Elizabeth Gaskell


ESSAYS

1. The Religious Ideal of Womanhood as depicted in The Moorland Cottage
2. The Heroism of Self-Sacrfice and Duty in The Sexton's Hero
3. Religious love in The Well of Pen-Morfa
4. A Universal Message of Love over Hate in The Heart of John Middleton



THE RELIGIOUS IDEAL OF WOMANHOOD
AS DEPICTED IN THE MOORLAND COTTAGE

The Moorland Cottage was published in 1850, written by the forty year old Elizabeth Gaskell. By this time she was an established author having already written several short stories and the full length novel, Mary Barton, published in 1848. The author herself made no great claims for this 'simple country love-story' yet it has much to tell us about some common middle-class assumptions which were held across the religious spectrum informing and guiding women as to their role within the family and within society. In the growth from childhood to maturity, Maggie Browne, the central character, moves from the concept of self-sacrifice as an accepted and unquestioned role of a submissive daughter and sister to a much higher ideal of self-sacrifice attained only after much heart-searching and individual choice.

Elizabeth Gaskell, thought by many to be heroic in speaking out on the social problems of the day, was herself nevertheless limited within the constructs of her religious upbringing and also within her marriage to William Gaskell the Unitarian minister of Cross Street Chapel, Manchester. As a wife and mother she fitted her writing career around the duties of family and her role as a minister's wife. Whilst William's study space was treated as sacrosanct her own writing took place alongside the every day domestic chores. As an author she is known primarily as 'Mrs' Gaskell which gives stress to what she considered her principle role in life.

Unitarianism has always prided itself on being liberal, forward looking and tolerant. Elizabeth Gaskell has been considered by many to have been a writer who challenged many of the accepted cultural norms of her day. Yet it could be argued that in her writing we find her depiction of woman's crucial role in providing a moral centre within the family echoing what was being preached in most of the middle class churches of other denominations. In 1852, two years after The Moorland Cottage was published, we find John Angell James, the minister of Carrs Lane Independent Church, Birmingham, preaching on 'Woman's mission'. (See ESSAY 2 - important background reading for this essay). As is clear in The Moorland Cottage the underpinning of woman's identity and moral stature is based on religious principles which the author sees as overarching all the denominations. Maggie is the daughter of Mrs Browne, the widow of an Anglican clergyman. These principles surely are part and parcel of a middle-class cultural identity legitimated and bolstered by religious ideals which cut across denominational lines.

Throughout The Moorland Cottage those religious ideals of Victorian womanhood are stressed over and over again. Maggie is called to a role of self-sacrifice, as daughter, sister and wife. The sphere of influence for the woman is within the private space of home. The concept of 'Angel in the Home' is emphasised in the characters of both Maggie and Mrs Buxton. Without such a woman at the centre of family life both private and public structures fall apart. The mature woman recognises the importance of her role and freely chooses to sacrifice self in order that others may be reformed.

From earliest childhood Maggie is shown to hold second place in her mother's affections. Her brother, Edward, is depicted as callous and spoilt. Both mother and brother see Maggie only in terms of what use she might be to them. This family relationship does not change greatly throughout, although as Edward is seen to become more worldly, dishonest and dissolute, Maggie is shown within the setting of home and local environment growing into a spiritual and moral maturity. As Edward grows more demanding towards Maggie she recognises his failings yet believes that through her sacrificial behaviour he might still be reformed. Mrs. Browne has an immature and partial understanding of the concept of self-sacrifice. She does indeed sacrifice everything for her son Edward but only with worldly gain in view and with none of the maturity of her daughter or of Mrs Buxton. She does not have the spiritual or moral depth to act as the 'Angel in the Home' this role falling to Maggie without whom all would fall apart. Edward may be the centre of his mother's world, but without a centre of religious influence, cannot act morally in the public sphere.

Fortunately for Maggie, she is made welcome at the home of Mr and Mrs Buxton being asked to visit on a weekly basis. It is here she comes under the influence of the gentle Mrs Buxton, who although seriously ill and slowly dying, acts as mentor to young Maggie and as 'Angel in the Home' to her family. Mrs Buxton tells Maggie of, 'saints and martyrs and all holy heroines, who forgot themselves and strove only to be ministers to Him, to do His pleasure'. (Pages 26/27). At this point Maggie did not realise that she was already living a life of self-sacrifice, her needs being totally ignored and her every action lived in consideration of the needs of her brother and mother. 'Maggie, in all her time of yearning to become Joan of Arc, or some great heroine, was unconscious that she herself showed no little heroism, in bearing meekly what she did every day from her mother. It was hard to be questioned about Mrs Buxton, and then to have her answers turned into subjects for contempt, and fault finding with that sweet lady's ways.' (P. 27).

On Mrs Buxton's death it becomes clear how crucial her moral influence has been upon both her husband and son Frank. Mr Buxton, '...was as one distracted. He could not speak of the lost angel without sudden bursts of tears, and oftentimes of self-upbraiding, which disturbed the calm, still, holy ideas, which Frank liked to associate with her. He ceased speaking to him, therefore, about their mutual loss;' (P.33). In turning to Maggie who now becomes the central focus for religious and moral strength, Frank recognises his need and love for her. In contrast, Mr Buxton having lost this focus turns to advisers who consider life only from a 'worldly' perspective. Unlike Frank who acknowledges the corruption of money and would wish to leave a country based on such corruption his father now pursues worldly goals. Without the 'Angel in the Home', the family falls apart.

When Edward is discovered to have forged documents and swindled Mr Buxton both men turn to Maggie taking it for granted that she will yet again sacrifice her own needs and what she considers moral and right, to satisfy their desires. However, it is at this point that we see Maggie working out for herself what is the morally correct path to follow. The concept of self-sacrifice is elevated into the supreme religious ideal which Maggie had imbibed as a child at the knee of Mrs Buxton. She will give up Frank as Mr Buxton requests but only if Frank, on knowing all the scandalous details of her brother's behaviour, agrees. Her thinking and actions illustrate her female identity. She acknowledges her position under Frank who is to be judge of the matter. 'I cannot give up Frank. I know the disgrace, and if he, knowing all, thinks fit to give me up, I shall never say a word, but bow my head, and try and live out my appointed days quietly and cheerfully. but he is the judge, not you;' (P.77). This religiously based strength of character which the ideal woman was supposed to possess had the power to influence men to do the right thing. Mr Buxton '...somehow, at any rate, the thought flashed into his mind, that as Maggie spoke, his dead wife's voice was heard, imploring mercy in a clear distinct tone,' (P.78).

Edward is stunned that Maggie even took time to consider her own needs. All she had to do was give up Frank and Mr Buxton would allow Edward time to leave the country. He becomes violent on hearing that the issue is not so clear-cut. He has always considered Maggie to be a '...little yea-nay thing' and someone who he could '...always bend round to what we want.' (P.74). However, it is clearly a relationship based on dominance and submission. This is fiction and so we are left to wonder how Edward would have behaved towards Maggie if she had not worked out an acceptable alternative. Surely the decisions which Maggie can make are severely circumscribed by her own expectations and those of others. Even at this point her desire to make the supreme sacrifice can be questioned in the light of Edward's words and actions. '...for by G-- I'll make her give up all thoughts of Frank, rather than be taken and tried. Why! it's my chance for all my life; and do you think I'll have it frustrated for a girl's whim'. (P.74).

However, Maggie finally decides that she can influence Edward for the good. She will write to Frank advising him of her decisions. Edward must leave the country and Maggie will accompany him to America tending to his needs until he no longer needs her. 'Maggie looked up bright and steadfast, as if she saw something beyond the material present. Here was the opportunity for self-sacrifice of which Mrs Buxton had spoken to her in her childish days...'. (P.83).

It is in the concluding scenes of this book that we begin to see the ambiguities inherent within the story-line. Even on the ship Edward is thinking of a prosperous future in the New World. As in other writings of Elizabeth Gaskell we see the difficulties of resolution without the death of a central character. Maggie's self-sacrifice does not save Edward. In the shipwreck we are confronted with scenes of judgmental horror. The goodness of Maggie is set against the evil of Edward who, in trying to jump onto the lifeboat ahead of women and children, falls into the heaving sea and drowns. Maggie yet again thinks of others as she draws back in order for a young mother to be saved with her children. '"Come on, Maggie! while there's room for us," said he, unheeding. But Maggie drew back, and put the mother's hand into the mate's. "Save her first!" said she…Edward pressed on, unaware that Maggie was not close behind him.'. (P.94).

Of course Frank saves Maggie and we presume that they go on to live together basing their lives on agreed religious precepts. We have already seen Mr Buxton returning to earlier ways of thinking influenced by Maggie's behaviour which reminded him of his dead wife. But the abrupt ending leaves us questioning whether the ideal role of the self-sacrificing woman in the home has been successfully demonstrated or whether in fact Mrs Gaskell herself was unable to resolve the complexities inherent in the religious ideals of her day. Mrs Browne continued to '… prize(d) her dead son more than a thousand living daughters, happy and prosperous as is Maggie now, --rich in the love of many.' (P.100). This in spite of the continued care offered by Maggie and others. And yet surely Mrs Gaskell finally acknowledges the importance of the higher values depicted earlier by the significantly religious symbolic lines with which she closes this 'simple country love-story'.

Over both old and young the memory of one who is dead broods like a dove -- of one who could do but little during her lifetime; who was doomed only to 'stand and wait,' who was meekly content to be gentle, holy, patient, and undefiled, -- the memory of the invalid Mrs Buxton. top




THE HEROISM OF SELF-SACRIFICE AND DUTY
IN
THE SEXTON'S HERO

In this short story published in 1847, Elizabeth Gaskell writes of self-sacrifice and duty, but unlike The Moorland Cottage of 1850, where it is depicted as a central feature of the ideal woman, in The Sexton's Hero it is raised to the level of heroism in the character of Gilbert Dawson.

The author argues against the more usual picture of heroism as depicted in Thomas Carlyle's text of 1841 On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History, a picture more generally accepted as an ideal of the heroic male.

In answer to the question: 'How would you then define a hero?' (P.101), the reply is that: 'My idea of a hero is one who acts up to the highest idea of duty he has been able to form, no matter at what sacrifice.' (P.101). At this point the aging Sexton intercedes, recounting his true story of 45 years ago, a story which confirm this definition.

Gilbert Dawson had continually refused to be goaded into fighting and consequently lost his girlfriend to the Sexton, then a young man who considered himself to be 'the cock of the village', (P.102). Gilbert Dawson, a carpenter like Jesus, basing his life on the principles of pacifism and non-violence, is a Christ-like figure, a strong but gentle man to whom children are drawn as 'he was ever ready to love and to help them', (P.105). Juxtaposed to this picture of heroism is that of the vicar's brother, a colonel in the army. Surely, '...if the vicar had thought quarrelling and fighting wicked, and again the Bible, would he have made so much work about all the victories, that were as plenty as blackberries at that time of day, and kept the little bell of Lindal church for ever ringing; or would he have thought so much of "my brother the colonel," as he was always talking on?' (P.105).

However, the author justifies the definition of heroism set out earlier. A definition based on words from St. John's Gospel; 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.' (15:13). Gilbert Dawson sacrifices his own life to save that of his earlier rival and wife Letty, who are in danger of being drowned in the quick-sands of Morecambe Bay as the incoming tide engulfs them.

The Sexton on asking Gilbert Dawson's sister for something by which to remember the strong and silent hero is given his Bible where: 'There were many a text in the Gospel marked broad with his carpenter's pencil, which more than bore him out in his refusal to fight.' (P.109).

The short story ends with a picture of the aged Sexton at the graveside of his dead wife and first child. This is also a brief picture of heroism, that of stoical endurance following the hard lessons of life well learned.

Some interesting conclusions can be drawn from this little tale. Elizabeth Gaskell was heroic in challenging institutional ideas about heroism and even nationalism which have over the centuries been glorified in the pulpits of the Established Anglican Church. Being a member of the Unitarian Church, a liberal non-conformist denomination, the author emphasised the right of the individual to interpret the Bible for him/herself even if this meant going against accepted opinion. Many Unitarians through history have been pacifists following lives of non-violence.

Unusual though, is that here we have a woman daring to put forward a religious ideal defining what the truly heroic male should be. This serves as a good balance to the emphasis in The Moorland Cottage on the self-sacrificial ideal of womanhood. Examining the two tales together we see that the author succeeds in defining human characteristics which are religiously based, pointing to the moral and ethical standards required by both men and women in their private and public behaviour. top




RELIGIOUS LOVE
IN
THE WELL OF PEN-MORFA

This is the third short story by Elizabeth Gaskell, written in the 1840s, which examines the concept of sacrificial love. In The Moorland Cottage (Essay No. 2) , the role of woman as daughter, sister, wife and mother is analysed, stressing the central concept of self-sacrifice and duty as the highest ideal. In The Sexton's Hero (Essay No. 3) , the author carries that same religious ideal into the male world, demonstrating that true heroism lies not in what is normally considered to be masculine in physical and military terms but rather in self-sacrifice and duty as seen in the Christ-like action of the hero, Gilbert Dawson, who sacrifices his life for another. In this third story, The Well of Pen-Morfa, it is the love between mother and daughter, and love between two women which is examined. A world deliberately set in a female context with husbands and fathers dead and two young and beautiful girls abandoned by 'lovers'. The only male of significance is the old, itinerant preacher who represents the Christ-like sacrificial love rather than representing the world of men.

Having family connections in Wales Elizabeth Gaskell spent many happy holidays there. On holiday in 1845 her daughter, Marianne, caught scarlet fever. She survived but passed it on to her baby brother Willie who died. The backdrop, therefore, to much of the writing of this period is one of unhappiness. The author, being a complex and thoughtful woman, found release in telling stories within which she would work out her understanding of life and loss. She was no longer an immature young married woman. Married in 1832 at the age of twenty-two, by the 1840s she would have reached the stage of trying to reconcile her many duties as wife to a Unitarian Minister, mother to a growing family and commitment to her domestic role and her life as a creative artist. Her profound religious beliefs were bound to be central to her growing understanding and awareness of the need to draw strength from her faith in order to fulfil all these many and varied roles as well as deal with the loss of her son. What she shares with us, through her writing, is steeped in mid-Victorian cultural expectations of what was expected of women, but she goes much further in showing those same ideals to be universally necessary across the sexes. Her depiction of male characters who do not live by the same ideals of self-sacrifice and duty are shown to be shallow, worldly and cruel.

In the complementary tale which precedes the main story we are shown another woman who, in her youth, had been 'he beauty of Pen-Morfa', (P124), and had also been abandoned. However, she had been left pregnant, to bring up her deformed child alone. Although: '...Her sorrow was so dignified, and her mute endurance and her patient love won her such respect...' we are nevertheless left feeling sorrow for someone who had not found peace in this life. The author leaves this character hoping, '...that [the] woman and her child are dead now, and their souls above.' (P.125) The resolution has to wait until the end of the main story where, in spite of the death of the central character, we have been shown a love which brings peace and transcends life and death.

In the main part of the story it is the daughter Nest who is young and beautiful, happy and high-spirited. 'Nest knew she was beautiful, and delighted in it.' (P.126). We learn that Eleanor is pious, recognising that beauty as a gift of God: 'Her mother sometimes reminded her that beauty was a great gift of God (for the Welsh are a very pious people...', (P.126). Eleanor is held before us as an example of the ideal mother. She loves her beautiful daughter and is happy for Nest to accept the proposal of marriage made by Edward Williams. 'She was thankful Nest had found a protector...', (P.127). However, when Nest is crippled following her fall at the well, the affections of Edward Williams are shown to be without substance being no more than 'skin deep'.

Nest cannot come to terms with her new situation, she cannot move on to see and accept the value of her mother's love. She can only harbour resentment at the loss of her youth, beauty and the love which they had briefly won for her.

In spite of being lead earlier to believe that Eleanor is pious as is common in the Welsh, that piety is not sufficient to prevent her losing her faith at the constant rejection of her love by her daughter. It is the elderly itinerant preacher, David Hughes, who mediates the faith necessary to continue loving her daughter unconditionally which makes the point of the story. This is no love based on youth or beauty but love borne out of agony. David Hughes reminds Eleanor of the agony which Christ had to face leading up to the crucifixion. 'Do you think your agony has been greater than the awful agony in the Garden - or your prayers more earnest than that which He prayed in that hour when the great drops of blood ran down his face like sweat?' (P.137).

Eleanor finds peace and dies 'in Christ'. (P.137). Bereft of human love Nest listens to the preacher.

No one loves you now? No human creature, you mean. You are not yet fit to be spoken to concerning God's infinite love. I, like you, will speak of love for human creatures. I tell you if no one loves you, it is time for you to begin to love. (P.137)

Nest bases her actions from this point on the words of the preacher. She takes in and loves the half-crazed Mary. 'The doors of Nest's heart were opened - opened wide by the love she grew to feel for crazy Mary, so helpless, so friendless, so dependent upon her.' (P.141). Mary is yet one more woman rejected and ill-treated by a man called John Griffiths. It is love which brings Mary some relief in her insanity. Nest, like the woman in the earlier story and like her own mother has discovered the power of unconditional and selfless love. Unlike the woman in the first story, Eleanor dies reconciled to Christ, and we learn that Nest finally dies a peaceful death where : 'She found immortality by the well-side, instead of her fragile, perishing youth.' (P.142).

This story portrays strong women drawing and being sustained by a love which is totally selfless and unconditional, in fact the love which our author saw in the story of Christ. She had come to recognise the transience of youth and of life. One feels that she had also begun to confront the imbalance which she would experience and observe between men and women. At this period in the nineteenth century women had been excluded from the pulpit and what we have in The Moorland Cottage, The Sexton's Hero, and The Well of Pen-Morfa is a universally applicable Christian teaching written down by a woman, rather than a religious message preached by a male minister from a pulpit legitimating the sacrificial nature of womankind for the benefit of mankind. (See Commentary on 'Woman's Mission' in Female Piety or the Young Women's Friend and Guide through Life to Immortality by J.A. James 1852). We see women writers like Elizabeth Gaskell using their art to define women, men and relationships in a world which was being transformed through the upheaval of industrialisation and the accompanying cultural changes. top




A Universal Message of Love over Hate
in
The Heart of John Middleton

The more one reads and examines the life and works of Elizabeth Gaskell the more one recognises her gifts, not only as a story-teller, but also as a commentator on religious and moral issues of her day. It is through her short stories and novels that we see her Christian beliefs being worked out through an examination of the injustices and complexities of a rapidly changing world. She might not have been the preacher in her family but no doubt, through her writing, she reached many middle-class readers, both men and women. Not only did she confront the problems of the day but she did it from a specifically Unitarian perspective. A perspective which has always claimed to be reasonable, practical, tolerant and intellectually honest.

In The Heart of John Middleton we are shown religion in a newly industrialised setting, an environment without religious provision from the Established Church. The author demonstrates the estrangement from religion felt by the working class hero whose language, dress and family reputation put him outside what was religiously acceptable. The sternly, moral tale depicts the power of love as learned from the New Testament mediated through Nelly, the gentle, mother figure, over the wrath and vengeance of an Old Testament God who has a male face. She brings into question the righteousness of God's law set against the law of the land. Throughout, the author challenges a male world-view and demonstrates how the universal gospel of love, as seen in Christ, overturns socially accepted values. This gospel is readily embraced by gentle, yet strong women, who mediate the message to men who in turn act out their lives in the wider public world.

Sawley was a newly industrialising town drawing its population from various parts of the country. 'We were sadly thronged in Sawley, so many people came from different parts of the country to earn a livelihood at the new work...' (P.146) We are shown a picture of a town in the process of being built, a town with more people than houses to accommodate them. In Religion in Victorian Britain - Volume 1 Traditions, (1) we read that the Anglican Church, earlier in the century, had recognised the problems of a whole section of the population being without access to religious teaching and religious worship. There were national initiatives for creating new parishes and in 1818 Parliament voted one million pounds for new churches to be built in industrial areas and in 1824 a further half-million pounds. The newly established Church Building Commission set to work. But there were legal restrictions and it wasn't until 1843 that a new parish could be created without an Act of Parliament and the progress even then was slow.

The actions of our hero, the young John Middleton, is set within the above context. Even when he wishes to do right, as a member of the working class he feels alienated from the church:

When Nelly was about seventeen her grandmother died. I stood aloof in the churchyard, behind the great yew-tree, and watched the funeral. It was the first religious service that ever I heard; and, to my shame, as I thought, it affected me to tears. The words seemed so peaceful and holy that I longed to go to church, but I durst not, because I had never been. The parish church was at Bolton, far enough away to serve as an excuse for all who did not care to go.' (P151 )

Later we find our hero married to Nelly but fallen on hard times and being tempted to return to poaching in order to provide for his wife and baby daughter. Before leaving to find work elsewhere, in a final effort to avoid slipping into old ways, he is persuaded, on Christmas Day, to accompany Nelly to church. He, '...walked thither as a sinful man - sinful in my [his] heart.' (P.157) Here is shown a man ready for religion in his life yet being offered nothing. In spite of the holiness of Nelly all he recognises is the wide gap between the accepted and hypocritical Richard Jackson, the author of all his ills, and himself:

Nelly hung on my arm, but even she could not get me to speak. I went in; she found my places, and pointed to the words, and looked up into my eyes with hers, so full of faith and joy. But I saw nothing but Richard Jackson - I heard nothing but his loud nasal voice, making response, and desecrating all the holy words. He was in broadcloth of the best - I in my fustian jacket. He was prosperous and glad - I was starving and desperate. (P.157)

On the following page we are shown the hero and his family settled and doing well having moved from Sawley and Richard Jackson, to a cottage on the Fell just above Padiham. The above picture of the Church of England with a liturgy which is difficult for strangers to follow and a dress code which makes our hero uncomfortable with his station in life, is contrasted with the open-air preaching which did speak to men, women and children neglected by the institutionalised churches. Our hero feels comfortable with the open-air setting, the rough language and the crowd drawn from his own class.

...but there was something newer and freer in the notion of praying to God right under His great dome; ...we saw such a crowd as I never saw before - men, women and children; all ages were gathered together, and sat on the hill-side. They were care-worn, diseased, sorrowful, criminal; all that was told on their faces, which were hard and strongly marked. ...All eyes were fixed on the preacher...He began to speak; it was in no fine-drawn language, but in words such as we heard every day of our lives and about things we did every day of our lives. (P158/9)

However this picture of religion which our hero latches on to is shown to be equally false in the long run with its exclusive fervour. It is in the development of our hero and his family with Nell at the centre in which we see the religion of universal love worked out. The action takes place within the home with the central mother figure being all important.

Our hero is shown as a strong and wilful character even as a boy. Elizabeth Gaskell, as so often in her writing, shows the loss of a mother to be crucial. Without female influence both John Middleton Senior and John Middleton Junior fall into a life of lawlessness, working in the mill by day and poaching and drinking by night. As a child labourer, working alongside his father in the mill, he was abused and kicked by him. Our hero says: '...I forget the time when I did not know how to hate.' (P.146) All this changes when our hero sees Nelly for the first time. This is the first conversion or change of direction which our hero experiences. '...the dawn of God's mercy was at hand.' (P.146) Nell speaks to him kindly: '...Please, John Middleton, will you carry me this heavy jug just over the bridge?' (P.146) At seventeen, John Middleton catches a glimpse of another way of life. In the face of ridicule from his father and peers he commits himself to attending school for a year and learning to read. By means of education and effort he attempts to become acceptable to both Nelly and to the respectable sections of the community. Through Nelly he is drawn to reading the Bible. Never having been exposed to religion he is attracted to this young girl who explains to him the meaning of 'Our Father'.

I remember the first word I ever spoke to her was to ask her (as we were coming out of school) who was the Father of whom she had been reading, for when she said the words 'Our Father,' her voice dropped into a soft, holy kind of low sound, which struck me more than any loud reading, it seemed so loving and tender.' (P.148)

However, in spite of all efforts at self-improvement our hero continues to be excluded from the company of good-living people. His father is forced to leave the area having committed a crime and the young John Middleton continues to bear the weight of his past and his father's present. He feels he will never be good enough for Nelly. Added to this he is continually put down at work by Richard Jackson who deputises as overseer for his respected father. Even when our hero learns to read and spends many hours studying the Bible, it is to the Old Testament he turns, where he finds comfort in a God who legitimates his feelings of hatred and vengeance towards a world in which he is not accepted. '...When I first came to read, and learnt about Ishmael, I thought I must be of his doomed race, for my hand was against every man, and every man's against me.' (P.146)

He is driven further in his hatred towards Richard Jackson when he sees him with Nelly. She escapes to the safety of our hero's arms but receives a blow on the head from a stone thrown by Richard Jackson meant for young John Middleton. As a result of this action Nelly never recovers full health but she does marry our hero and we are shown the contrasting images of a male, Old Testament religion and a female New Testament ideal. John is now exposed to, '... the new feeling of the holiness of home.' (P154) Nell accepted her situation without complaint whilst John continued to resent his treatment at the hands of Dick Jackson.

Our hero is thrown out of work on the instigation of Dick Jackson and is faced with a frail wife and young baby who he is unable to provide for. The author is implicitly critical of the lack of charity forthcoming from the respectable and religious. John gets no real sustenance from the church when he accompanies Nelly on Christmas Day. It is an old poaching companion of his father to whom he turns when out of work and having to watch his family starve. It is the old man who 'saves' our hero from descending into a life of crime although there is a certain dignity given to the desperation which drives men like John to poaching.

'What lad! said he, 'art thou turning back to the old trade? It's the better business, now that cotton has failed.'
'Ay,' said I, 'cotton is starving us outright. A man may bear a deal himself, but he'll do aught bad and sinful to save his wife and child.'
'Nay, lad,' said he, 'poaching is not sinful; it goes against man's laws, but not against God's.' (P.155)


He sends John back to Nelly with just enough food to get him over the present crisis and to enable him to try and find a legitimate means whereby to survive.

They are saved from destitution on moving away to find work. John still harbours thoughts of vengeance towards Dick Jackson as he watches the frailty of Nelly, coping gently and without complaint. As her health deteriorates John becomes even more zealous following his conversion at the open air religious meeting.

The daughter is called Grace who '...was as the power of motion to her' as she lay '...propped up by pillows, her meek face ever bright, and smiling forth a greeting...' (P.160) It is the gospel of grace by which Nelly lives. For John though his life was changed, he was 'zealous and fanatical. Beyond the set to whom I [he] had affiliated [himself], [he] had no sympathy'. (P.160) He would have persecuted all who differed from him.

I became an ascetic in all bodily enjoyments. And, strange and inexplicable mystery, I had some thoughts that by every act of self-denial I was attaining to my unholy end, and that, when I had fasted and prayed long enough, God would place my vengeance in my hands. I have knelt by Nelly's bedside, and vowed to live a self-denying life, as regarded all outward things, if so that God would grant my prayer.' (P.160)

Our hero thinks that his prayer has been answered when Dick Jackson seeks refuge at the isolated cottage one stormy night. He is a changed man, an escaped convict looking for help. He does not recognise our hero who makes him welcome knowing full well that he intends to advise the authorities once Dick is fed and settled down for the night. John leaves the desparately ill Nelly and Grace and sets off over the moor in the wind and rain. As he approaches the flooded stream he is caught up by Grace who has been sent by Nelly to save her father.

'Mother says, "There is a God in heaven; and in His house are many mansions. If you hope to meet her there, you will come back and speak to her; if you are to be separate for ever and ever, you will go on, and may God have mercy on her and on you!" Father, I have said it right - every word..' (P.163)

Of course he is saved by Grace and returns to a death bed scene where Nelly asks him to forgive Richard who himself has long since repented of throwing the stone which fatally damaged Nelly. He agrees to forgive Richard and befriend him in his trouble thus recognising that although he might be going against man's law he will be fulfilling the law of God. Nelly dies peacefully knowing that her husband had at last responded with his heart to the call of grace.

John listens to Richard's tale for the sake of his dead wife. He, 'learned that is better to be sinned against than to sin.' (P.165)

And a woe had come upon me, but the burning of a sinful, angry heart was taken off. I am old now, and my daughter is married. I try to go about preaching and teaching in my rough, rude way; and what I teach is, how Christ lived and died, and what was Nelly's faith of love. (P.165)

Elizabeth Gaskell in this story successfully demonstrates the shortcomings of religious beliefs and practices which did not fulfil any of the needs of the growing working-classes. The Established Church was too distanced not only geographically but also in terms of language and lack of meaningful communication and practical help for daily living. The zealous ranting of the open-air preaching might reach the working-classes but it is too extreme, exclusive and confrontational. It is the tolerant religion of Nelly, who recognises that in her Father's house there are many mansions, and that we are saved by the grace of God who is kind, forgiving and loving.

Our hero makes stepped changes on his spiritual search but it is only the power of love over hate which finally saves him. His innate feelings of wanting to be better are valid but not the final answer. His masculine response to love and care for Nelly are commendable. His efforts towards self-improvement through education are good but not an end in themselves. The asceticism of extreme religion only legitimate a gospel of vengeance. The author concludes this short story as a preacher may end his sermon. A preacher of Protestant persuasion. It is the individual who is saved by faith and grace. Being saved is not enough it must bear fruit in the lives of those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. But most importantly it is the same message for both men and women, a universal message of love and tolerance which transcends sexual boundaries.

NOTES

top

Gerald Parsons editor: Religion in Victorian Britain - Volume 1 Traditions Page 20.

Published by Manchester University Press in association with The Open University 1988.
ISBN 0 7190 2511 7



Home    Elizabeth Gaskell