Elizabeth Gaskell Effect Of Urbanization And...

Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell serves as a portrait detailing industrial life during the Victorian period. The Victorian period was the highest point for industrialization in England. With the increase of industry and growth of urban areas there was social and political unrest within these areas primarily, in working class people who had suffered through great mistreatment and unfair distribution of power. Mary Barton is a story that embodies the political philosophy of its author, Elizabeth Gaskell: The effect of urbanization and industrialization within urban and rural areas, the complex relationship between the upper and working classes, in particular the employer and workers, and the social and political unrest that stems from the†¦show more content†¦Gaskell also uses not only her own political ideas to formulate her characters and setting, but, she also uses different opposing political ideologies, such as communism, to create greater character dynamics and more comp lex characterizations such as John Barton and Mr. Carson. John Barton, the father of Mary Barton, is truly the main character in the novel. The primary function of John Barton’s character is to serve as Gaskell’s advocate for better communication between the social classes. He served as the manifestation of class conflict. Also, he embodies the political philosophy of Gaskell with religious ideology and the communistic ideology of Karl Marx. This duality of political ideologies can be seen in John Barton in him being a â€Å"chairman at many a Trades’ Union meeting, a friend of delegates, and ambitious of being a delegate himself; a Chartist† (25). The Chartist movement and those involved advocated for the right to vote to be extended to working class men. So, that working class people could have a voice in parliament. They also advocated for the elimination of the secret ballot to eliminate voter intimidation. And the narrator states that â€Å"John Barton became a Chartist, a Communist, all that is commonly called wild and visionary† (169). This meant that he wanted more representation for the workers in working environments such as in the factories. Another thing that he wanted