Conscience, Duty And Tolerance

Although a welcomed woman writer in her time, Mrs.Gaskell holds a relatively insignificant position in the history of English literature.This may be partly because the literary prosperity of the Victorian Age produced more writers than people can remember, and partly because her writings about the social conditions of the nineteenth-century England may not appeal to the critical appetites at different historical stages.However, as part of the valuable heritage from the Victorian English literature, Mrs.Gaskell deserves more critical attention. Critics have generally labeled her works as "industrial novels", or "social-problem novels", without giving due consideration of a variety of subjects and thoughts implicated in her writings. The want in this aspect disables any evaluation of her works from reaching the profoundness of her real literary achievement, and it entails the research of this thesis.Through a rereading of her most well-known works Mary Barton and later North and South, this thesis attempts to reveal Mrs. Gaskell’s Unitarian mind which is all the time at work to influence the nature of her writings.The thesis is composed of four chapters. The first chapter gives an introduction to Mrs. Gaskell and a survey of Gaskell study both at home and abroad, and explains the focus and structure of the thesis.The second chapter looks into the history and core values of Unitarianism. Unitarianism is a Christian sect known for its emphasis on human ability to perfect the world; Mrs. Gaskell’s close relationship with this religious faith is examined. Daughter of Unitarian parents and wife of Unitarian priest, Mrs. Gaskell exhibited Unitarian values both in her mind and in action, which to a great extent became the foundation of her literary creation.A close reading of Mary Barton and North and South in the third chapter indentifies conscience, duty and tolerance as three major values implied in the two novels.Detailed textual analysis further reveals the close relationship between these values and Mrs. Gaskell’s Unitarian thoughts.The fourth chapter is the conclusion which summarizes the discussions and restates the theme of this thesis, emphasizing again on the great influence of Mrs. Gaskell’s Unitarian mind on the creation of her novels that record the social transformations in the Victorian Age.