Margaret of the North (59 page)
Read Margaret of the North Online
Authors: EJourney
Frequently on Fridays, Mrs.
Thornton would arrive at their house early and join Margaret in the room while
she was practicing at the piano. Margaret suspected that Mrs. Thornton came
early on purpose to listen to her. She always carried her sewing basket,
walked in quietly so as not to disturb Margaret, sat on the same chair every
time, and without saying a word, began to do her needlework. She remained as
unobtrusive as she could while Margaret played, offered no polite praises nor
said thank you even when Margaret finished. But, she smiled warmly at her
whenever their eyes met. Margaret matched Mrs. Thornton's dignified silence
and usually left the room after her practice with just a sweet smile and a nod
while the older woman continued her work. Mrs. Thornton stayed in the drawing
room until Elise awakened from her nap and grandmother and granddaughter went
out with Mary into the garden.
Margaret developed some affection
for Mrs. Thornton on account of those peaceful moments and the latter's genuine
attachment to Elise but Margaret was never certain how her mother-in-law
regarded her. She still occasionally felt her disapproval, no longer voiced
but conveyed nonetheless in gestures Margaret had become familiar with and had
associated with past unpleasant encounters.
Margaret ran her fingers over the
package and stared at it for a few moments. Perhaps, it contained something
that would give her some clue but, when she lifted it again to shake it a
little, it was so light and made no noise that she thought, not without wry
amusement, that it was empty.
John, his daily journal in hand,
waited to read it so he could watch Margaret open the package. He was as
curious as Margaret about what it contained and, when she stared at it, shook
it and stared at it again for what seemed such an interminable time, John
almost prodded her to open it. Finally, she lifted the cover off the box
slowly and carefully as if she was afraid to disturb what was inside.
Inside lay an exquisite lace
collar carefully wrapped within a piece of fine muslin. The lace looked
vaguely familiar to Margaret and she knew she had seen it before, no doubt adorning
Mrs. Thornton's neck. She picked up the collar and found a small note tucked
inside, neatly written with the same flourish as that embroidered on Mrs.
Thornton's linens. It contained one short sentence: "Thank you with all
my heart for all you have been to John." The note was neither signed nor
dated.
John remarked, "Mother's
favorite lace! It's nearly twenty years since I last saw her wear it. I
thought she had given it to Fanny."
Margaret glanced up at John
briefly, a half-smile on her lips, her eyes shining and a little moist. She
handed him the note, leaned against him and laid her head against his
shoulder. He read the note in one cursory glance and put it carefully back in
the box before removing the package off her lap and placing it, along with his
journal, on the table next to him. He smiled tenderly and gathered her in his
arms.
In a slight self-mocking tone,
whispered in her ear, "Have I ever told you that you are the best thing
that ever happened to me?"
"Do you think as many times,
at least, as my telling you that loving you is the easiest thing I do?"
She muttered as his lips brushed hers.
‡‡‡‡‡
My Male Perspective: Margaret of the North
Richard Journey
, Ph.D
.
Margaret of the North
by
E. Journey continues the story begun in North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, a
British writer in the mid-1800s. The romance between Margaret Hale and John
Thornton was later dramatized by a 2004, BBC North & South TV serial, a
mini-series of four 50-minute episodes with Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard
Armitage in the lead roles.
This novel,
Margaret of the
North
, sensitively gives us the ensuing life histories of Margaret and
Thornton; and the author, E. Journey, beautifully recapitulates it in a video using
original art work by this same author. This art work is included in some
chapters to illustrate the novel.
But this novel is more than just
a romance. It also tries to keep and to further develop some of the complexity
of Gaskell’s original novel. Gaskell’s novel describes the great upheavals of
the industrial revolution in England “…changing times—modern poverty, rage,
desperation, militant trade unionism and class antagonism.” (
Roberto
Dainotto
) through Margaret’s eyes and experience.
In both novels (Gaskell’s and
EJourney’s), Margaret is more independent and rebellious than we would expect
of a Victorian woman, ignoring some of the social restrictions on women of that
time, challenging authority when she sees injustice including Thornton’s
initial disregard for the rights of his workers. It may even be argued that in
Margaret of the North, she uses her sexual power on him to lead him to change
some of his views and the actions he takes toward his workers. Margaret helps
found a clinic for the medical needs of the workers—in this aspect of
Margaret’s growth, this author may have had in mind Gaskell’s admiration for
Florence Nightingale. Margaret also tries to give children some education,
helping them to escape their impoverished lives. You can see in these actions
that Margaret continues to leave the sealed off world of feminine domesticity
to engage also in the masculine public world through philanthropy. She directs
and manages her inherited fortune by using it to protect and help others less
fortunate.
The tender, sensitive, loving
side of Thornton is also shown throughout the novel not only in his encounters
with Margaret. His caring for his workers develops further. This softening or
blurring of roles for both Margaret and Thornton has led them into a new way of
meeting each other, more as persons than rigid role players. But Thornton’s
world also increases and becomes more open, and the author shows this using the
benefit of her art training: The lead characters visit Paris to witness the
great upheavals of the reconstruction of the city. There, the author adds the
element of historical artistic developments to upheavals caused by
industrialization. In describing what the newlyweds saw in Paris and the lively
Parisian cafes, she brings her understanding of the birth of modernism in art
that was also happening at the time to demonstrate not only Thornton’s
admitting that “careless ease” has a purpose but also that rapid changes are
clearly taking place in other cities.
Margaret of the North
: a
romance, yes. But a romance situated in changing times, in changing social and
sexual roles, in social and artistic upheavals.
Dainotto, Roberto Maria
(2000).
Place in Literature: Regions, Cultures,
Communities
. Cornell University Press. pp. 178.
Richard Journey
,
Ph.D., wrote his dissertation on “
Married Women’s Changing in the Context of
Changing Social Possibilities
.”
To my readers:
I hope I have contributed a
little to your reading pleasure. I crafted this book with as much care as I am
capable of. Doing illustrations for it was particularly satisfying and helped
prevent me from giving up on the writing.
My sincere thanks for your
interest.
EJourney
If you’re a little more curious,
you can find me at:
www.margaretofthenorth.wordpress.com
or
Or, read my blurbs on art, travel
(mostly Paris where I have stayed for months), eating, and state of being and
see some of my other paintings at: