Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life

“I know that this is not really the case; and I know what is the truth in such matters: but what I wish to impress is what the workman feels and thinks. True, that with child-like improvidence, good times will often dissipate his grumbling, and make him forget all prudence and foresight.”

The narrator says this when explaining the views of the Manchester workers. This was a controversial subject at the time of Gaskell’s writing, and the narrator’s overt refusal to choose a side emphasizes this. Even so, the narrator wants to show from where the ideas of the workers originated and why they believe the things they do. To the modern reader, Gaskell’s approach and diction may seem patronizing, but it was an unusually sympathetic attempt to understand workers’ lived experience at the time.

“Jem Wilson said nothing, but loved on and on, ever more fondly; he hoped against hope; he would not give up, for it seemed like giving up life to give up thought of Mary. He did not dare to look to any end of all this; the present, so that he saw her, touched the hem of her garment, was enough. Surely, in time, such deep love would beget love.”

Jem is primarily characterized by his love for Mary, as is shown in this quote. Quotes like this recur throughout the novel, highlighting how much Jem loves Mary despite her attitude toward him. This also highlights his pure intentions toward Mary, juxtaposed with those of Harry Carson.

“This part of the roof fell in with an astounding crash, while the crowd struggled more and more to press into Dunham Street, for what were magnificent terrible flames, what were falling timbers or tottering walls, in comparison with human life?”

During the fire at Carson Mill, spectators care more about the spectacle than the human costs of the fire, as is shown in this quote. This is only emphasized once they recognize that there are two people still in the burning building. The crowd’s attitude prefigures the Carsons’ concerns about the fire, as they care less about the people affected than their business.

“There is another side to the picture. There were homes over which Carson’s fire threw a deep, terrible gloom; the homes of those who would fain work, and no man gave unto them—the homes of those to whom leisure was a curse. There, the family music was hungry wails, when week after week passed by, and there was no work to be had, and consequently no wages to pay for the bread the children cried aloud for in their young impatience of suffering.”

This quote emphasizes the disparity between the owners and workers in the mills. This quote comes just after the Carsons’ home is described and their activities during the rebuilding of the mill are cataloged. Though the Carsons enjoy their free time while their mill is being rebuilt, their workers suffer from the lack of employment.

“But he could not, you cannot, read the lot of those who daily pass you by in the street. How do you know the wild romances of their lives; the trials, the temptations they are even now enduring, resisting, sinking under? You may be elbowed one instant by the girl desperate in her abandonment, laughing in mad merriment with her outward gesture, while her soul is longing for the rest of the dead, and bringing itself to think of the cold-flowing river as the only mercy of God remaining to her here.”

The narrator says this as Barton goes on an errand to help Davenport and sees the people on the wealthier side of town appearing to be happy. This highlights Barton’s disconnect from viewing people of the upper classes as people. The quote also emphasizes the moral message of Mary Barton to be generously empathetic: that one can never know the sufferings that others undergo without seeing things from different points of view.

“‘Well, Barton, I’ll not gainsay ye. But Mr. Carson spoke to me after th’ fire, and says he, “I shall ha” to retrench, and be very careful in my expenditure during these bad times, I assure ye;’ so yo see th’ masters suffer too.’ ‘Han they ever seen a child o’ their’n die for want o’ food?’ asked Barton, in a low, deep voice.”

This exchange occurs between Wilson and Barton while they are tending to the Davenports. The passage shows how Barton does not consider the suffering of the wealthy to be the same as the suffering of the poor, giving his rationale behind this. Though Carson may suffer, Barton thinks nothing can compare to the experience of watching a child starve to death, as he has done more than once.

“Yes! Mary was ambitious, and did not favour Mr. Carson the less because he was rich and a gentleman. The old leaven, infused years ago by her aunt Esther, fermented in her little bosom, and perhaps all the more, for her father’s aversion to the rich and the gentle […] So Mary dwelt upon and enjoyed the idea of some day becoming a lady, and doing all the elegant nothings appertaining to ladyhood.”

This quote shows how much Esther’s early ideas about becoming a lady have influenced Mary. Though Mary’s ambitions are seen by others as ridiculous, this also shows that her ambitions are practical, as this was the main way for women to move up in society. Even so, Barton’s ideas of the “elegant nothings” of ladylike life bleed through into Mary’s sentiments.

“Mary, we mun speak to our God to hear us, for man will not hearken; no, not now, when we weep tears o’ blood.”

Barton tells this to Mary after he returns from London, where members of Parliament voted not to hear from the working-class delegates who had come to share their complaints. This is a major turning point for Barton, who had had some hope for change before his trip to London. This quote shows just how much his trust in other people has failed, something that ultimately leads him to suggest the murder of Harry Carson.

“Remember, too, that though it may take much suffering to kill the able-bodied and effective members of society, it does not take much to reduce them to worn, listless, diseased creatures, who thenceforward crawl through life with moody hearts and pain-stricken bodies.”

This quote is one of many times when the narrator attempts to show the nuances of working-class life. As many readers of the time would not have known this much detail about the suffering occurring in manufacturing towns like Manchester, the narrator often highlights this to have her readers sympathize with the workers. Gaskell here highlights the waste of blighted lives, challenging her reader’s ideas that exploiting workers leads to increased productivity.

“I don’t want money, child! D—n their charity and their money! I want work, and it is my right. I want work.”

Barton tells this to Mary when she asks him why he does not apply for relief from the Trades’ Unions he supports and helps others get aid through. This reveals a proud contradiction in Barton’s character: Although he staunchly supports charity for others, he is too proud to accept it himself. This suggests that he considers himself above his fellow workers.

“And now, Mary, I’ve a home to offer you, and a heart as true as ever man had to love you and cherish you; we shall never be rich folk, I dare say; but if a loving heart and a strong right arm can shield you from sorrow, or from want, mine shall do it. I cannot speak as I would like; my love won’t let itself be put in words. But oh! darling, say you believe me, and that you’ll be mine.”

This is how Jem proposes to Mary after a lifetime of loving her. While this emphasizes Jem’s faith in the act of loving, it also shows how he knows of Mary’s higher ambitions and practical interest in marrying for money. Gaskell uses a conceit here to make Jem modestly deprecate his eloquence while making a strong and persuasive proposal.

“Ay, dear; being patient is the hardest work we, any on us, have to do through life, I take it. Waiting is far more difficult than doing. I’ve known that about my sight, and many a one has known it in watching the sick; but it’s one of God’s lessons we all must learn, one way or another.”

Margaret tells this to Mary when she learns of her feelings for Jem. Not only does this quote emphasize Margaret’s role as a moral center to the story, but it also highlights the religious ideals that underscore Mary Barton as a whole. Mary is an exemplar of patience in the novel. Though Mary is self-interested in the first half of the novel, she learns patience in the latter part, making her a much more moral character.

“It is true, much of their morbid power might be ascribed to the use of opium. But before you blame too harshly this use, or rather abuse, try a hopeless life, with daily cravings of the body for food. Try, not alone being without hope yourself, but seeing all around you reduced to the same despair, arising from the same circumstances; all around you telling (though they use no words or language), by their looks and feeble actions, that they are suffering and sinking under the pressure of want. Would you not be glad to forget life, and its burdens? And opium gives forgetfulness for a time.”

This is another instance of the narrator challenging contemporary stereotypes about the working class of Manchester. Though she shows she does not approve of the use of opium, she shows all the reasons why someone might turn to it, helping her readers to sympathize with these characters and more broadly with working-class people.

“John Barton became a Chartist, a Communist, all that is commonly called wild and visionary. Ay! but being visionary is something. It shows a soul, a being not altogether sensual; a creature who looks forward for others, if not for himself.”

Again, the narrator shows the reasoning behind criticism of people like Barton while empathizing with their struggles. In this particular quote, the narrator elevates Barton and other visionaries above those who criticize them, highlighting how their visions come from a care for others.

“‘Ay, I for one won’t yield one farthing to the cruel brutes; they’re more like wild beasts than human beings.’ (Well! who might have made them different?)”

To contrast the previous quote, this line delivered by a mill owner shows how cruelly the workers are treated. The aside from the narrator brings up the question of why these workers are considered “wild beasts” when the mill owners have the power to treat them more like humans. Just as Barton views the mill owners as inhuman, the wealthier members of society project this same image onto the workers.

“I wish I were a boy, I’d go to sea with you. It would be getting away from bad news at any rate; and now, there’s hardly a creature that crosses the door-step, but has something sad and unhappy to tell one.”

Mary tells this to Will when he is about to leave Manchester on a voyage to America, highlighting the confined role of women in Victorian society and Mary’s desire to make a difference. Ironically, when she does go to sea to find Will in Liverpool, she is the one bringing the unhappy news to him.

“You see my folly is this, Mary. I would take what I could get; I think half a loaf is better than no bread. I would work for low wages rather than sit idle and starve. But, comes the Trades’ Union, and says, ‘Well, if you take the half-loaf, we’ll worry you out of your life. Will you be clemmed, or will you be worried?’ Now clemming is a quiet death, and worrying isn’t, so I choose clemming, and come into th’ Union. But I wish they’d leave me free, if I am a fool.”

Job tells this to Mary as they discuss her father’s role in the strike. Job is often presented as a moderate man who considers all sides and does not veer toward extremism like other union members, and this quote highlights how his beliefs are at odds with the cause he is trying to promote. Through Job, readers are led to consider all sides of the situation, rather than just the polar ends of it.

“Having performed all duties to Jem, as far as her weak powers, yet loving heart could act […] her mind unconsciously sought after some course of action in which she might engage. Any thing, any thing, rather than leisure for reflection.”

This quote references the motif of leisure and how it is not always viewed favorably by characters in Mary Barton. Mary wishes she can do something to help others rather than think of her father’s guilt. This quote also shows some of her own guilt about the proceedings of the trial, as she still believes she is at fault for Harry’s murder.

“Among the mingled feelings she had revealed in her delirium, ay, mingled even with the most tender expressions of love for her father, was a sort of horror of him; a dread of him as a blood-shedder, which seemed to separate him into two persons,—one, the father who had dandled her on his knee, and loved her all her life long; the other, the assassin, the cause of all her trouble and woe.”

This quote shows how, even during her illness, Mary’s feelings about Barton were incredibly complex. This quote also shows how Jem longs to protect her from harm, even at the hands of her father. His hesitancy to take her back to Manchester highlights his continuing love for Mary.

“But her filial duty, nay, her love and gratitude for many deeds of kindness done to her as a little child, conquered all fear. She would endure all imaginable terrors, although of daily occurrence. And she would patiently bear all wayward violence of temper; more than patiently would she bear it—pitifully, as one who knew of some awful curse awaiting the blood-shedder.”

This excerpt highlights Mary’s complex feelings about her father after discovering he has murdered someone. It also harkens back to Margaret’s advice to be patient, as Mary must be incredibly patient to help her father in this situation. The phrase “blood-shedder” that is also used in the previous quote shows how Mary has a hard time directly acknowledging her father’s crime while also emphasizing its bloody nature.

“‘Sir, one word! My hairs are gray with suffering, and yours with years—’ ‘And have I had no suffering?’ asked Mr. Carson, as if appealing for sympathy, even to the murderer of his child.”

This exchange between Barton and Carson is a turning point in the novel. As in Important Quote #7, Barton has previously not taken the suffering of the wealthy seriously. Yet here Carson discusses his suffering in the context of losing his son, a feeling Barton knows all too well.

“The mourner before him was no longer the employer; a being of another race, eternally placed in antagonistic attitude; going through the world glittering like gold, with a stony heart within, which knew no sorrow but through the accidents of Trade; no longer the enemy, the oppressor, but a very poor and desolate old man.”

This quote comes shortly after the previous one, when Barton has discovered he can empathize with Carson. From here on out in the novel, Barton begins to see the humanity in wealthy people like Carson and regrets his crime against him. The contrast in Barton’s beliefs highlights the theme of empathy that is especially prevalent toward the end of the novel.

“His son’s murderer was discovered; had confessed his guilt; and yet (strange to say) he could not hate him with the vehemence of hatred he had felt, when he had imagined him a young man, full of lusty life, defying all laws, human and divine […] something of pity would steal in for the poor, wasted skeleton of a man, the smitten creature, who had told him of his sin, and implored his pardon that night.”

Just as Barton’s feelings change after his meeting with Carson, Carson also begins to recognize the redundancy of his anger after hearing Barton’s pleas for forgiveness. He starts to empathize with what Barton has gone through and understands what would lead him to his crime. His forgiveness of Barton shortly after this realization also highlights the underlying religious themes of the novel.