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Library's collection Library's IT development CancelMary Barton and North and South are two outstanding novels written by
Elizabeth Gaskell, an English novelist. These novels are categorized as social-problem
novels which talk about the contemporary social and industrial issues.
Moreover, these novels also involve women's roles, with their heroines revealing
unfeminine energies. In fact, these novels are dominated by their female
characters' struggles; therefore, the discussion in this thesis will focus on the main
female characters, Mary Barton in Mary Barton and Margaret Hale in North and
South, and their struggles for the freedom of the other characters named Jem
Wilson, Bessy Higgins, Nicholas Higgins, and also John Thornton. The thesis
writer will try to connect both struggles in a comparative study. Moreover,
concerning the influences of setting toward the character traits of the main female
characters, the writer will use the theory of setting, characterization and theme in
analyzing those struggles since the characterization can be influenced by setting,
and the theme can be revealed by characterization. From the similarities and
differences of those two struggles, the different ideas of freedom can be seen.
Finally, at the end of the story, the writer sees that the main female characters in
Mary Barton and North and South can succeed in their struggles for they struggle
very hard.