Moral Dilemma And Personal Growth: The Heroines’ Psychological Development In Gaskell’s Social Fiction

The issue of women and the issue of the society of industrialization in theVictorian age have been known as the major interests in Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels.The studies at home and abroad, on the one hand, either argues for or againstfeminism in her works, and on the other, position her as an industrial novelist. In otherwords, the studies focus on these two perspectives respectively. Subsequently, aproblem concerned remains unsolved, that is, the issue of women has not yet beenstudied in the context of the society of industrialization. Therefore, this dissertationattempts at the reinterpretation of Gaskell’s positions on the issue of womenspecifically in the social context of industrialization, for the sake of the reconstructionof Gaskell’s feminist view. For such a purpose, by focusing on the most representativethree social novels, Mary Barton, Ruth and North and South, by Gaskell between1848and1855, this dissertation approaches the psychological development of herheroines from the perspectives of moral dilemma and personal growth, aiming at thereconstruction of Gaskell’s devious feminism and female moral view.This dissertation consists of three parts: introduction, the main body part andconclusion. Introduction Part mainly gives a brief review on Gaskell’s social novelsand female characters, summarizes the literary achievement, justifies the choice of thetexts, and emphasizes the theoretical framework. The main body is made up of threechapters. Chapter One explores the characterization of the heroine, Mary Barton, aworking-class woman in Gaskell’s Mary Barton and analyzes the internal and externalfactors which lead to her moral dilemma. The analysis consists of two aspects: MaryBarton’s pursuit of “romantic” dream and her going astray and getting lost; andMary’s disillusionment of “romantic” dream and her awakening of self-consciousness.Mary’s emotional maturity is accompanied with moral confusions between cravingsfor the wealth of the rich pursuer and the agony with her refusal of the poor lover’sproposal, between clandestine flirtation with the young master and modest love forthe working man, between the terrible knowledge of her father’s crime and the painful realization of her lover’s innocence. By undergoing the conflict of moral judgmentbetween feelings and morals, the heroine succeeds in getting out of the moraldilemma and fulfilling her personal growth. The “murder plot” and “romance plot” inMary Barton are interwoven to reveal Gaskell’s deep anxiety about the growingdivision between classes and its potential for deadly violence, and her moral concernover the fate of the working-class girl. In Mary Barton, Gaskell portrays an imperfect,but lovely working-class woman, who is caught in moral dilemma and fulfillspersonal growth under the background of industrialization and social unrest. Mary’s“lostness and return” reveals Gaskell’s moral view of lower class women.Chapter Two discusses the characterization of the heroine, Ruth Hilton, a lowermiddle-class girl in Gaskell’s Ruth and shows her harsh journey to a moralredemption. Through the description of Ruth, Gaskell illustrates the absence of socialresponsibility and compassion for fallen women victimized by rigid Victorian moralcode. By analyzing both the physical and mental struggles of the Victorian fallenwoman, this chapter argues that the pharisaical social system and sanctimoniousmoral code are to blame for the fall of the natural innocent girl, that her essentialgoodness, compassion, faith in God, and her protector’s guidance and education leadher to the thorny road to rehabilitation and restoration, and that her self-sacrifice andfinal self-redemptive death complete her bitter journey to moral redemption as aVictorian canonized saint, tragically fulfilling her personal growth. The creation ofRuth implicates Gaskell’s moral view of fallen women.Chapter Three mainly examines the characterization of Gaskell’s middle classheroine, Margaret Hale, in North and South. Through the creation of the image of anew woman between North and South, Gaskell illustrates how women are to play therole as a mediator to bridge the gap between England’s “Two Nations” and seeks toreach the mutual understanding between sexes, classes and civilizations. Bydemolishing the parent-child model in Mary Barton, North and South argues foradult-to-adult interactions on common grounds. The metaphor of marriage betweenthe heroine and the industrialist has implications for connection and reconciliationbetween men and women, between masters and men, and between North and South. The marriage of Margaret, a lady mediator, and Thornton, a progressive industrialistreflects Gaskell’s ideology of social reform for a newly constructed social sphere,which paves the way for women’s entry into the commercial and political spaces.Margaret’s lying has social and moral implications and tends to be the main source ofher moral dilemma. This chapter also discusses the features of the new woman underthe pen of Gaskell such as sympathy, independence, capacity for reflection, financialpower and so on, which constitute women’s identity and feminine authority, and helpthe heroine fulfill her obligations to reform society and explore new social ethics,which prove to be the combination of sympathetic powers and financial powers, andeager to establish a new industrial order. The image of Margaret as a new womanreflects Gaskell’s ideal view of female morals.Based on the analysis above, this dissertation concludes that Gaskell is a“devious” feminist writer, whose feminism is reflected in her feminine code, which isrepresented as feminine nurturance in Mary Barton, feminine values in Ruth andfeminine authority in North and South. In her social novels Gaskell shows her deepconcern with maternal care and tender vigilance, whose absence or presence makesthe difference in the fate of her heroines. It is important to observe that lying links thethree social novels. In a sense, the lies somewhat betray the real values and ideologiesof the novelist. Through the female characterization in the three social novels, Gaskellexpresses her protest against Victorian morality and intends to construct her own idealview of female morals. Therefore, Gaskell’s general paradigm of femalecharacterization in her three social novels tends to be from realism to romanticism.Through the exploration of the paradoxical relationship between moral dilemma andpersonal growth, the dissertation argues that the dilemma may open up opportunitiesand offer possibilities for the personal growth of her heroines.