The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton
This paper aims to discuss a contrast between the city and the country in Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell’s first novel. By juxtaposing negative images of early-Victorian Manchester with positive descriptions of rural life and scenery, Gaskell reveals an anti-urban attitude prevalent among a large se...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Faculty of Philology, University of Bialystok
2020-06-01
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| Series: | Crossroads |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://czasopisma.filologia.uwb.edu.pl/index.php/c/article/view/545 |
| _version_ | 1818920849184391168 |
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| author | Beata Kiersnowska |
| author_facet | Beata Kiersnowska |
| author_sort | Beata Kiersnowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper aims to discuss a contrast between the city and the country in Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell’s first novel. By juxtaposing negative images of early-Victorian Manchester with positive descriptions of rural life and scenery, Gaskell reveals an anti-urban attitude prevalent among a large section of the cultivated middle and upper class. In Mary Barton, nature is an agent of creating an atmosphere of nostalgia for the simple and pure rural world that is disappearing, giving way to a hostile and brutal reality of industrial cities. Strong bonds and human inter-reliance marking rural communities are replaced by aggregation and alienation of human beings in the city. Living in a human-made environment dominated by machine technology of industrial processes, some characters in the novel try to reconnect with the natural world by cultivating rural traditions or seeking in the country an escape from the dreariness of urban existence. Numerous references to nature and its importance for the novel’s characters are a testimony to its ideological significance to Victorian society and an apprehension of unbridled urbanisation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T01:28:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-62b9acb03f74433b81ff62c3aa8bb08e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2300-6250 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T01:28:17Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | Faculty of Philology, University of Bialystok |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Crossroads |
| spelling | doaj.art-62b9acb03f74433b81ff62c3aa8bb08e2022-12-21T19:58:11ZengFaculty of Philology, University of BialystokCrossroads2300-62502020-06-0129536610.15290/cr.2020.29.2.04545The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary BartonBeata Kiersnowska0University of Rzeszów, PolandThis paper aims to discuss a contrast between the city and the country in Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell’s first novel. By juxtaposing negative images of early-Victorian Manchester with positive descriptions of rural life and scenery, Gaskell reveals an anti-urban attitude prevalent among a large section of the cultivated middle and upper class. In Mary Barton, nature is an agent of creating an atmosphere of nostalgia for the simple and pure rural world that is disappearing, giving way to a hostile and brutal reality of industrial cities. Strong bonds and human inter-reliance marking rural communities are replaced by aggregation and alienation of human beings in the city. Living in a human-made environment dominated by machine technology of industrial processes, some characters in the novel try to reconnect with the natural world by cultivating rural traditions or seeking in the country an escape from the dreariness of urban existence. Numerous references to nature and its importance for the novel’s characters are a testimony to its ideological significance to Victorian society and an apprehension of unbridled urbanisation.https://czasopisma.filologia.uwb.edu.pl/index.php/c/article/view/545countryruralnaturepastoralpre-industrialcitycommunityindustrial |
| spellingShingle | Beata Kiersnowska The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton Crossroads country rural nature pastoral pre-industrial city community industrial |
| title | The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton |
| title_full | The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton |
| title_fullStr | The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton |
| title_full_unstemmed | The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton |
| title_short | The city vs. the country: A climate of anti-urbanism in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton |
| title_sort | city vs the country a climate of anti urbanism in elizabeth gaskell s mary barton |
| topic | country rural nature pastoral pre-industrial city community industrial |
| url | https://czasopisma.filologia.uwb.edu.pl/index.php/c/article/view/545 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT beatakiersnowska thecityvsthecountryaclimateofantiurbanisminelizabethgaskellsmarybarton AT beatakiersnowska cityvsthecountryaclimateofantiurbanisminelizabethgaskellsmarybarton |