North and South, irony, "pride and prejudice" and the class system.

"North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell is a Victorian novel. It presents readers to issues of class, religion, society, industrial, rural and aristocratic life and exposes them to the truths of hard work and survival. Elizabeth Gaskell does this through travelling to each of these different places in her book, using the key character Margaret. Not only do we see their ways of life through Margaret but she also interprets it and who has her …

…the writer encourages us to bond with her. The writer uses this sympathy to almost mock us when she, the writer, goes on to describe people living in the streets and mal nourished etc. In conclusion we see the character of Margaret Hale and John Thornton come through very clearly in the was in which the writer presents characters and how they influence he readers attitude towards them, such as the readers sympathy towards Margaret.