The Novel as a Mirror for Social Struggle (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, RWTH Aachen University, language: English, abstract: This paper will focus on the character development of the workers in Elizabeth Gaskells novel "North and South" to determine which consequences the social struggle has on them and to what extent this social struggle represents the lower working class during the industrial revolution in the first half of the 19th century. The main focus on the socio-historical framework will be on the working and living conditions of the workers in during the era of 1800 to 1850. This paper will also explore how realistic the description of the living and working conditions of the working class are.

The novel "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell strives, much like the other novels that belong to the emerging subgenre of social novels; to explore the conflict between capital and labour in English manufacturing towns. The conflict between the factory owners and their workers within the North and South is rooted in low wages and provokes a strike that is managed by a trade union. The strike is unsuccessful, leads to a riot and results in an improvement in negotiations between employees and employers.