{"id":768,"date":"2022-09-13T00:14:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T00:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/?p=768"},"modified":"2022-10-26T18:18:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T18:18:02","slug":"blog-post-1-mary-barton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/2022\/09\/13\/blog-post-1-mary-barton\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Barton, Bummer!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis mourning, too, will cost a pretty penny,\u201d said Mary. \u201c I often wonder why folks wear mourning ; it’s not pretty or becoming ; and it costs a deal of money just when people can spare it least ; and if what the Bible tells us be true, we ought not to be sorry when a friend, who’s been good , goes to his rest ; and as for a bad man, one’s glad enough to get shut on him. I cannot see what good comes out o\u2019 wearing mourning.\u201d (Gaskell 47)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In this passage, Mary\u2019s critique of the practice of wearing mourning clothes is instigated by her ingrained awareness of the funds needed to purchase the new apparel, simply to fulfill societal tradition. Gaskell repeats the word \u201ccost\u201d throughout her thought process, implying how strongly money factors into Mary\u2019s lack of appreciation for dressing in mourning. Her analysis of mourning begins with just the cost, but delves deeper, referencing the Bible and more emotional aspects of a loved one\u2019s death. However, her thoughts quickly cycle back to lack of understanding of what \u201cgood\u201d wearing mourning can accomplish, demonstrating that Mary\u2019s thoughts simply cannot be detached from the omnipresent need for money. Gaskell makes Mary\u2019s social status apparent in this speech, as it is governed by money (or really lack thereof). She associates death with lack of funds, likely because many deaths in her community were of the breadwinners (men) of households or due to malnourishment (which was due to poverty). Outside the microcosm of Mary\u2019s community, mourning carries weight as a British tradition and demonstration of respect for the deceased. Starting with royalty, social traditions trickled down through the social classes, despite the stratification between them. However, for the upper classes (Queen Victoria\u2019s long period of mourning following Prince Albert\u2019s death comes to mind), the decision to wear mourning is a matter of choice, whereas for the poor, Mary\u2019s speech demonstrates that it\u2019s a matter of sacrifice, when one has already lost so much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Furthermore, the mourning cost discussion is brought forward through Mary\u2019s monologue, rather than just a passage from the narrator. Gaskell frames this concept within her character\u2019s speech to cement it within the plot, rather than going on a personal tangent, which would lose traction with the reader. Mary\u2019s frank speech about the unnecessary cost of mourning is indicative of the transparency of the entire novel. Gaskell does not try to cloak any criticism of society within metaphor or any other figurative language, because much like the frivolity of mourning, the poor can\u2019t afford to hide behind the curtain of figurative language. Mary\u2019s speech plainly represents an argument from Gaskell about the exacerbation of poverty through an attempt of social tradition but is more subtle because it\u2019s woven into the plot by delivery through a character. Gaskell does not mask her economic and social opinions and push for reform in Mary Barton<\/em> by using typical techniques like symbolism or metaphor. It is unnecessary to \u201cread between the lines\u201d. However, Gaskell\u2019s choice of vehicle is a form of mask itself. Just as she impresses new concepts\u2013such as the unnecessary cost of mourning\u2013through Mary\u2019s voice, Gaskell delivers her opinions through an entertaining novel that includes romance and near-death experiences. This novel was written to generate action within the lower class and hopefully empathy from the middle and upper classes, and Gaskell can achieve this by reaching a larger audience through the diverting nature of the plot while also delivering concrete opinions and transparent intentions about the need for equity in England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThis mourning, too, will cost a pretty penny,\u201d said Mary. \u201c I often wonder why folks wear mourning ; it’s not pretty or becoming ; and it costs a deal of money just when people can spare it least ; and if what the Bible tells us be true, we ought not to be sorry … Continue reading Mary Barton, Bummer!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344620],"tags":[1470,138890,1965],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2022","tag-poverty","tag-status","tag-transparency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4979"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}