Victorians! discussion

Wives and Daughters was Elizabeth Gaskell’s last novel published in serial between April 1864 and January 1866 in Cornhill Magazine, which ran under the editorship of William Makepeace Thackeray in the 1860s. When Mrs Gaskell died suddenly in November 1865, the final section of the story was completed by Frederick Greenwood. The novel appears in incomplete form though one can see when one reaches those final chapters that there were just the ends left to tie up which a note by the editors does through a few pages of ‘Concluding Remarks’.

Wives and Daughters is different from Mrs Gaskell’s social novels (which take us into the lives of workers and labour, the constant hardships and tensions and strife with industrialists/employers) and focuses instead of family and relationships—fathers and daughters, siblings and stepsiblings, fathers and sons—as we follow the lives and fortunes of two families. Molly Gibson is the daughter of the local doctor Mr Gibson, who is a widower. Mr Gibson later re-marries bringing into Molly’s life a stepmother and stepsister. Cynthia, Molly’s stepsister cannot be more of a contrast to herself but the girls find allies in each other.

In their neighbourhood also live a landed family, the Hamleys who have two sons. Molly becomes greatly attached to Mrs Hamley and is also befriended by the young Hamley boy, Roger. The elder is Osborne from whom his family have great expectations, especially achievements at Cambridge but along the line tensions develop.

With so many young people in the mix, there is bound to be romance and there are a fair few romance threads—actual romantic interest, unwanted entanglements and suitable and unsuitable relationships which affect the dynamics and add to the tensions.

Join in as we follow the lives and stories of the Gibsons and Hamleys

About the author
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell who wrote as Mrs Gaskell was a novelist, biographer and short story writer. Born on 29 September 1810, to a father who was a minister but later resigned orders on conscientious grounds (reminiscent of one of her characters) and went on to serve as secretary to the Earl of Lauderdale. After her marriage to William Gaskell, a Unitarian minister, she spent time in Manchester which became an influence for her social novels. She wrote on a range of themes from social issues like the dynamics between workers and employers/mill owners to family relationships to even some whimsical short stories including one fairy tale influenced story. She also wrote ghost stories. Among her best-known works are North and South, Cranford and Mary Barton as also her biography of her friend, Charlotte Bronte. Among her distant relations was Charles Darwin who served as inspiration for some of her characters too.

Find more about her on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...

Victorian web: https://www.victorianweb.org/authors/...

Schedule
7 July: Chapters 1-7
14 July: Chapters 8-14
21 July: Chapters 15-22
28 July: Chapters 23-30
4 August: Chapters 31-38
11 August: Chapters 39-47
18 August: Chapters 48-55
25 August: Chapters 56-End

Resources:

E Book (various formats): https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/4274

Audio (various versions): https://librivox.org/search?title=Wiv...

Adaptations
Wives and Daughters has been adapted for both TV and radio including a BBC adaptation in 1999 which comes well recommended

Commentary
Victorian Web: https://www.victorianweb.org/authors/...

There are also plenty of journal pieces covering various aspects of the novel which I'll try and share as well start our read.

Please feel free to share any resources or material or interesting trivia here.

Many original artefacts relating to Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters are held at the John Rylands Library, part of the University of Manchester. They are located within their special collections. Some of the artefacts are now available online and here are three of my favourites.

Wives and Daughters Volume 1 - Original manuscript

https://www.librarysearch.manchester....

Wives and Daughters Volume 2 Original Manuscript

https://www.librarysearch.manchester....

Wives and Daughters Chapter 21 as it appeared in Cornhill Magazine Volume 11 in 1865

https://www.librarysearch.manchester....

Exploring their online resources for all things Elizabeth Gaskell can be fascinating. Just begin at the ‘Special Collections’ page and use the search facility.

https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/...

Trev wrote: "Many original artefacts relating to Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters are held at the John Rylands Library, part of the University of Manchester. They are located within their..."

Thanks so much for these, Trev!

Thank you for facilitating this read Lady Clementina. Thank you Trev for the supplemental information.

I am looking forward to this group read.

Francis wrote: "Thank you for facilitating this read Lady Clementina. Thank you Trev for the supplemental information.

I am looking forward to this group read."

Looking forward to having you join in Francis!

I loved this my first time around. I’m looking forward to viewing it from the POV of an older reader.

Renee wrote: "I loved this my first time around. I’m looking forward to viewing it from the POV of an older reader."

This will be my second read too, so in the same boat as you Renee--I do remember liking this very much as well.

I came to W&D from North and South and Mary Barton - and I was a bit disappointed by Gaskell's later apparent social compliance. Hollingwood is idyllic compared to Milton/Manchester, with romance, marriage and family at the center ... at first I wondered why Gaskell would write such a book. It took me quite a while to discover the subtleties of her social comment on class and social change. And there is always more to discover.

sabagrey wrote: "I came to W&D from North and South and Mary Barton - and I was a bit disappointed by Gaskell's later apparent social compliance. Hollingwood is idyllic compared to Milton/Manchester, with romance, ..."

There is no doubt that Elizabeth Gaskell was looking away from Manchester when she wrote Wives and Daughters. The blogs below from the Elizabeth Gaskell House website provide a fascinating insight into the author’s state of mind in the period just prior to her death. They may also suggest a reason for the location of her last novel.

https://elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk/e...

https://elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk/e...

https://elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk/e...

sabagrey wrote: "I came to W&D from North and South and Mary Barton - and I was a bit disappointed by Gaskell's later apparent social compliance. Hollingwood is idyllic compared to Milton/Manchester, with romance, ..."

So true Saba Grey; she seems to have turned her eye to a different form of society.
Incidentally, if you've read Cranford, one could somewhat compare with the picture of society there.

Trev wrote: "sabagrey wrote: "I came to W&D from North and South and Mary Barton - and I was a bit disappointed by Gaskell's later apparent social compliance. Hollingwood is idyllic compared to Milton/Mancheste..."

Thanks for these Trev; You really are a storehouse of excellent resources!

There is an upcoming online lecture about the connections between two of my favourite Victorian authors, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell, hosted by the Gaskell society. Here are the details.

https://gaskellsociety.co.uk/event/el...

https://elizabethgaskellhouse.co.uk/e...

Thanks for sharing, Trev!

For those interested, this is an online event accessible by eTicket for £5.
Event Fate: 2 October, 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm BST

Trev wrote: "There is an upcoming online lecture about the connections between two of my favourite Victorian authors, George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell, hosted by the Gaskell society. Here are the details.

ht..."

Thank you for sharing this, Trev!