Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and the Social Question

Economically, politically, and militarily Britain was the leading nation of the 19th century, the richest country in the world, and the birthplace of Industrialization. But it was also a country of sharp social contrasts. Whereas the owners of factories, mines etc. were among the richest in the world, the majority of the working class lived in very poor conditions. The actual living conditions did, however, depend on the economic situation. The 1830s, and particularly the 1840s – the historic background of the Mary Barton –, saw an economic downturn that lead to high unemployment. As in economic crises the contrast between working class and bourgeoisie stands out more clearly, it is not surprising that the 1840s were the Heyday of Chartism. Chartism was a mass movement which mainly demanded universal male suffrage, i.e. the extension of the right to vote to the poorer classes. Political equality of the poorer classes was than to bring about a change of their social status and an improvement of their living conditions. With the economic upturn in the 1850s, the Chartist movement disintegrated.

Elizabeth Gaskell came to Manchester in 1832 and was to live there until her death in 1865. She and her husband, William Gaskell, gave lessons to the poor who, in contrast to the upper classes, had no proper access to education. So, many of her descriptions of working-class life are based on her immediate contact to workers and their living conditions.3

Whereas in times of economic growth, the workers normally did not get a corresponding share, they had to bear the brunt of the economic downswing. That is also described in Mary Barton: While the Carsons were not “over-much grieved”4 by the loss of production caused by a fire in their factory, the workers who had lost their jobs were threatened in their very existence. One of them, Davenport, lives with his family in a damp, cold, and almost unfurnished cellar. Too poor to buy food for himself or his family and sick because of poor sanitary conditions, Davenport dies. These conditions were by no means exceptional in the poor quarters of Manchester.5