Literature Network » Elizabeth Gaskell

Discovering autonomy and authenticity in 'North and South': Elizabeth Gaskell, John Stuart Mill, and the liberal ethic.

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From: CLIO
Date: 19940101
Author:Wainwright, Valerie

Elizabeth Gaskell's 'North and South' represents the author's concept of individuality and society, a position similar to that held by John Stuart Mill and one of his main influences, William MacCall. Critics have read 'North and South' as the coming together of liberal and paternal discourses. This reading cannot account for the individuality that infects the characters at the end of the story. Gaskell actually portrays a conception of individuality that allows for the influence of other individuals and results in a individual self that is neither removed from society as a whole, nor totally ...

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