A Study On Ethical Concerns And Labor Conflicts In Mary Barton From The Perspective Of Feminism

Elizabeth Gaskell is one of the most famous feminist writers in the Victorian Age.What has been described in Mrs. Gaskell’s novels covers a wide range, from bustlingcities to remote villages, from the intense class conflicts to the peaceful family lives,from the upper luxury to the lower poverty. In1848, Mrs. Gaskell published her firstnovel Mary Barton, which helped her became one of the first-class British novelists.Mrs. Gaskell was praised as one of modern British and great novelists by Marx.Mary Barton is Mrs. Gaskell’s masterpiece, which truly shows the contrast betweencapitalists’ and workers’ living conditions. Mary Barton is also regarded as theearliest work which reflects the struggle between workers and capitalists.This paper interprets ethical concerns and analyzes labor conflicts in Mary Bartonunder the guidance of feminist literary criticism and ethical literary criticism.Feminist literary criticism has become an important power in the literary criticismand theory field. Ethical literary criticism is a new literary criticism which wasproposed by Professor Nie Zhenzhao in an academic symposium in2004. This paperfirstly analyzes labor conflicts in Mary Barton from three aspects: the socialbackground, the narrative perspective and the feelings aspect. And it aims to interpretMrs. Gaskell’s ethical concerns in Mary Barton from the perspective of feminism, which consists of the ethical concerns within the family and the ethical concernsamong the families. Finally, this paper resolves the labor conflicts with the help ofethical concerns, including the resolution of the binary opposition, the resolution ofthe psychology and the resolution of the theme. Although depicting capitalists’cruelty and exploitation in Mary Barton, Gaskell is not in favor of using violence toresolve the class contradictions and conflicts and she promotes Christian principlesas a means of reconciling class conflicts. The paper comes to a conclusion that Mrs.Gaskell’s ethical concerns are embodied in Mary Barton.Based on the above, the difference between Mrs. Gaskell and other female writers isthat the former pays more attention to family. The thesis, interpreting Mrs. Gaskell’sMary Barton under the guidance of feminist literary criticism and ethical literarycriticism, focuses on the resolution of the labor conflicts with the help of ethicalconcerns, which was paid less attention to before at home.