Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell was an English author known for her depiction of middle-class life in small country towns. She was the first biographer of Charlotte Brontë. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote sociological novels that explored the ills of industrial England and novels of small-town life that are penetrating studies of character. Charles Dickens called her "My Dear Scheherazade".
Background
Born in Chelsea, London, Sept. 29, 1810. She was the youngest of the eight children of William Stevenson, of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Scotland, and Elizabeth Holland of an old family in Cheshire. Left motherless at the age of 13 months, she was reared by a maternal aunt, Mrs. Hannah Lumb, in Knutsford, Cheshire, which as "Cranford" was to become the scene of her most famous novel. At 13, after her happy childhood, she was sent to the boarding school in Stratford-on-Avon, where she remained for five years.
Education
In 1821 Elizabeth started attending a boarding-school near Warwick run by the Misses Byerley. The education was of high quality, broad in range and liberal in outlook. In 1824 Elizabeth’s school moved to Stratford-on-Avon, where she remained for two years, including the holidays. She studied, apart from general subject, French, Italian, and Latin.
She spent these years in surroundings that admirably suited her tastes, intelligence, and love of the country, leaving the school in 1826 an accomplished and - according to the evidence of friends and artists - a vivacious and attractive young woman.
Career
Today Gaskell is generally considered a lesser figure in English letters remembered chiefly for her minor classics "Cranford and Wives and Daughters: An Every-day Story". Gaskell's early fame as a social novelist began with the 1848 publication of “Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life”, in which she pricked the conscience of industrial England through her depiction and analysis of the working classes. Many critics were hostile to the novel because of its open sympathy for the workers in their relations with the masters, but the high quality of writing and characterization were undeniable. The later publication of “North and South”, also dealing with the relationship of workers and masters, strengthened Gaskell's status as a leader in social fiction.
Two controversies marred Gaskell's literary career. In 1853 she shocked and offended many of her readers with “Ruth”, an exploration of seduction and illegitimacy prompted by anger at moral conventions that condemned a "fallen woman" to ostracism and almost inevitable prostitution. The strength of the novel lies in its presentation of social conduct within a small Dissenting community when tolerance and rigid morality clash. The second controversy arose following the 1857 publication of “The Life of Charlotte Brontë”. The biography's initial wave of praise was quickly followed by angry protests from some of the people dealt with. Despite the initial complications and restrictions necessitated by conventions of that period, “The Life of Charlotte Brontë” has established itself as one of the great biographies; later biographies have modified but not replaced it.
During 1858 and 1859 Gaskell wrote several items, mainly for Dickens, of which two are of particular interest. “My Lady Ludlow”, a short novel cut in two by a long digressive tale, is reminiscent of “Cranford”, yet the setting and social breadth anticipates “Wives and Daughters”. The second work, “Lois the Witch”, is a somber novella concerning the Salem witch trials which prefigures Gaskell's next work, “Sylvia's Lovers”, by its interest in morbid psychology. “Sylvia's Lovers” is a powerful if somewhat melodramatic novel. The first two volumes are full of energy; they sparkle and have humor. The ending, however, shows forced invention rather than true tragedy.
Most critics agree that “Cousin Phillis” is Gaskell's crowning achievement in the short novel. “Cousin Phillis” is also recognized as a fitting prelude for Gaskell's final and most widely acclaimed novel, “Wives and Daughters: An Every-Day Story”, which ran in “Cornhill” from August 1864 to January 1866. The final installment was never written, yet the ending was known and the novel as it exists is virtually complete.
Critical awareness of Gaskell as a social historian is now more than balanced by awareness of her innovativeness and artistic development as a novelist. While scholars continue to debate the precise nature of her talent, they also reaffirm the singular attractiveness of her best works.
Achievements
Elizabeth Gaskell’s descriptions of everyday life and customs of provincial cities and their inhabitants brought glory to her. Moreover, she went down in history of British literature as an outstanding biographer, creating "The Life of Charlotte Brontë".
Although she was enthusiastically interested in the political questions of the day, and her warm, impulsive nature made her ready at any time to give personal help and sympathy where it seemed to be needed, Mrs Gaskell refrained from taking active part in public movements or social reforms.
Interests
German literature, travelling
Writers
Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper, George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë
Connections
Father (1770-1829):
William Stevenson
William Stevenson, who came from Berwick-on-Tweed, had been successively Unitarian minister, farmer, boarding-house keeper for students at Edinburgh, editor of the Scots Magazine, and contributor to the Edinburgh Review, before he received the post of Keeper of the Records to the Treasury, which he held until his death.
Mother (1771-1811):
Elizabeth Holland
Mrs Stevenson, Mrs Gaskell's mother, was Miss Holland, of Sandlebridge in Cheshire, an aunt of the late Sir Henry Holland. She died when Elizabeth was only thirteen months old.
Brother (1798–1828):
John Stevenson
John was Elizabeth's elder brother who joined the Merchant Navy with the East India Company's fleet in 1822. In 1827 he went to India, where he disappeared without any apparent motive and all further trace of him was lost.
Stepmother since 1814:
Catherine Thomson
She was the second wife of William Stevenson with whom he had two children. She was a sister of the Scottish miniature artist, William John Thomson, who made a famous portrait of Gaskell in 1832.
Husband (1805-1884):
William Gaskell
On 30 August 1832 at the Knutsford Parish Church Elizabeth married William Gaskell. They both taught Sunday school and volunteered for much-needed charitable causes in Manchester. Reverend William was a prime supporter of his wife's writing career. He was always the critic she turned to first.
Daughter (1834-1920):
Marianne Gaskell
Marianne, who was so thrilled with her engagement to Thurstan Holland, may indeed have enjoyed a happy marriage, but suffered blow after blow as her children were born. Not only did she suffer the loss of at least one infant, a common enough occurrence during her lifetime, but at least two of her children were born profoundly deaf. In 1884 Marianne became a widow. In spite of all these sorrows she was the longest surviving daughter, living on until 1920.
Daughter (1837-1913):
Margaret Emily Gaskell
Margaret, known as Meta, was the Gaskells' third daughter (their first dauhter was stillborn). She had never been married. It was her to whom publishers and editors turned, especially during the run-up to the Gaskell Centenary in 1910, when her mother's books were reprinted. Meta appears to have accepted this responsibility at least initially with enthusiasm, taking pride in her mother’s achievements and willingly protecting her reputation.
Daughter (1842-1881):
Florence Elizabeth Gaskell
Florence, the first daughter to marry, enjoyed considerable material comfort and social position in her marriage. Although her mother had once written despairingly of Florence’s lack of ability, she clearly inherited her mother’s talent for socializing and, with more time at her disposal than her mother, was able to entertain some of the London literati of that time. Though childless, it was a full and happy life until her untimely death in 1881 when she was still in her thirties.
Son (1844-1845):
William Gaskell
William was her only son, born between the third and fourth of her four living daughters, but he died of scarlet fever at the age of ten months. The death of this baby is said to have been the cause of Mrs Gaskell's beginning to write, when she was urged by her husband to do so, in order to turn her thoughts from her own grief.
Daughter (1846 - 1908):
Julia Bradford Gaskell
Julia performed many public duties, some of which were associated with her father’s ministry at Cross Street Chapel and the Sunday School at Lower Mosley Street. She helped to relieve distress in the city as her mother had done, following on from her example. she as well as Meta had never been married, but she didn't felt less than happy in her unmarried state or in her place of abode.
Aunt (1767-1837):
Hannah Lumb
When Elizabeth’s mother died, she was brought up by a maternal aunt Mrs. Lumb. This lady had married a wealthy Yorkshire gentleman, but a few months after her marriage and before the birth of her child she discovered that her husband was insane and fled from him to her old house in a little market town of Knutsford, in Cheshire. Mrs Lumb's own daughter died and she transferred all her affection to little Elizabeth.
Friend (13 September 1827 - 1 July 1878):
Catherine Winkworth
She was one of a few intimate and cultured friends of Elizabeth Gaskell. More than any other single person, she helped to bring the German chorale tradition to the English speaking world.
Friend (21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855):
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was a British novelist, the eldest out of the three famous Brontë sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature.
Gaskell's friendship with Charlotte Bronte dates from 1850 when the two authoresses met at the house of Sir James and Lady Kay Shuttleworth, near Bowness, in Westmore-land, and Mrs Gaskell received her first impressions of the shy " little lady in a black silk gown", who afterwards became personally her dear friend - although, from a literary point of view, they could hardly help being rivals - and the story of whose life, when it was ended, Mrs Gaskell was destined to write with such consummate care and tender appreciation.
Friend (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870):
Charles Dickens
Dickens admired her writing, but he could not stop tinkering with her words. They quarrelled often, but they could also be flirtatious. Their friendship, however, never went beyond the bounds of propriety.
