Revolution and Reform in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Fiction

Abstract

This article provides a reading of Elizabeth Gaskell’s social novel North and South and later historical fiction in the context of nineteenth-century debates about individual liberty and the authority of the state. Focused on the novel’s depiction of modes of dissent and the significance of Gaskell’s turn from contemporary to historical subjects, the article concludes with a reflection on the encounter with history and literature as imaginative and transformative experiences.