family from the south of England to the north. Then she travels bac...

On its appearance in 'Household Words,' this tale was obliged to conform to the conditions imposed by the requirements of a weekly publication, and likewise to confine itself within certain adverti...

'How shall I tell Aunt Shaw' she whispered, after some time of delicious silence.'Let me speak to her.''Oh, no! I owe to her,—but what will she say?''I can guess. Her first exclamation will be, "...

When it comes to language, North and South isn't the most difficult book you'll ever read. Sure, it has the weird old-timey vibe to it, with a lot of long winding sentences and words like "hereto...

Exposition (Initial Situation) Happy in Helstone (Sort of) If you're feeling like griping, you could probably criticize the opening exposition of this novel for taking its sweet time. It's a full...

While it might seem strange to call a novel with six deaths a comedy, that's exactly what North and South is. A comedy doesn't have to be ha-ha funny; it just has to end in a traditionally happy wa...

We spend the early parts of the book learning about Margaret Hale's proud personality and her love for her home village of Helstone, which basically looks like a big garden. Her life gets turned...

Do you think the deaths in North and South are too sudden and unrealistic? Well it turns out that Gaskell herself dropped dead at a tea party at the age of 55.Elizabeth Gaskell had a son named Will...

The most inappropriate and scandalous thing that happens in this entire book is that people mistakenly think that Margaret Hale goes out for an evening walk with a young man. Gasp. A walk. After...

Literary and Philosophical References William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1.1.2)William Cowper (1.2.15).Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1.3.1)Dante Alighieri, Paradiso (1.3.8)Alfred Lord T...