48 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth GaskellCranford
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1853A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “Stopped Payment”
Both the narrator and Miss Matty receive letters in the mail. The narrator’s letter is from her father, who asks if Miss Matty retains her shares in the Town and County Bank because there have been reports that the bank will be stopping payments. The narrator doesn’t know much about business, but she recognizes that this is terrible news for Miss Matty. Miss Matty’s letter is coincidentally from the Town and County Bank and asks her to attend a meeting of the shareholders. The narrator fears the meeting will confirm her father’s report, but she decides not to say anything to Miss Matty until she knows for sure. Miss Matty is delighted to have received the letter, even though Deborah was the one who knew about business and bought the stocks.
The narrator goes shopping with Miss Matty, who is excited to purchase new silks. As they are shopping, they witness an unfortunate incident in which a customer’s check bounces. The shopman regretfully informs the gentleman that they can’t accept checks from the Town and County Bank. As an investor, Miss Matty takes it upon herself to pay for the customer’s purchase in coins. She is certain that there must be some mistake and that the bank would have informed her as a shareholder. The narrator is frustrated with her for giving away her money instead of buying the new silk gown she had been looking forward to. Miss Matty, in an uncharacteristic display of boldness, says that she does not regret her decision and that it was her duty to help the gentleman, saying that if Deborah had lived, she would have done the same.
That night, the narrator composes a letter to the mysterious “Aga Jenkyns,” presumably informing him of the banking crisis his sister is facing. The next morning, they receive confirmation that the Town and County Bank has indeed stopped payment. Miss Matty tries to put on a brave face through her tears, but she is now almost penniless.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Friends in Need”
Miss Matty breaks the news to Martha that she has to let her go due to her dire financial predicament. Martha, devastated, reiterates her loyalty to Miss Matty and refuses to leave her side even though she will no longer get paid for her services. She comes up with a plan to marry one of her suitors, a gentleman named Jem Hearn, and then asks Miss Matty to do her the honor of lodging with them. Jem is skittish, as he is not quite ready to be married, but he assures Miss Matty that he would be honored if she would live with them since Martha holds her in the highest regard. Miss Matty urges Martha not to rush into marriage on her account because marriage is a solemn affair.
The next morning, Miss Pole calls a meeting with the narrator, whose name is revealed as Mary Smith, along with Mrs. Fitz-Adam and Mrs. Forrester to forge a plan that will resolve Miss Matty’s financial dilemma. They are all utterly distraught at Miss Matty’s situation, and even Miss Pole, who believes showing emotion is a sign of weakness, breaks down in tears. They agree that they will each pitch in some of their personal income to help Miss Matty. Miss Pole suggests that Mary get her father to pass off the money they donate to Miss Matty as legal dues she is owed so that she won’t feel embarrassed or upset by their charity.
Mary informs her father of the plan during his visit to Cranford. The kindness and generosity of the Cranford women move him, and they agree on a plan: Martha and Jem will get married as soon as possible and live in Miss Matty’s home with Miss Matty as a lodger. The majority of the rent will come from the money the Cranford women will secretly donate each year. Lastly, per Mary’s suggestion, Miss Matty will sell tea to earn some small income and thus feel as if she is contributing. Miss Matty agrees to the arrangements, though she is not confident in her abilities to sell tea.
Chapter 15 Summary: “A Happy Return”
The Cranford women are distraught when they hear that Lady Glenmire has dropped her title and taken her husband’s name, making her Mrs. Hoggins. Mrs. Jamieson does not approve of the marriage and says that Lady Glenmire’s choice of name confirms that she has unrefined taste. Mr. and Mrs. Hoggins are very happy together, which only enrages Mrs. Jamieson more. She refuses Mrs. Hoggins’s repeated attempts at reconciliation because she thinks that Mrs. Hoggins’s happiness is an insult to the Glenmire name.
Meanwhile, Miss Matty opens her business and begins selling tea out of her parlor. To her surprise, the shop is very successful. A year after Miss Matty opens the shop, Mary receives a letter from Martha begging her to come to Cranford. Upon Mary’s arrival, a panicked Martha informs her that she is pregnant and due in a few weeks, but she doesn’t know how to break the news to Miss Matty. She is afraid that Miss Matty will not approve. Miss Matty will also need someone to take care of her in Martha’s absence. Mary comforts Martha and assures her that she will stay in Cranford until Martha can return to her duties as Miss Matty’s maid. One morning following the birth of Martha’s baby, Mary brings the baby to Miss Matty. Miss Matty is shocked but overjoyed for Martha and Jem.
One afternoon, a gentleman who Mary realizes must be Aga Jenkyns walks into Miss Matty’s tea shop. Miss Matty, stunned and overjoyed, bursts into tears when she recognizes him as her long-lost brother, Peter. Peter tells her of his life in India, where he had become an indigo planter. When he received Mary’s letter, he promptly sold his land and all of his possessions so he could return to Miss Matty. Miss Matty gives up her tea shop now that Peter has returned home with a fortune that will allow them both to live very comfortably in Cranford.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Peace to Cranford”
Peter quickly becomes a favorite amongst the Cranford women. They love to hear Peter’s stories about his time in India, though Mary suspects some details must be fabricated because his stories grow more exaggerated with each telling.
One night Peter expresses his surprise that Miss Matty never married Mr. Holbrook. Miss Matty grows quiet and begins to tremble, which Peter assumes is due to a chill from the open window; he insists that she rest. The next day Mary notices that Miss Matty is back to normal, with no sign of illness in sight.
Peter arranges for Signor Brunoni to perform in Cranford and manages to end the feud between Mrs. Jamieson and Mrs. Hoggins in the process. Mary initially fears that Peter is going to ask for Mrs. Jamieson’s hand in marriage but is relieved to see that Peter has no intention of marrying anybody. He instead intends to bring everyone together and end the petty feuds in Cranford that upset Miss Matty. Mary says that ever since Peter arrived, Cranford has once again become a friendly, peaceful society. She concludes by saying that everyone loves Miss Matty and that they are all better when they are near her.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
The final chapters of Cranford showcase the Cranford women’s greatest quality: their loyalty. When news breaks about Miss Matty’s dire financial predicament, the Cranford women rally together and come up with a plan to each pitch in some of what little money they have to help Miss Matty. Mrs. Forrester cries to Mary and says more than once that she wishes she were rich—not for herself, but for Matty. There are numerous comical moments throughout the novel that show the Cranford women at their most dramatic or nitpicky. However, the final chapters of the novel reiterate that despite Cranford’s flaws, it is a community built on kindness and loyalty.
Mary’s father, whom Mary has only mentioned briefly throughout the novel, makes an appearance in Chapter 14. As a modern businessman, he represents the commercialized world of Drumble. Mary says that Miss Matty conducts business at her tea shop according to the general belief that people are good and wouldn’t try to swindle her, to which Mary’s father responds that “such simplicity might be very well in Cranford, but would never do in the world” (280). Mary’s father represents the harsh economic reality that exists outside of Cranford. Cranford is a small pastoral village that industrialization has not yet greatly impacted. Mary’s father’s words depict Cranford as so separate from the outside world in terms of technological progress and social conventions that it is almost fantasy-like; in the realm of capitalist business, neither Miss Matty’s faith in human nature nor the generosity of the women around her could survive. Even Cranford’s working class operates on a system of loyalty rather than profit. Martha, for example, knows that Miss Matty will no longer be able to pay for her services, but she refuses to leave her. She is so loyal to Miss Matty that she comes up with the plan to marry Jem and ask Miss Matty to live with them.
Peter’s return to Cranford is another example of the Cranford community’s kindness. Peter hasn’t seen his sister for decades, but the moment he receives word of her financial situation, he sells everything, including his property, and returns home to ensure her comfort and security. He even puts an end to the petty dispute between Lady Glenmire and Mrs. Jamieson because he wants “everybody to be friends, for it harasses Matty so much to hear of these quarrels” (307).
Peter’s return, like the appearance of Signor Brunoni, also represents Cranford’s response to change. The Cranford women are both fascinated and fearful of Signor Brunoni, who acts as the “Other” in the novel. When Peter returns, they find him likewise fascinating since he has spent time in India, and “they like him the better, indeed, for being what they call […] ‘so very Oriental’” (297). Peter returns to Cranford, the “safe place” where tradition reigns and a pocket of the world that is exempt from the effects of industrialization and British imperialism. In doing so, he brings the allure of India with him, but at the distance from the outside world that the Cranford women crave.
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By Elizabeth Gaskell
