North & South discussion

I thought it would be good to have a place to summarize our thoughts on this whole work.

Also, it may be interesting to compare and contrast the themes and characters here with "North and South."

Comments on the BBC adaptation and its success in presenting the story are also welcome.

The website for the miniseries is still live
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/w...
It's very close to the book from what I remember. People accuse Andrew Davies of sexing up Jane Austen but he mostly restrained himself with Wives and Daughters. For me, the stand out of the adaptation was Michael Gambon as Squire Hamley. I did not like his interpretation of Dumbledore but he's incredible in Wives and Daughters. He's also very good in Cranford.

I think Andrew Davies does a great job in conveying the story.

I just finished watching the first episode. Here, it's apparent that Mr Gibson finds Clare attractive and there's a shade of sexual interest in the idea of marrying again as he sizes her up.

Although I didn't catch any overt clues toward that leaning in the book, I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume Mr Gibson might be eager to resume marital relations after many years of celibacy. It's clever of Davies to put that sexual attraction in there. Clare IS very pleasing to look at, and the man has been alone a long time. He's only human.

You can see in this production that his original motivation was to secure a female guardian for Molly, but as he sees Clare the personal motives begin to kick in.

Just another man swiftly enchanted by a pretty face and sweet talking.
Those scientific men aren't very scientific when selecting a mate!

Maybe Gaskell is also commenting on how often men swiftly choose a life mate based on surface appearances.

Ah so Davies DID sex up the story! I'm sure Mr. Gibson was attracted to Clare if she's even more beautiful than her daughter. All the men love Cynthia for her looks.

My final thought is that Gaskell is easy to read.

I would read more by this author.

I've been watching the mini-series in episodes the last few days. I thought the first 3 parts were brilliantly done... condensed but including just the right things to keep it true to the book. Part 4 was very good too but it skipped more and started to romanticize things, and add a few others. I still enjoyed it though.

This book should definitely be considered a classic.