Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Elizabeth Gaskell
-
Standard Name: Gaskell, Elizabeth
Birth Name: Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson
Nickname: Lily
Married Name: Elizabeth Gaskell
Indexed Name: Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Pseudonym: Cotton Mather Mills
Pseudonym: The Author of Mary Barton etc.
Self-constructed Name: E. C. Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell
, one of the foremost fiction-writers of the mid-Victorian period, produced a corpus of seven novels, numerous short stories, and a controversial biography of Charlotte Brontë
. She wrote extensively for periodicals, as well as producing novels directly for the book market, often on issues of burning interest: her industrial novels appeared in the midst of fierce debate over class relations, factory conditions and legislation; Ruth took a fallen woman and mother as its protagonist just as middle-class feminist critique of gender roles emerged. Gaskell occupies a bridging position between Harriet Martineau
and George Eliot
in the development of the domestic novel.
As well as Jane Porter
, SD
had some acquaintance with Elizabeth Gaskell
, who wrote a letter (formal in tone, dated 26 April 1854) in support of her RLF application. She wrote in the...
Surtees, Virginia. Jane Welsh Carlyle. Michael Russell.
205
Friends, Associates
Charles Dickens
As one of the leading literary figures of the period, CD
had an extensive social network. His early acquaintances in publishing included Richard Bentley
, William Harrison Ainsworth
, and John Forster
(who later became...
Friends, Associates
Anna Brownell Jameson
ABJ
's friendship with Elizabeth Gaskell
developed out of Gaskell's letter request for an autograph note. ABJ
was supportive during the scandal over Gaskell's Ruth, and advised her on the composition of North and South.
Thomas, Clara. Love and Work Enough: The Life of Anna Jameson. University of Toronto Press.
203
Uglow, Jennifer S. Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories. Faber and Faber.
339, 368
Friends, Associates
Mary Cowden Clarke
In addition to meeting Dickens
as a result of her theatrical activities, MCC
and her husband met William Hazlitt
through a shared duty of theatre reviewing, and she became friends with Mary Howitt
, and...
Friends, Associates
Caroline Clive
Lady Byron
was another of the Clives' acquaintances. Following a visit in 1843, CC
wrote: That is the woman that has been tossed about by such vehement passions, by contact with such a fiery nature...
Friends, Associates
Julia Wedgwood
Sixteen-year-old JW
visited the holidaying Gaskell
family at Skelwith in Little Langdale, near Ambleside in the Lake District.
Uglow, Jennifer S. Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories. Faber and Faber.
231-2
Health
Emily Brontë
EB
apparently had a very independent character. In a famous incident related to Elizabeth Gaskell
by Charlotte
, Emily tried to help a possibly rabid dog, only to have it bite her. She immediately went...
Intertextuality and Influence
Harriet Martineau
The novel prompted a complimentary letter on 7 November 1849 from Currer Bell (Charlotte Brontë
) saying that in it he tasted a new and keen pleasure, and experienced a genuine benefit. In his...
Intertextuality and Influence
Susan Hill
The story is set in the imaginary, sheltered village of Haverstock, which might be seen as a descendant of Elizabeth Gaskell
's Cranford. It opens with the funeral of an unmarried woman who has two...
Intertextuality and Influence
Jane West
This work had the unusual distinction of earning approving comments from both Austen
and Wollstonecraft
. The contrasted sisters are generally seen as an important source for Austen
's Sense and Sensibility, and the...
Intertextuality and Influence
Mary Elizabeth Braddon
There are occasional moments of wit, as when destitution reveals that the family servants think terms of practical life rather than sentimental fiction: the old-fashioned type of servant, who appears so frequently in Morton
's...
Intertextuality and Influence
George Eliot
Much feminist interest in the novel has centered on the relationship between Felix and Esther Lyon and the novel's treatment of the relationship between women and the public sphere. The book is in many ways...
Intertextuality and Influence
Matilda Charlotte Houstoun
The choice of name for the seduced woman in MCH
's novel suggests that it is in part a response to the fortunate and highly idealised fate of the fallen woman and mother in Elizabeth Gaskell
Intertextuality and Influence
U. A. Fanthorpe
With this volume, says UAF
, I entered the different world of S. Martin's, Lancaster, and of France; and I was just beginning to have things to say about the condition of women...