Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life

This section further develops how the political becomes personal for the characters of Mary Barton, expanding the theme of Personal Morality Amidst Societal Struggles. John Barton, the most politically involved character, is constantly concerned with the struggles of the working class. However, Gaskell explores how disappointment can erode confidence and make people hopeless, which is part of her argument that, while hardship may not kill people, they may become “worn listless creatures” (131) rather than useful citizens. John Barton becomes a case study in the novel for this process. Barton takes his experience in London personally, becoming despondent, turning to opium, and becoming violent to Mary. The increased cycle of his desperation in this section moves his character arc towards the murder that he will commit.

Gaskell renews her theme of The Divisive Nature of Industrialization, showing how the effects of political action impact characters who would rather not strike, like Job, causing divisions between the same class. The political animosity between employers and workers is increasingly on a personal level between Harry and Jem, triggered by both men’s interest in Mary. Once Harry realizes Jem has been refused by Mary, he attacks him for his lower economic and social position, believing that his own wealth must elevate him above Jem in Mary’s eyes. The novel’s juxtaposition of the two men in relation to Mary is emblematic of their attitudes towards life more generally: While Jem loves Mary and has honorable intentions, Harry wishes to exploit her sexually, as he economically exploits the rest of her class.

The effects of love, both good and bad, are also highlighted in this section. When Jem is rejected by Mary, his overwhelming love for her causes him to question everything in his life. He turns on her instantaneously, saying that she will be to blame for anything bad that becomes of him due to her treatment of him. The complete change of Jem’s feelings in the proposal scene shows just how all-consuming his feelings for Mary are and tackles Personal Morality Amidst Societal Struggles. Although the narrator empathizes with Jem’s resentment and jealousy, it also criticizes it as unreasonable and unempathetic. Jem’s anger and pride will lead him to avoid Mary and into his altercation with Harry, indirectly causing suspicion to be cast on him for Harry’s murder.

Gaskell shows how Mary is now subject to anger from the men in her life, including her father, who treat her badly because they have suffered disappointment. This is part of Gaskell’s interest in how women experience hardship within the community and is key to the theme of Different Perspectives: The Need for Empathy. Mary is subject to the privations of her role as a woman in a male-dominated society, which ironically increases as the economy reduces the ability of men to fulfill the role that gives them status. Though she is the breadwinner of the house, Mary is subject to her father’s commands and later his abuse, presented as part of his resentment and lack of self-worth. Mary realizes her true feelings after Jem proposes to her but her position as a woman makes it impossible for her to speak to Jem openly and she is obliged to wait and hope that he will propose again. His anger and pride, however, prevent this. Harry continues to stalk Mary once she rejects him and his treatment of her becomes increasingly threatening. In all cases, the men’s lack of empathy for Mary, albeit on different levels of immorality, causes them to behave as if she belongs to them and as if her agency is an affront to their masculinity. This problematic behavior prefigures Harry’s murder, as conventional literary expectations suggest that he will be punished by the narrative; John Barton is punished by being the murderer, and by his own death. Jem’s flaws create a more complex barrier to the narrative’s happy resolution, as his character must become a suitable husband for Mary, part of the novel’s arc as a romance story. These barriers will not be removed until the novel’s conclusion.

The experiences of Victorian women, especially poor women, are further explored in this section by the introduction of Esther. The role of women is often a theme in Gaskell’s works, and is addressed confidently in Mary Barton. The developed character of Esther and the novel’s plain depiction of her situation as an unmarried mother and sex worker would have been shocking to contemporary audiences, for whom these subjects were taboo. Esther is treated with a combination of sympathy and judgement in the novel: The narrator presents her behavior as breaking moral rules but is at pains to show how a series of events, many outside her control, has led to her condition. Esther blames herself for her circumstances, and her words and actions create both pathos and heroism for her character. She returns to save Mary from a similar fate. The novel’s direct comparison between Esther and Mary shows how possible it is for a woman to be “ruined” by a man, and how society demonizes women after the fact. Harry Carson’s intentions towards Mary are revealed to be exactly those of Esther’s wealthy lover: He cynically uses Mary’s innocence as a cover for himself.