A Different Voice:Maternal Care And Women's Moral Development In Elizabeth Gaskell's Works

Elizabeth Gaskell,whose novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society,has become a figure of growing importance in the field of Victorian literary studies in the past few decades.Seen either as a “lady novelist”,the author of Cranford,or as a “social-problem novelist”,the author of Mary Barton,she was always considered as irrelevant or even counterproductive by feminists.Recent studies,however,have helped to dispel the image of her total conformity and unveiled her strong gender perspective.Mary Barton and North and South — two of her most renowned works,often marked as “ industrial novels”,in fact turn out to be distinctive portrayals of women.With the help of Gaskell's two ideal heroines as models,a lot of maternal qualities are highlighted and eulogized in the meantime.This dissertation traces Gaskell's different yet authentic voice,distinct from the one heard by the critics before,through a close reading as well as a thorough and innovative interpretation of Mary Barton and North and South so as to unearth her discoveries and concerns about women,digging out the role that motherhood plays in shaping women's lives.To begin with,it expounds emphatically that caring is an inherent quality of women rather than a manifestation of weakness or immaturity,based on the theory of ethics of care proposed by Carol Gilligan.Furthermore,it analyzes the moral development of women,elucidating the different phases and the concomitant problems it may entail.Several advanced gender perspectives will present themselves and some are considered progressive in the modern society,which proves that Gaskell's works and her depiction of women in the large social scope have far more than historical interest.