Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life

“She takes Mary in a coaxing sort of way, and, ‘Mary,’ says she, ‘what should you think if I sent for you some day and made a lady of you?’ So I could not stand such talk as that to my girl, and I said, ‘Thou’d best not put that nonsense i’ the girl’s head I can tell thee; I’d rather see her earning her bread by the sweat of her brow, as the Bible tells her she should do, ay, though she never got butter to her bread, than be like a do-nothing lady, worrying shopmen all morning, and screeching at her pianny all afternoon, and going to bed without having done a good turn to any one of God’s creatures but herself.’”

In this quote, Barton explains to Wilson how Esther was fixated on the idea of becoming a lady and wanted the same for her niece. This is an early example of Barton’s hatred toward the upper classes and breaks down how he thinks an idle way of life is unnatural and unholy. Barton’s view of employment heroizes the necessities of the working life. This also foreshadows Mary’s later interest in marrying a wealthy man so she can leave her working-class life behind.

“I know that this is not really the case; and I know what is the truth in such matters: but what I wish to impress is what the workman feels and thinks. True, that with child-like improvidence, good times will often dissipate his grumbling, and make him forget all prudence and foresight.”

The narrator says this when explaining the views of the Manchester workers. This was a controversial subject at the time of Gaskell’s writing, and the narrator’s overt refusal to choose a side emphasizes this. Even so, the narrator wants to show from where the ideas of the workers originated and why they believe the things they do. To the modern reader, Gaskell’s approach and diction may seem patronizing, but it was an unusually sympathetic attempt to understand workers’ lived experience at the time.

“Jem Wilson said nothing, but loved on and on, ever more fondly; he hoped against hope; he would not give up, for it seemed like giving up life to give up thought of Mary. He did not dare to look to any end of all this; the present, so that he saw her, touched the hem of her garment, was enough. Surely, in time, such deep love would beget love.”

Jem is primarily characterized by his love for Mary, as is shown in this quote. Quotes like this recur throughout the novel, highlighting how much Jem loves Mary despite her attitude toward him.