For this blog on the more contemporary criticisms of Mary Barton I chose to read the article Maternal Authority in "Mary Barton" by Hilary M. Schor. I chose this article mainly because it sounded interesting and unlike anything we have talked about so far in class. The main point of Schor's essay was the importance of a mother or at least a mother-like authority. Although Mary's mother dies in only the second chapter, she still has her long lost Aunt Esther who does everything in her power to look after Mary's best interest, even though Esther herself is a lowly prostitute. When Mary believes her mother has come back from the dead, she is surprised to find Esther instead, as if Esther has actually replaced Mary's mother altogether. To the working class in the novel, a mothers authority is a comfort rather than a constraint. To have a mother watch after you is to have someone care for you and "freedom [there] seems to be nothing more than desolation-- the desolation of the unloved and unwatched over," (559). Esther took on the motherly role by watching over Mary, even if it was from afar. She did everything in her power to make sure Mary did not suffer the same fate that Esther had, she even ended up in jail trying to help Mary.
Schon goes on to argue that in order for the characters in the book to turn towards a motherly authority, they had to make themselves children, for there are no mothers without children. After Mr. Carson refuses to forgive John Barton, he watches a young girl forgive a boy who knocks her over. The girl forgives him instantly saying he didn't know what he was doing. This leads Carson to the Bible, and ultimately to forgiving John Barton. When John asks for forgiveness he is making himself the child and by forgiving him Carson makes himself "Christ-as-mother," ("Christ" because he came to the conclusion through the Bible) (563). The characters of the novel had to assume one of two roles: the protected or the protecter; the mother or the child. Many of the people in the novel assume each of the roles at different times and after doing so undergo a change in character that often turns the tides of the novel itself.
Geskell began writing Mary Barton in order to distract herself from the death of her infant son, at the insistence of her husband. Because she was writing through a pain no mother should ever have to endure, it makes sense to me why a "mother authority" is so present throughout the novel (although I never thought about it that way before reading this article). I though Geskell did a great job incorporating her heartbreak in the book without making it the main focus. The death of the infants in the beginning of the novel, Mrs. Wilson's devastation over Jem's arrest and Alice's attachment to her foster son were all great examples of the struggles mothers endure, although they were not by any means the central theme of the book. It was not until I read this article did I even consider the role of maternal authority in this novel.
Work Cited
Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. Ed Thomas Recchio: A Norton Critical Edition. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. Print.
I'm glad you read that review. Yes, it is clear that Gaskell makes certain to honor motherhood as a protector role in the novel. Even Mrs. Wilson's foibles are forgiven because she loves her son Jem as a mother does, and wishes to protect him. It's interesting that Esther is granted that mother role, and in Gaskell's view, redeems herself by her efforts to protect Mary as a mother would.
ReplyDeleteI like that you touched on such an interesting topic as the role of motherhood in the novel. You wouldn't think that motherhood would be a pressing topic because of Mary's mother's absence. However, I like that you chose to discuss this review because then it is brought to our attention that by recognizing the absence of an actual mother, your interest is peaked and you seek out surrogates. I also appreciate how you discussed Gaskell's personal connection with a mother-child relationship. We know that Gaskell wrote best about what she knew: life in a manufacturing town. But it seems she also wrote about the pain she knew of losing a child.
ReplyDeleteThere is some really interesting ideas of character traits when motherhood gets brought up and in Mary Barton no less. You did a good job of highlighting how not only can Esther be a mother figure, which I highly think she is a redeemed mother figure, but you even show how men can take on the motherly role and show a tender more caring side to themselves in a very industrial setting.
ReplyDeleteI tend to see Esther in a motherly role as well. I wonder what--if anything--we can or should read into John's rejection of her. On some level, he blames her for the death of his wife (just as he blames Carson for the death of his son). He's the least willing to forgive her or try to understand her, which seems almost out of line with his larger sense of injustice in the poor classes. It could be that the reminder of his wife is just too strong for him to overlook her death and see Esther for what/who she is.
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