A BBC mini-series based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
North and South (1855 novel)
With important underlying social themes, North and South stands out as one of the greatest novels in the history of English literature.
North and South is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in book form in 1855 originally appeared as a twenty-two-part weekly serial from September 1854 through January 1855 in the magazine Household Words, edited by Charles Dickens. The title indicates a major theme of the book: the contrast between the way of life in the industrial north of England and the wealthier south, although it was only under pressure from her publishers that Gaskell changed the title from its original, Margaret Hale.The book is a social novel that tries to show the industrial North and its conflicts in the mid-19th century as seen by an outsider, a socially sensitive lady from the South. The heroine of the story, Margaret Hale, is the daughter of a Nonconformist minister who moves to the fictional industrial town of Milton after leaving the Church of England. The town is modeled after Manchester, where Gaskell lived as the wife of a Unitarian minister. Gaskell herself worked among the poor and knew at first hand the misery of the industrial areas.
Margaret Hale and her father leave their comfortable surroundings in the South of England for the grittier and more industrial city of Milton. Margaret is not prepared for the extreme hardship that she finds in Milton. Seeing that the townspeople who work at the local mill are suffering, Margaret resolves to improve their lives. Her advocacy for the workers brings her face-to-face with the mill owner, John Thornton. Sparks fly when Margaret and John meet and realize that they share passionate natures but do not always see eye to eye. Romance blooms between the two people, but when tensions rise over injustice in the workers' plight, Margaret and John are forced to take stock of their feelings for each other as well as their beliefs about what is right. Gaskell paints an emotional and fascinating portrait of human needs and desires set in the volatile political, commercial, and social landscape of nineteenth-century England.
"North And South explores themes that still seem strikingly modern. One hundred and fifty years after it appeared, the North-South divide-and the social and economic gulf it implies-remains intact"
- The Daily Mail
Literary Spotlight
North and South
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"Gaskell saw the emotional and economic realities of ordinary life with a steely honesty" -- The Times
Beautiful cover of a classic novel. Definitely a must-have for your literary collection.
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North and South in Print
North and South
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North and South (Oxford World's Classics)
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North and South (Vintage Classics)
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North and South (Oxford World's Classics)
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North and South: In Half the Time (Compact Editions)
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North and South Book & Audio CD
North & South Book & Audio Cd
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A great audiobook release of this title with the beautiful Daniela Denby-Ashe on the cover.
More of North and South
North and South
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North and South (Large Print Edition)
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North and South
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North and South
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Elizabeth Gaskell, English Author
An insightful and talented writer whose works-among them North and South, Cranford, and Mary Barton-shed light on the lives of nineteenth century women and on the important issues of her day.
The English author Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) wrote sociological novels that explored the ills of industrial England and novels of small-town life that are penetrating studies of character.Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson was born on Sept. 29, 1810. Her mother died shortly thereafter, and she was sent to live with an aunt in Knutsford, a village in Cheshire. At the age of 15 she went to school at Stratford-on-Avon, where she remained for 2 years. She married the Reverend William Gaskell on Aug. 30, 1832.
The couple settled in industrial Manchester. There Elizabeth observed the extreme hardship of the workers and their struggles with the owners for a greater share in the profits of the mills. Her observations provided much of the background for Mary Barton (1848), her first novel. It was begun in 1845 to relieve her grief at the death of William, her fifth child and only son, and completed during intervals in a busy family life. It centers on a sensational murder but was written with the serious purpose of pointing out what John Barton, Mary's father, called the "right way" to remedy the ills of the workers. This is essentially a change of heart in worker and owner alike. The novel was both praised and damned, but it was an immediate success.
Because of Mary BartonGaskell was asked to contribute stories to Charles Dickens's magazine Household Words. "Lizzie Leigh," which dealt with illicit love and illegitimacy, appeared in the first issue. Its themes were developed in Ruth (1853), in which Gaskell again called for a change of heart in the public.
Then Gaskell turned from the sociological novel to the novel of village life. Sketches which had appeared in Household Words were published as Cranford (1853). Drawn from the people and scenes known during her childhood in Knutsford, Cranford was far less sensational than her earlier books but no less interesting. The humorously depicted incidents and sharply observed characters capture the attention today as in the 19th century.
In North and South (1855) Gaskell returned to the sociological novel. Then, because of her friendship with Charlotte Brontë, Gaskell wrote The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857). She was quite unlike the intensely introspective Charlotte but extremely sympathetic to her. Though the book did not tell the whole truth about Brontë's life, it was a remarkably revealing biography.
After the biography came Sylvia's Lovers (1863), a historical novel, and Wives and Daughters (1866), a novel of life in a quiet country town. Unfinished at her death, Wives and Daughters is Gaskell's most mature treatment of character. She died on Nov. 12, 1865.
Recommended Elizabeth Gaskell Books
The Cranford Chronicles (Vintage Classics)
Three of Elizabeth Gaskell's best-loved novels- Cranford, Mr Harrison's Confessions, and My Lady Ludlow-are combined in this witty and poignant look at the market town of Cranford.
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Sylvia's Lovers (Penguin Classics)
A was powerfully moving novel of a young woman caught between the attractions of two very different men, Sylvia's Lovers is set in the 1790s in an English seaside town.
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Gothic Tales (Penguin Classics)
A portrait inexplicably turned to the wall ... a mysterious child who lives on the freezing moors ... a doppelganger brought to life by a woman's bitter curse. These are some of the eerie elements Elizabeth Gaskell uses to masterful effect in Gothic Tales.
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Mary Barton
While Mary Barton is literally a murder mystery, it is also an abundantly detailed and sympathetic view of the nineteenth-century English weaving village of Manchester and some of its people.
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Wives and Daughters (Penguin Classics)
An enchanting tale of romance, scandal, and intrigue in the gossipy English town of Hollingford around the 1830s, Wives and Daughters tells the story of Molly Gibson, the seventeen-year-old daughter of a widowed country doctor.
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Elizabeth Gaskell on DVD
Notable adaptations of novels by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Elizabeth Gaskell Collection (Wives and Daughters / Cranford / North and South)
Three BBC miniseries adapted from Mary Gaskells classic novels.
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Cranford
Adapted from Elizabeth Gaskells' novels, the five-episode miniseries Cranford focuses on female characters in the 19th-century British town to thematically contemplate encroaching modernity in rural England.
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Wives and Daughters
From the team that brought you "Pride and Prejudice." Set in a richly portrayed society well-stocked with eccentric nobles and gossipy villagers the story centers around 17-year-old Molly Gibson the only daughter of a respected country Doctor.
Amazon Price: $36.99 (as of 12/19/2009)
North & South
As the daughter of a middle-class parson Margaret Hale has enjoyed a privileged upbringing in rural southern England. When her father uproots the family to take work in the northern mill town of Milton Margaret is shocked by the dirt the noise and the gruffness of the people but she reserves her highest contempt for the charismatic mill-owner John Thornton.
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North and South (2004 mini-series)
A powerful adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's feisty and passionate love story, set across the social divides in the changing world of Victorian industrial society.
North and South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One between November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs, especially after meeting the Thorntons, a proud family of cotton mill owners who seem to despise their social inferiors. The story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers conflicts with her growing attraction to John Thornton (Richard Armitage).Thornton is at first an unlikely hero, a stern and unsympathetic industrialist. But as the drama progresses, his struggles with his workers and with his own growing feelings for Margaret reveal a different, gentler side to him. Richard Armitage portrayed his journey from hard-nosed businessman to tender lover with sensitivity and fine detail, peeling off the layers of this powerful man to reveal the vulnerability and loneliness lying within.
The serial is based on the 1855 Victorian novel of the same title by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was adapted for television by Sandy Welch and directed by Brian Percival.
"One minute we talk of the colour of fruit, the next of love. How does that happen?" - John Thornton
Reception
Creating a feat before unsurpassed
As the BBC had low expectations for the series, it was not well publicized and went almost unnoticed by critics. Audiences, however, were more receptive; hours after the first episode aired in November 2004, the message board of the programme's website crashed because of the number of visitors the site was receiving, forcing host bbc.co.uk to shut it down. This sudden interest on the serial was attributed to Richard Armitage, a relatively unknown actor, whose portrayal of the emotionally restrained John Thornton drew parallels with Colin Firth's portrayal of Fitzwilliam Darcy on the BBC's 1995 mini-series Pride and Prejudice, and the reception he later received. Armitage himself claims that the series was a success because of the "industrial landscape and the attention [that the series gives] to the working classes and they way they develop". The reaction to the series was a surprise to the BBC, who then decided to release the DVD on 11 April 2005.North and South was voted "Best Drama" in the BBC drama website's annual poll in 2004. Richard Armitage was voted "Most Desirable Drama Star" and "Best Actor", Daniela Denby-Ashe was voted "Best Actress" (Sinead Cusack came in third) and three different scenes were voted as the year's "Favourite Moments", with the final scene winning the number one spot.
DVD Spotlight
Take home one of the best BBC productions to ever grace the small screen
North & South
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A topnotch BBC production, excellent excellent cast, cinematography and screenplay. I enjoyed every minute of it and is definitely worth every penny.
Related North and South Merchandise
The Elizabeth Gaskell Collection (Wives and Daughters / Cranford / North and South)
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North & South
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North & South Book & Audio Cd
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North and South (Large Print Edition)
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![Women, mobility and modernity in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South [An article from: Women's Studies International Forum]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WQ3KPYJXL._SL75_.jpg)
Women, mobility and modernity in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South [An article from: Women's Studies International Forum]
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"A New Love" North & South (BBC) music video
Elizabeth Gaskell on eBay
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Richard Armitage
As John Thornton, in role that carved him in the hearts of millions
Born in Leicester, he went to Brockington College, Pattison College in Coventry, and then studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). At 17 he joined a circus in Budapest for 6 weeks to gain his Equity Card. His first major role was in the BBC drama Sparkhouse (2002). After a variety of supporting roles in the TV productions of Between the Sheets, Cold Feet (series 5), and Ultimate Force (Series 2), he landed his first leading role, that of John Thornton in the BBC drama North and South based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.In 2005, he was seen in Macbeth, part of the BBC's ShakespeaRe-Told series. He starred in the BBC's The Impressionists, in which he played the young Claude Monet, and as Dr Alec Track in ITV's The Golden Hour.
He has appeared on stage in Royal Shakespeare Company productions and also in various musicals, including Cats.
In 2006 Armitage took on the major role of Sir Guy of Gisborne in the BBC series Robin Hood. He also appeared in a two-part Christmas special of The Vicar of Dibley, as Harry Kennedy - the vicar's new love interest (and eventual husband).
On 8 April 2007 he starred in George Gently, a detective drama, with Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby. Armitage played biker Ricky Deeming.
On 9 May, he appeared in the BBC Four production of Miss Marie Lloyd - Queen of The Music Hall as part of their Edwardian season in May 2007. He played Marie Lloyd's 1st husband, Percy Courtenay. Also, he also appeared in the Granada TV production of Agatha Christie's novel Ordeal by Innocence. He plays the character of Philip Durrant.
Richard joins the cast of Spooks in 2008 for series 7, as the character Lucas North.
He is involved in producing a drama based on the life of Richard III.
"Look back, look back at me." - John Thornton
Take Richard Home on DVD
![Sparkhouse [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2&4 Import - Great Britain ]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412zzOxtpcL._SL75_.jpg)
Sparkhouse [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2&4 Import - Great Britain ]
Imagine Richard as the sap farmhand in love with the heroine of this excellent Wuthering Heights update.
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The Vicar of Dibley - A Holy Wholly Happy Ending
If you're going to conclude a comedy series with a two-part Christmas special that features Dawn French getting swept off her feet by a handsome stranger, who else do you cast but Richard?
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The Impressionists
Young Monet, played by Richard Armitage, leads the group of friends with his vision for paintings that capture the images, energy and light of the modern world.
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Robin Hood - Season One (5DVD)
In his highest profile role to date, Richard Armitage plays the evil Sir Guy of Gisborne in the BBC's major new series of Robin Hood.
Amazon Price: $29.99 (as of 12/19/2009)
List Price: $59.98
Robin Hood - Season 2
In the first series the villains were much praised, particularly Richard Armitage's carefully layered Guy of Gisborne.
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Catch More of Richard Armitage!
![Between the Sheets (Complete Series 1) [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DDGHJ6PYL._SL75_.jpg)
Between the Sheets (Complete Series 1) [Region 2]
A miniseries about sex and relationships with Richard as a probation officer accused of sleeping with a teenage charge.
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Shakespeare Retold
James McAvoy of Wanted shines as Macbeth alongside Richard Armitage's Macduff.
Amazon Price: $18.99 (as of 12/19/2009)
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Vol. 4: In Divine Proportion
Richard plays a rich country boy suspected of blowing away his mistress with a shotgun.
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 12/19/2009)
Agatha Christie's Marple Series 3
Richard is one of this whodunit's stacked cast: He plays Lisa Stansfield's philandering husband and Burn Gorman's brother-in-law!
Amazon Price: $52.49 (as of 12/19/2009)
Mystery: Malice Aforethought
Richard with an eyeliner mustache. He's the posh cuckold in this Masterpiece Mystery! adaptation.
Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 12/19/2009)
Duels
What character does Richard does best?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand bySmoldering as Mr. Thornton (North & South) / Guy of Gisborne (Robin Hood)
ALice says:
Mr fornton!!!!
Posted February 16, 2009
honeymishi07 says:
He was definitely adorable as Harry but I have to say no one does that angst-driven look like he does. Those eyes! Absolutely takes your breath away.
Posted August 31, 2008
Charming as Harry (Vicar of Dibley)
North and South BBC - Serenata
Daniela Denby-Ashe
The beautiful English Actress as Margaret Hale
Daniela Denby-Ashe was born in London in 1978, and she has a brother two years her junior. Denby-Ashe is of exclusively Polish descent. Her father, Miros%u0142aw Pszkit (pronounced "Pshkeet"), was born in Poland and came to the United Kingdom aged 12. Denby-Ashe's mother was born in the UK and raised in France, but had Polish parents. Because of this, Denby-Ashe is fluent in French and Polish, as well as English. When her parents were getting married, they used the telephone directory to search for a suitable English-sounding surname, as some people wouldn't learn how to pronounce Pszkit. One found "Denby", the other "Ashe" and as they couldn't decide which to use, they decided to double-barrel the two surnames.In 2004, she took the lead female role of Margaret Hale in the BBC drama adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South, and in 2006 played Mary in the Torchwood episode Greeks Bearing Gifts. Her other television roles include Is Harry on the Boat?, Office Gossip, Rescue Me and The Afternoon Play. In 2005, she appeared in a Radio 4 comedy called Ring Around the Bath. Denby-Ashe has also performed at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and Criterion Theatre, London in The Countess and in Motortown at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre. In 2007, Denby-Ashe starred as Robert Maxwell's secretary in Maxwell, a BBC drama about his life.
"I have a...business proposition." - Margaret Hale
North and South on CafePress
Wear it. Own it. Show your N&S pride!
Recommendations
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Read the book? Watched the film? We'd love to hear from you!
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- Silent_Note Silent_Note Feb 15, 2009 @ 7:00 pm
- Nice lens! You've got some really helpful information in your review. Please feel free to stop by my lens and say hi when you get the chance.
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- Rusty-Quill Rusty-Quill Sep 6, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
- Very well done! Welcome to Review Central, this is a mighty fine addition to the group.
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- Rusty-Quill Rusty-Quill Sep 6, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
- Very well done! Welcome to Review Central, this is a mighty fine addition to the group.
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- Kate Kate Sep 3, 2008 @ 6:56 pm
- The book is amazing and of course there are loads of scenes, i wish were covered in the series. The book has more time to develop the relationship between Margaret and Thornton. Explaining more throughly how she begins to accept Thornton. I certainly would not dismiss the series though. It was what inspired me to read the novel. If the scenes were added, this would become a slow, long winded adaptation. So i am pleased they were left out. Richard Armitage is certainly the star of this piece and really pulls on your heart strings! There are also many other good actors that help bring the series alive throughout.
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- Margo_Arrowsmith Margo_Arrowsmith Aug 23, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
- I originally thought that this was going to be about The North And South novel written by an American man. How interesting to know that an English woman, about England, written 100 years earlier is about the same themes!
I will have to check it out.
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