Mary Barton

Elizabeth Gaskell

• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Year: 2021
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9788726951394
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

Author Elizabeth Gaskell's first ever novel 'Mary Barton' was written as a means of distracting herself from her grief over the loss of her young son. Taking inspiration from Manchester, the industrial hub where Elizabeth Gaskell was living at the time, 'Mary Barton' paints a fascinating yet horrifying picture of working-class life in a Victorian city. Young Mary Barton and her trade unionist father are barely getting by, and all around them people are being exploited and abused by the wealthy. While her father pursues a political path to equality, Mary is torn between marrying for love, and marrying above her social situation in order to improve her family's fortunes. A ground-breaking novel for its' time, 'Mary Barton' put the plight of the working classes front and centre – revealing the shocking cycle of poverty, starvation and death which affected so much of the population.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Epigraph
• Preface.
• Chapter I.: A mysterious disappearance.
• Chapter II.: A manchester tea-party.
• Chapter III.: John barton's great trouble.
• Chapter IV.: Old alice's history.
• Chapter V.: The mill on fire—Jem wilson to the rescue.
• Chapter VI.: Poverty and death.
• Chapter VII.: Jem wilson's repulse.
• Chapter VIII.: Margaret's debut as a public singer.
• Chapter IX.: Barton's London experiences.
• Chapter X.: Return of the prodigal.
• Chapter XI.: Mr. Carson's intentions revealed.
• Chapter XII.: Old alice's bairn.
• Chapter XIII.: A traveller's tales.
• Chapter XIV.: Jem's interview with poor esther.
• Chapter XV.: A violent meeting between the rivals.
• Chapter XVI.: Meeting between masters and workmen.
• Chapter XVII.: Barton's night-errand.
• Chapter XVIII.: Murder.
• Chapter XIX.: Jem wilson arrested on suspicion.
• Chapter XX.: Mary's dream—and the awakening.
• Chapter XXI.: Esther's motive in seeking mary.
• Chapter XXII.: Mary's efforts to prove an alibi.
• Chapter XXIII.: The sub-pœna.
• Chapter XXIV.: With the dying.
• Chapter XXV.: Mrs. Wilson's determination.
• Chapter XXVI.: The journey to liverpool.
• Chapter XXVII.: In the liverpool docks.
• Chapter XXVIII.: "John cropper, ahoy!"
• Chapter XXIX.: A true bill against jem.
• Chapter XXX.: Job legh's deception.
• Chapter XXXI.: How mary passed the night.
• Chapter XXXII.: The trial and verdict—"not guilty."
• Chapter XXXIII.: Requiescat in pace.
• Chapter XXXIV.: The return home.
• Chapter XXXV.: "Forgive us our trespasses."
• Chapter XXXVI.: Jem's interview with Mr. Duncombe.
• Chapter XXXVII.: Details connected with the murder.
• Chapter XXXVIII.: Conclusion.
• About Mary Barton
• Notes