{"id":794,"date":"2022-09-13T19:18:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T19:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/?p=794"},"modified":"2022-10-26T18:18:02","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T18:18:02","slug":"te-pitiable-trades-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/2022\/09\/13\/te-pitiable-trades-union\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pitiable Trades Union"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although Elizabeth Gaskell\u2019s novel Mary Barton\u00a0<\/span><\/i> is typically read as empowering and honoring Manchester\u2019s factory workers, it is not without its critiques, and it does not always paint the poor in a flattering light.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The most blatant criticism the novel levies at the working men is over their response to the power-loom weavers coming in from out of town to break the strike. It characterizes this event as the beginning of\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cthe real wrongdoings of the Trades\u2019 Union,\u201d (173) suggesting that the throwing of vitriol on poor men is not the only wrong-doing of the trade union.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Following this dark turn of events, the narrator\u2019s attitude about the Union members seems to shift. Rather than presenting a proud group convinced of its righteousness, the representatives that meet with the masters in the following chapter are made to seem weak and ineffective.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the scene opens with a description of the delegates as \u201cwild, earnest-looking men\u201d (182) and an appeal to the values the unions places on brains and speech over appearance, the remainder of the scene lacks any flattery and the adjective earnest, which is usually reserved for the likes of John barton, is even used to describe the Master\u2019s conversation, thus considerably decreasing it\u2019s weight as a compliment.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What really emphasizes the weakness of the trade union in this scene are the actions ascribed to them. Throughout the entire scene only two actions could really be described as strong or admirable: When they \u201c positively decline\u201d (183) the masters counter offer, and when they leave the room \u201cwithout a bow\u201d (183). The rest of their actions are almost pitiable. Even when the lead delegate does speak it is done in a \u201chigh pitched voice, psalm singing voice\u201d (182).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The most frequent action undertaken by the delegates is to \u201cwithdraw.\u201d They word is used three times in the scene. The first two are done at the request of the masters almost back to back. The resulting image is of these men just walking in, and out of the room repeatedly, getting nothing done. The third use comes from the masters who withdraw their offer, a much more powerful move. Then after that point the delegates being sent out of the room is no longer described by withdrawing, instead the narrator comments within parentheses that the delegates \u201chad been once more turned out\u201d (184). So, not only does the narrator\u2019s language become less respectful but, with the phrase “once more,\u201d it characterizes the previous withdrawals as, in fact turning outs, only adding to the pitiable image of the delegates.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Elizabeth Gaskell\u2019s novel Mary Barton\u00a0 is typically read as empowering and honoring Manchester\u2019s factory workers, it is not without its critiques, and it does not always paint the poor in a flattering light.\u00a0 The most blatant criticism the novel levies at the working men is over their response to the power-loom weavers coming in … Continue reading The Pitiable Trades Union<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4708,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344620],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","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\/4708"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/19thcennovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}