The healing effect of nature in 'North and South'

Turning to nature in times of great turmoil or sorrow can be therapeutic. The beauty, stillness, and majestic vastness of nature can calm our thoughts and give us a more expansive perspective.

Reading North and South again, I was struck by how often Margaret turned to nature for solace and strength. This is especially true at the close of the story, when she is far from Milton and evaluating how to go forward with her life.

We know from the very beginning of the book that Margaret has a strong connection with nature. Her eagerness to go home to Helstone every summer has a good deal to do with the freedom she feels there to roam the countryside and take in its beauty every day.

Margaret used to tramp along by her father’s side … revelling in the sunshine and the herbs and flowers it called forth.

[Margaret] was so happy out of doors, at her father’s side, that she almost danced…

(Chapter 2)

Once in Milton, it’s more difficult for Margaret to escape to a place of beauty, but she does seek nature by taking walks to the fields around the town. She is coming back from one of these walks when she meets Bessy Higgins. Impulsively, she shares the beauty with Bessy, by giving the sickly girl the wildflowers she had picked.

Unfortunately for Margaret, the chance to get away to nature is almost non-existent during the long months of her mother’s sickness and her father’s subsequent grief.

Gaskell tells us, however, that after being chastised by Mrs. Thornton for her impropriety, Margaret takes a brisk walk to the country to try to avoid reflecting too deeply on her distraught feelings.

It’s not until Margaret moves away from Milton—not until her parents have both died—that she has time to really think about all that has happened to her and how she feels.

After an emotional day visiting Helstone again, Margaret confesses to Mr. Bell her lie and what Mr. Thornton must think of her. Although she asks Mr. Bell to explain her circumstances to Mr. Thornton someday, she still believes that she has lost Thornton’s love forever.

That night she feels her loneliness deeply:

…she sate long hours by the open window, gazing out on the purple dome above, where the stars arose, and twinkled and disappeared behind the great umbrageous trees….A sense of change, of individual nothingness, of perplexity and disappointment, over-powered Margaret.

“…I am so tired—so tired of being whirled on through all these phases of my life, in which nothing abides by me, no creature, no place…”

(Chapter 46)

Photo by Tyler Domingue

She looks to the heavens again after Mr. Bell dies:

…when night came—solemn night, and all the house was quiet, Margaret still sate watching the beauty of a London sky…the faint pink reflection of earthly lights on the soft clouds that float tranquilly into the white moonlight, out of the warm gloom which lies motionless around the horizon….On such night as this she remembered promising to herself to live as brave and noble a life as any heroine she ever read or heard of in a romance….straight alone where she stood, in the presence of God, she prayed that she might have strength to speak and act the truth for evermore.

(Chapter 48)

And finally, in the most poignant and enduring episode of relying on nature to nourish her, Margaret spends several days on the beach, just thinking…thinking, as she stares out to sea:

She used to sit long hours upon the beach, gazing intently on the waves as they chafed with perpetual motion against the pebbly shore, —or she looked out upon the more distant heave, and sparkle against the sky, and heard, without being conscious of hearing, the eternal psalm, which went on continually. She was soothed without knowing how or why.

..all this time for thought enabled Margaret to put events in their right places, as to origin and significance, both as regarded her past life and her future. Those hours by the sea were not lost, as any one might have seen who had had the perception to read, or the care to understand, the look that Margaret’s face was gradually acquiring.

…she had learnt, in those solemn hours of thought, that she herself must one day answer for her own life, and what she had done with it….

(Chapter 49)

During this sacred time of considering the endless power and beauty of the seaside, she makes her decision about her place and purpose in the world. Margaret regains her spiritual strength and takes command of her situation. She lets her London family know that she will now be deciding for herself how to spend her time and efforts. She begins to spend time doing what she feels is important, which includes going to some of the more wretched places in London to try to make a difference in the lives of those who truly need her compassion and care.

And all this she does with the conviction that she will never marry—never live in Milton again. She believes John Thornton could no longer be in love with her, a liar.

So, with the aid of nature’s vast, infinite persepctive, she carves out a secondary dream of a purposeful life, in which she can give her love to those who need it. How beautiful it is, then, when her first dream of happiness is fulfilled—when she discovers Thornton’s steadfast love and a whole new life waiting for her in Milton.

Do you remember a time when you found comfort or peace from nature?

What are your favorite places to absorb the beauty of nature?

Captain Wentworth & John Thornton and the agony of devotion

Whose heart isn’t affected by Captain Wentworth’s eight year wait for Anne Elliot? Eight long years! A man must truly be captured by a woman to wait that long for her.

Re-reading Persuasion recently, I was once again impressed at his unbreakable admiration and affection for Anne. Even though he is surly and proud about the breakup, he still loves her. He tries his hand at paying attention to Louisa Musgrove, but his heart is never in it. Tragic events bring out Anne’s amazing strength of character: calm in crisis, practical wisdom, sincerity, compassion, and self-sacrifice. He knows no other woman can compare.

John Thornton also witnesses the powerful strength of Margaret’s character, and never more so than during the frightening danger of the riot. Margaret forcefully insists he talk to his suffering workers, she doesn’t flee the situation but faces it, she follows him down to bar the door behind him when he goes out and races out moments later to try to calm the mob! And of course, most of all, she shields him with her body when she sees he’s in danger. Her prime motive in all this: compassion. From this moment on Thornton’s completely captivated.

The reader knows for certain that no other woman will do for Thornton now because Gaskell reveals his agonizing, stubborn devotion to Margaret after her rejection of him.

He said to himself that he hated Margaret, but a wild, sharp sensation of love cleft his dull, thunderous feeling like lightning, even as he shaped the words expressive of hatred. His greatest comfort was in hugging his torment; and in feeling, as he had indeed said to her, that though she might despise him, condemn him, treat him with her proud sovereign indifference, he did not change one whit. She could not make him change. He loved her, and would love her; and defy her, and this miserable bodily pain…

 All that he gained in return for his sixpenny omnibus ride, was a more vivid conviction that there never was, never could be, any one like Margaret; that she did not love him and never would; but that she - no! nor the whole world – should never hinder him from loving her.

So how much time does John Thornton spend loving Margaret without any hope of reciprocation? About two years! Two years of agony, trying to go on with his life without hope of having Margaret as his wife.

Captain Wentworth might have spent only two years without Anne if he had only swallowed a bit of his pride and returned to see her earlier. At the end of the novel he asks Anne if she would have accepted him after his return from a successful voyage (netting him two thousand pounds), a point in time two years after their breakup. Anne exclaims that she would have, and he admits that he was too hurt and prideful to try it – at the price of six more years of waiting!

Thornton, too, could have shortened the length of his agony if he had perceived any change in Margaret’s manner towards him. She was wholly in love with him at the time they said their parting words to one another in Milton, but he was still too hurt to see it. He had a fleeting impulse to ask again but suppressed it:

 “He started forwards…to hand Mrs. Shaw down to the carriage. As it drove up , he and Margaret stood close together on the door-step, and it was impossible but that the recollection of the day of the riot should force itself into both their minds. Into his it came associated with the speeches of the following day; her passionate declaration that there was not a man in all that violent and desperate crowd, for whom she did not care as much as for him. And at the remembrance of her taunting words his brow grew stern, though his heart beat thick with longing love. ‘No!’ said he, ‘I put it to the touch once, and I lost it all. Let her go, - with her stony heart, and her beauty; - how set and terrible her look is now, for all her loveliness of feature! She is afraid I shall speak what will require some stern repression. Let her go. Beauty and heiress as she may be, she will find it hard to meet with a truer heart than mine. Let her go!’

That mistaken impression of her feelings cost him over a year of loneliness and pain!

Of course in the case of both of these men, their long struggle and agony only added to the romantic drama of their powerful feelings. It’s tremendously satisfying to see their brooding faces break into joy when they realize that they were wrong — that they have been loved and cherished right back!

Where are the bonnets in North and South?

Easter bonnet season upon us, so let’s talk about feminine headwear in North and South, both in the book and in the BBC miniseries.

Bonnets in the Novel

The first mention of a bonnet in Gaskell’s book concerns our little rebel, Margaret Hale, who has taken her bonnet off.

Henry: “What is this hanging from the branch of the tree? Not a bird’s nest, surely.”

Margaret: “Oh no! that is my bonnet. I never can draw with my bonnet on; it makes my head so hot.”

Apparently, she can’t be bothered with the bonnet when it’s uncomfortable. And that’s not the only time she takes her bonnet off when it’s in the way. After she sends Thornton down to speak to the rioters, she tears off her bonnet so that she can hear what he is saying outside.

There’s every indication in the novel that Margaret does follow the proper custom of the day in wearing a bonnet whenever she goes out. Gaskell describes her hastily putting on her bonnet and her shawl before going to see Bessy in Milton. Even Bessy and Mary wear one.

Did you know that the first time John Thornton ever sees her, Margaret is wearing a straw bonnet with white ribbon? This surprised me. I’ve read their first meeting scene many times, but somehow I didn’t remember that she was wearing a bonnet!

The most memorable section in the book regarding bonnet wearing is when Henry discerns something new and vibrant in Margaret towards the end of the story. This is after Margaret has spent several days at the ocean’s edge silently contemplating all that has happened to her. It’s at the seaside that she makes a courageous resolution to make the best of her future.

“The sea has done Miss Hale an immense deal of good, I should fancy,” said he, when she first left the room after his arrival in their family circle. “She looks ten years younger than she did in Harley Street.”

“That’s the bonnet I got her!” said Edith, triumphantly. “ I knew it would suit her the moment I saw it.”

“I beg your pardon,” said Mr. Lennox, in the half-contemptuous, half-indulgent tone he generally used to Edith. “But I believe I know the difference between the charms of a dress and the charms of a woman. No mere bonnet would have made Miss Hale’s eyes so lustrous and yet so soft, or her lips so ripe and red - and her face altogether so full of peace and light….”

Good for Henry for seeing the renewed spark in Margaret! (Negative points for Edith.)

Bonnets in the Film

When we think of Margaret Hale, most of us envision her the way she is shown in the BBC’s most recent film adaptation, with that wide-brimmed brown hat.

Margaret’s trademark brown frisbee hat.

Instead of a bonnet, Margaret is seen in her everyday hat throughout most of the story. It’s not hard to surmise why this was done. Bonnets make women look diminutive to the modern viewer. Although stylish and beautiful, they represent an era when women were believed to be the weaker sex—a time when women had a great many limits placed upon them.

Margaret Hale of the film wears a hat to look more modern and independent, as director Brian Percival admits. The hat allows a freer, more open view of her face. Wearing a hat also often sets Margaret Hale apart from the surrounding characters. The decision to generally keep bonnets off of Margaret was a good one. Wearing a hat instead of a bonnet lends a sense of strength and freedom to her walking about Milton.

The primary time we see Margaret in a bonnet is when she is in a state of mourning, when it’s appropriate for her to appear weaker or subdued. (Film quiz: does Margaret appear in a bonnet in any non-mourning scenes?)

Speaking of appearing strong or weak, it’s significant that although Mrs. Hale and Aunt Shaw are shown wearing traditional lace caps inside as married women, we never see Hannah Thornton wearing a lace frippery on HER stern head! (Incidentally, Edith should be wearing a lace cap as well - but perhaps the film director considered lace caps too matronly for the young and spritely Edith.)

Of course Fanny, Edith, and Ann Latimer all wear bonnets when out in the world. Well maybe not always a bonnet. Strangely enough, Ann is shown wearing a hat twice instead of a bonnet. Maybe she is copying Margaret to get John’s attention!

(Film quiz: When is the other time Ann is shown wearing a hat?)

Fanny, like Edith, loves to think of fashion. Although Fanny resisted John’s insistence on visiting the Hales, her mood was soothed by the opportunity to wear a fetching bonnet. Here is Fanny in her hideous plaid dress, performing her famous wiggle to adjust the hoops of her skirt.

Maria Hale is also concerned about fashion. She doesn’t go to Edith’s wedding because she couldn’t afford a better dress to wear. We see Maria mostly indoors, especially as she becomes an invalid. But here is her lace and flowers bonnet that she wore on her arrival to hell… er…I mean Milton.

In that opening scene of the Hales’ arrival in Milton we also see Dixon wearing a drab, colorless bonnet. She is the only working class woman to be shown wearing a bonnet. Bessy and Mary don’t wear any head coverings in the film, and neither do most of the factory girls. Bonnet strings would be a danger in the mill.

Now look at what we have here! Who noticed that the tense “street meet” scene had a haberdashery display window in the background?! Certainly not I—my attention was always on the pain etched on Thornton’s face as well as on the dagger looks thrown between Ann and Margaret.

Compared to the well-dressed Ann, Margaret looks particularly plain. For display and style, John should definitely choose finishing school Ann. The banker’s daughter is good for financial connections too, right?

I hope this blog post has made you curious enough about bonnets and hats to want to go watch the miniseries all over again! I think I may indulge as well; it’s been over two years since I’ve watched it.

Here’s a final film quiz for you:

What are the four scenes where Hannah Thornton is shown wearing a bonnet?

Now you’ll really have to go watch it! Let me know what I might have missed.

Margaret Hale and Elizabeth Bennet: still relevant role models?

I enjoyed the recent lecture event sponsored by Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and Jane Austen’s House that focused on Margaret Hale and Elizabeth Bennet. The presentation about Elizabeth Bennet pointed out several reasons why she would have been a role model of female empowerment in Austen’s time.

So to continue the conversation, I’d like to share some of the points that I took away from the talk and add a few more qualities these women expressed that make them so admirable. Here are some of the traits that make Elizabeth Bennet and Margaret Hale relevant role models then and today:

The power of ‘NO’

The first and primal point of power in both stories is that both Margaret and Lizzy have the wherewithal to reject not just one but two proposals of marriage: one conveniently comfortable and the other overwhelmingly advantageous. Both of them reject the catch of the county! And they both reject a moderately comfortable proposal of marriage received before that.

How courageously bold it was for these particular women of modest means to say “no” to an opportunity that reasonable persons of the day would assume they should be grateful for!

Self-determination

So why did they reject such tempting offers of security and comfort? After all, finding a wealthy and well-respected husband would have been the aim of any young woman of the age.

The answer is that they know themselves. They know what their highest values are, and so they know the conditions which would make them content or miserable.

They refuse to subjugate their happiness by settling for any kind of loveless marriage. They’re taking charge of their own longterm happiness.

SELF-Confidence

But how dare they? What gives them the notion that they can create their own conditions in life when they are meant to obediently follow the strict patriarchal customs of their world?

Both Elizabeth Bennet and Margaret Hale are confident of their own worth as intelligent and sensible human beings. They know their own value. They don’t constantly seek approval from others, and they don’t look to others to define who they are. They rely on their own strength of character and purpose to move them through life.

With such self-assurance, they are able to make decisions that may go against the grain of society’s expectations or customs.

INDEPENDENCE

Naturally, a self-assured and confident woman has the right to do as she pleases and go where she likes within reason of her situation and surroundings.

However, Margaret was constrained to never go out walking alone while she was in London, and Caroline Bingley deemed it a type of impertinence that Elizabeth walked from Longbourn to Netherfield on her own.

“To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above her ankles in dirt, and alone, quite alone! what could she mean by it? It seems to me to shew an abominable sort of conceited independence…”

The concept of taking the initiative to go see her ill sister, despite the muddy weather and the distance shows a great independence of mind.

Margaret also took great freedom in Helstone and in Milton to walk alone where she liked. Visiting Bessy, she often went to the section of town where the mill workers lived, walking down alleys in which her cousin Edith would have never stepped foot.

Calm Strength in a Crisis

Both Margaret and Elizabeth showed great strength and maturity in meeting any unexpected crisis. Elizabeth has had to endure her mother’s almost daily rants for years, so when the real crisis of Lydia’s running away comes upon the family, she’s able to keep her head and not fall into hysterics.

Margaret shows extraordinary strength and calm in the succession of unimaginable upheavals and deaths that happen in a span of three years. She does have moments when she breaks downs—even faints dead away—but for the most part she soldiers on despite practically every conceivable difficulty and loss.

Concern for Others

One of the reasons they are able to stay calm and strong is because they know that others depend upon their help. Elizabeth does all in her power to help Jane and even her foolish sister, Lydia. Lizzy loves her family, despite their faults.

Margaret is a tower of strength for her parents. She wants to help Bessy, her brother, and the starving workers. She exhibits a sincere caring for those around her. It gives her purpose to be helping others.

Aware and Alert

In order to be of any help, you first need to be aware of the situation of others. Margaret tries to learn and expand her understanding of the world around her in Milton. She’s interested in hearing the experiences of the poor workers and the ideas of the rich manufacturers.

Elizabeth is also very intelligent and observant. She pays attention to everything that is going on around her and often perceives the motives behind the behavior of others.

PERCEPTIVE OF THEIR OWN FAULTS

Of course, Elizabeth and Margaret are not always keenly aware of what’s really going on. They most definitely have their prejudices and blindspots.

But when they do come to realize that they have judged in error, they are able to acknowledge their mistaken perspective and change their minds.

Although it’s an uncomfortable awakening, here is Margaret’s reaction when she realizes Mr. Thornton has saved her from the police inquest:

Mr. Thornton, above all people, on whom she had looked down from her imaginary heights till now! She suddenly found herself at his feet, and was strangely distressed at her fall.

Not Intimidated

One of the greatest scenes in Pride and Prejudice is the dramatic confrontation between Elizabeth Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Although Lady Catherine acts as a sovereign superior in every manner and situation, Elizabeth refuses to be subjugated by the ridiculous and rather vicious warnings of Lady Catherine to stay away from her nephew, Mr. Darcy. It’s a fantastic fireworks show of self-confidence, amazing poise, and self-determination on Lizzy’s part—all in one scene!

Margaret also faces a rather haughty attack on her character by the stern and commanding Mrs. Thornton. And likewise, Margaret refuses to be subjected to false accusations against her character and swiftly leaves the steely matron quite nonplused after their brief interaction.

“What must you think of me, madam?” asked Margaret, throwing her head back with proud disdain, till her throat curved outward like a swan’s. “You can say nothing more, Mrs Thornton. I decline every attempt to justify myself for anything. You must allow me to leave the room.”

And she swept out of it with the noiseless grace of an offended princess. Mrs. Thornton had quite enough of natural humour to make her feel the ludicrousness of the position in which she was left. There was nothing for it but to show herself out.

I’m sure there are more traits or qualities which make these two literary heroines great role models for women — or anybody! What do you love most about these fabulous ladies and their spirited power?

And don’t forget to check out upcoming online events at Gaskell’s House. This year their focus is on North and South!

Giveaway winner announcement

Thanks to everyone who expressed their enthusiastic interest in this special North and South giveaway.

There were 28 entries in this contest! That’s a fantastic indication that there is still great interest in published North and South fan fiction.

And the winner is….

Sheri

Congratulations, Sheri, on your win! I hope you’ll enjoy taking time to get cozy and settle down to read your new books this winter!

I’ll be doing what I can to encourage more people to publish their North and South stories, so that there are more books to be had by everyone. And I hope readers will encourage writers on Internet sites to consider publishing their work so that more people can enjoy extending the Thornton and Margaret love!

Is there a future for published N&S fanfic?

Interview with Trudy Brasure

In case you missed it, here’s a link to an interview I did with Rita at From Pemberley to Milton. We talked about the lack of published North & South stories.

The interview is here.

Giveaway contest

In my last blog post, a group of authors joined me in offering a giveaway to celebrate ten years of published North and South fan fiction.

The contest ends December 10th, so if you’d like to enter please leave a comment and your email address here.

Review of A Heart for Milton

And for anyone who hasn’t yet read my first book, there’s an anniversary review of it at From Pemberley to Milton.

Celebrating Ten Years of published ‘North and South’ Fan Fiction

A Heart for Milton is ten years old! When I hit the ‘publish’ button on my story in October 2011, I didn’t really know what to expect. I was excited to make my story available to a wider world. At that time, self-publishing was really just starting to take off. It’s thrilling to know, ten years later, that thousands have read and enjoyed my romantic variation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s classic novel.

A Heart for Milton has the illustrious honor of being one of the first few North and South fan fictions to be published. Since 2011, more authors have published their versions of what could have happened between John Thornton and Margaret Hale. And I know that eager fans of Gaskell’s original tale would love to gobble up more!

To help celebrate this special fandom’s ten year publishing anniversary, Rita at From Pemberley to Milton will be posting a few North and South pieces this week on her blog. Keep an eye out for her reviews and an interview — with me!

Book Bundle Giveaway!

I loved writing A Heart for Milton and it has been my pleasure to get to know many of the other fan fiction authors. A few of us got together not long ago to publish an anthology of short stories entitled Falling for Mr. Thornton. And this lovely group of authors is joining me in celebrating ten years of North and South fan fiction by contributing to a book giveaway their own first published fan fiction story!

The bundle giveaway prize will include a paperback copy of the books below. (Exceptions: How Far the World Will Bend is an ebook prize. The Bennet Wardrobe series is a 4-part audiobook prize.)

To enter this contest, just leave a comment that indicates your interest and leave your email address so that we can contact the winner. (USA contest only)

The giveaway winner will be chosen December 10th.

Here are the links to each book in our prize collection:

No Such Thing as Luck by Nicole Clarkston — N&S variation

Margaret of the North by Evy Journey — N&S continuation

A Heart for Milton by Trudy Brasure — N&S variation/continuation

Collide by Melanie Stanford — modern N&S variation

The Gentleman’s Impertinent Daughter by Rose Fairbanks — P&P variation

How Far the World Will Bend by Nancy Klein — N&S time travel story

Common Ground by Elaine Owen — N&S continuation

The Whistle Echoes by M Liza Marie — N&S continuation

the Bennet Wardrobe series by Don Jacobson — stories based on P&P

John Thornton's search for home

In the previous blog post, we looked at Margaret Hale’s search for home. But what about John Thornton’s yearning for home? Although Thornton isn’t tossed from house to house like Margaret, isn't he also—in a way—searching for a satisfying sense of home? His quest has nothing to do with location. His search is an almost unconscious desire for a more expansive sense of purpose and deeper personal satisfaction.

His life of work-work-work needs balance. He’s been working hard to build up his mill non-stop for quite a number of years.

I find a conversation he has with Mr. Bell about life-balance and motives intriguing and very endearing:

Mr Bell: “I wonder when you Milton men intend to live. All your lives seem to be spent in gathering together the materials for life.”

Mr Thornton: “By living I suppose you mean enjoyment.”

“Yes enjoyment, - I don’t specify of what, because I trust we should both consider mere pleasure as very poor enjoyment.”

“I would rather have the nature of the enjoyment defined.”

“Well! Enjoyment of leisure — enjoyment of the power and influence which money gives. You are all striving for money. What do you want it for?”

Mr. Thornton was silent. Then he said, “ I really don’t know. But money is not what I strive for.”

“What then?”

“It is a home question. I shall have to lay myself open to such a catechist, and I am not sure that I am prepared to do it.”

I love this answer! Mr. Thornton’s motive in all his work has essentially been to establish a home for his family. This makes sense when you realize what he has been through. His father’s death threw the family out of their home years ago. John has been a rock of security for his family ever since.

But Mr. Bell has hit a soft spot, hasn’t he? And Thornton really has no answer as to why he continues to work so hard, accumulating more wealth. He has been on autopilot for years, spending his efforts on creating a successful and efficient business that will secure comfort and a worthy position for his family.

We do see him, however, take a small step toward slowing down his business-driven life to do something for himself, to take some time for enrichment. Thornton is genuinely interested in reading the ancient classics with Mr. Hale—an expenditure of time of which his mother disapproves. His interest in doing this suggests that he is looking for something deeper and broader than just managing a mill and accumulating wealth. He has finally reached a level of financial security that allows him a sense of freedom to consider what might be missing from his life.

And then Margaret sweeps into his world, and—lo and behold—she appears to have all the qualities of strength and self-confidence he admires AND a mesmerizing blend of gentler qualities that he didn’t even realize he was longing for: tenderness, beauty, and compassion. Margaret’s powerfully presented perspectives open Thornton’s rather closed mind and heart to consider new possibilities. Margaret throws his rigid train of thought off track and stirs up emotions in him like nobody else! She really makes him start to recognize that there may be more to life than what he’s been living!

Then when Thornton comes to tea, he studies the sweet bond of teasing affection between Margaret and her father with a strong yearning for the same open, tactile affection. He feels the warmth and intimacy of the Hale’s more casual and country decor: fruit in bowls for consumption, books left open, worn furniture. At his home, everything is perfectly arranged and immaculate. His mother, although she loves him dearly, creates a home that reflects her strict sense of order.

There’s a very specific comparison of the two homes in the book. Here’s how Margaret perceives the Thornton home, which she feels has an effect of “icy, snowy discomfort.”

There was no one in the drawing-room. It seemed as though no one had been in it since the day when the furniture was bagged up with as much cares as if the house was to be overwhelmed with lava, and discovered a thousand years hence….Everything reflected light, nothing absorbed it….Wherever she looked there was evidence of care and labour, but not care and labour to procure ease, to help on habits of tranquil home employment; solely to ornament, and then to preserve ornament from dirt or destruction.

Thornton is aware of the chilliness of his own home, for he is quite affected by noticing the very different details of the Hale’s little drawing-room.

Somehow that room contrasted with the one he had lately left…[which] was twice—twenty times as fine; not one quarter as comfortable. Here there were no mirrors, not even a scrap of glass…[but] a warm, sober breadth of colouring, well relieved by the dear old Helstone chintz-curtains and chair covers….there was a stand with a tall white china vase, from which drooped wreaths of English ivy, pale green birch, and copper-colored beech-leaves. Pretty baskets of work stood about in different places: and books…lay on one table, as if recently put down….It appeared to Mr. Thornton that all these graceful cares were habitual to the family; and especially of a piece with Margaret.

It would seem he wasn’t really noticing the decor at all…

Mr. Thornton is becoming dissatisfied with the restrictive atmosphere of the home his mother has created. He is yearning to push beyond his mother’s limited ambitions and views. He feels the compulsion to be free to learn and grow, to consider new habits and concepts of purpose. Although Hannah Thornton admires and worships her son, she doesn’t really allow him to expand or express himself in any new way. She doesn’t understand his desire to study the classics or his interest in creating a kitchen for the mill workers.

It is Margaret’s compassion for the mill workers that compels Thornton to think more deeply about his influence over his workers’ lives, and opens his heart to higher motives. Eventually, it becomes all-important to Thornton to continue to explore possible ways that masters and workers can work together to improve business and quality of life.

It would be inevitable that Thornton would want to live in a home where his motives are understood, appreciated, and encouraged. He would like to live surrounded by the support of his family—to have a peaceful place to consider wider responsibilities and a more expansive care for the world around him.

He’s also longing for that warmer sense of home he found in the Hales’ drawing-room, a more openly affectionate and relaxed kind of home. He’s missing softness, touch, tenderness, intimacy. He wants his life to be filled with more expressive and personally tangible love.

Of course, all of these softening qualities that Thornton is reaching for are embodied in Margaret. His home will never be complete without her. He sees in her all that he wants to make a satisfying and endearing sense of home. He wants her to love him and make his home a warm center for affection and care.

John Thornton’s search for “home” is a search for a deeper and more expansive sense of love as well as for a personal longing to love and be loved. He works toward expanding his sense of purpose and care with the mill workers, but without Margaret for his wife, he believes he will never have the ideal home he envisions.

This makes the final moments of the story so rewarding. The last line of the film captures perfectly the joy that overcomes Thornton when he realizes his search for a love-filled home is over:

“You’re coming home... with me?"

The search for home in North and South - Margaret's quest

It could be said that Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South is largely about Margaret Hale finding her home.

The word 'home' has rich meaning and conjures the same deep emotions as the word 'love' -- simply because the two concepts go hand in hand. Home is a center for love. That home means different things to different people who live in the same place, shows that our sense of home is also very individual. We each have a sense of what home feels like in our hearts, of what we hold most dear to our sense of purpose and place.

Home is something you treasure, and it's not the same for everyone. It can be difficult to put into words or make someone else understand what home means to us -- what home is to us. Margaret can't explain her home when Henry asks her to describe Helstone:

"...I cannot tell you about my own home. I don't quite think it is a thing to be talked about, unless you knew it."

Poor Margaret is thrust from one home to another three different times in the book: from London to Helstone, from Helstone to Milton, and from Milton back to London again. Through all these changes, the reader gets a good glimpse of how Margaret operates in three very different environments. And Margaret has the chance to experience contrasting cultures and venues. As she moves about from place to place, she is all the while developing her own individual values and sense of purpose. She is learning what it is that she really wants to create a satisfying home.

So what are the qualities of home she seeks? The sense of 'home' that she longs for changes as she matures, but the core values she wants to live don’t really vary. She wants to be where she can be free, where she feels a connection with the people around her, where she is valued, understood, and has a voice. In short, she's looking for a place where she is free to love and is loved in return.

The longing for home a powerful desire to belong -- to find a place where you feel needed and accepted, a place where you can shine. We find the most comfort and support in surrounding ourselves with people who think and feel the same and are involved in a deep-felt purpose.

The Margaret we first meet in the book is in a surrogate home. Contained by formalities, moving within the protected well-bred social circles of London, Margaret acts as an auxiliary to Edith, who is the true center of all activity at Harley Street. Margaret doesn't seem fully alive here, where the primary purpose of life is entertainment and social display. There's a side of her that is shut down while she's in London, a side of her that Edith and Henry do not know. 

We see Margaret come alive when she arrives Helstone. She is loves to roam the forest and enjoys visiting and helping the people of her father's parish. She's happiest outside in the wide-open beauty of nature, going wherever she likes. She doesn't miss the luxuries or social scenes of London at all. She is perfectly happy fulfilling "the important post of [the] only daughter in Helstone parsonage."

Here in Helstone she finds great freedom and purpose. She feels genuinely part of the community around her. The beauty of nature found everywhere in Helstone inspires a sense of happy freedom in her. It's no wonder she calls Helstone "about as perfect a place as any in the world.”

She resists coming to Milton, where the scenery is bleak and everyone seems so busy. But what begins to draw her out of her unhappiness is finding a connection with the Higgins family. Margaret loves engaging with humanity and the larger world. She’s passionate about supporting those around her.

In Helstone, she was used to visiting and helping the poor country people that lived in her father's parish. In Milton, she becomes interested in supporting the working poor. She finds the energy of the town engaging. The future of England is being forged in the factories of Milton, and Margaret develops a fondness for the spirit of its people.

When she returns to London, she feels the oppression of being caught in her cousin's sphere of elegant security. She is once again relegated to nurse-maid and social assistant. There's no engagement with the broader community of humanity and nothing of any great purpose is being accomplished, until she is made an heiress and makes the firm decision to do what she believes is important.

Margaret begins to fill her need to live a more purposeful life by becoming involved in helping the poor in London. This gives her a sense of freedom and fills some of her time with meaningful activity. But she still isn’t truly “home” in London, surrounded by a family who doesn’t comprehend her values. She won’t be home until she’s partnered with the one person who understands and cherishes her strong desire to help improve the lives of others. She finds her home with John Thornton, in Milton.

It’s ironic that a girl who loves the country so much finds her true home in dirty and smoky Milton, isn’t it? But heck, I think a girl could live just about ANYWHERE as long as John Thornton comes with the “home” package!

Next time we’ll talk about the Thornton side of the search for home.