Victorian Gender Norms In North And South By Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell uses her novel North and South to challenge traditional masculine and feminine roles through the main character, Margaret. Gaskell gives Margaret conventional feminine qualities like care-giving as well as common masculine qualities such as independence, and agency. Gaskell uses characters to redefine Victorian Gender Norms. A common Victorian family model would be one set up around the parents having all the authority, particularly the father, who was the bread-winner and made all decisions that ultimately affected the house hold. However, in Gaskell’s novel, the parents fail in this area of the social norm, and Margaret in return has to become the ‘man of the house.’ The reader begins notice the power shift when Mr. Hale tells Margaret that he can no longer be clergyman and decides to move to Milton (35). Under the circumstances, Margaret not only has to tell her mother about the move, but also takes on the

While searching, Margaret voluntarily takes up some the chores that would normally fall onto a lower class servant, such as ironing and various house-cleaning (76). Although, the chores she is preforming are seen as feminine jobs, she is still challenging class and gender norms. In the Victorian era, middle-class women’s duties in the house were to superintend the house-workers, while not actually doing the housework. A middle class woman would use her time in worsted-work and in the duty of pouring tea (81). Representing the typical Victorian middle class women is alarmed by her daughter “working away like a slave” (76). Although, Margaret stands as an example of transgressing class and gender norms of house work by saying,”…I don’t mind ironing, or any kind of work, for you and papa. I am myself a born and bred lady through it all, even though it comes to scouring a floor, or washing dishes”