The Study Of The Relationship Between Labour And Capital In Gaskell's Novels

The descriptions of the conflict between the capital and the labour can always befound in many Victorian novels. The solution to the problem is the focus of manyVictorian writers. This paper pays attention to Gaskell's descriptions of the conflict inMary Barton and North and South to discuss the solutions which Gaskell provides andGaskell's concept of the capital and the labour.The Introduction gives a brief comment on Elizabeth Gaskell's life and the criticalreviews during the past ten years. Then I will point out the meaning of Marx's theoryof economics which is used in this paper. Chapter One introduces the influence ofIndustrial Revolution, the transformation of the two classes and Gaskell's concept ofthe capital and the labour.Chapter Two analyzes the descriptions of the conflict between the capital and thelabour in Mary Barton and North and South. In Mary Barton, the conflict isrepresented in two ways: the direct description and the indirect description. In Northand South, the conflict is represented through dialogue.Chapter Three explores the solutions to the conflict in both novels. There are threeways: the capitalists, the union and the law in details. Through the investigation, it canbe concluded that as for the capitalist, Gaskell hopes their moral consciousness willhave an effect on solving the problem, as for the union, though the union has tried itsbest, it can not solve the conflict, as for the law, the government stands for thecapitalist, it can not solve the problem, either.The last part is conclusion. It is the summary of Gaskell's solutions to the conflict.Through analyzing the two novels, it can conclude that Gaskell's solutions to theconflict is ideal which can not be used to solve the problem, because of the limitationof her social status and her experiences of religion.