Showing posts with label Elizabeth Gaskell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elizabeth Gaskell. Show all posts

Monday, June 17, 2013

A new to heroine love...

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I have found another heroine to love. It is Molly Gibson from the novel Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell. Molly Gibson is an only daughter of the strong headed and odd Dr. Gibson and she has made it her life's work to serve her father very unselfishly. At the beginning of the story a Mr. Coxe has fallen for her but her father, kind of selfishly, keeps Mr. Coxe's feelings unknown, and sends his daughter off to Hamley Hall. This is where the real action starts. At Hamely Hall we truly see Molly's sacrificing soul as we see her take care of the ailing Mrs. Hamely. Also during this time Dr. Gibson gets engaged to a silly woman. But what is most important for this blog post is we meet Roger Hamley, the second son of the Squire.
Molly and Roger
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I have watched the mini-series a few times and I have fallen in love with it. Plus I know from the comments on YouTube it doesn't have the great romantic ending that the mini-series has because Gaskell dies before she finished the book. So I was intrigued to see where the novel ended. I began reading the novel and I have fallen in love with Molly Gibson.
Molly, Cynthia, and Mrs. Gibson
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Molly is frequently compared to with her step-sister, Cynthia. I feel Gaskell stresses Cynthia's beauty because it is seems to be only outer beauty. Cynthia wants to be good but her mannerism is prone to trouble and while she talks a good deal of goodness she doesn't really improve. Also Cynthia knows she is a beauty, she likes to flirt with men, and use her beauty to get men's attention. Any way Molly is all goodness and everyone around her can see her sweet nature but the man she loves hardly notices her. In fact he sees her only as a sister. And Molly is so sacrificial that she never says one word of her love to Roger Hamley and actually encourages Cynthia in her relationship with Roger.

I am right now at the part where Molly is in pain because she is realizing that Cynthia does not truly love Roger and it breaks her heart. I am happy that have watched the mini-series to know that there is a happy ending for her because right now my heart is breaking for her. 

Molly is the kind of person who is sensible, good hearted, always caring for others over herself, and while she does not speak of it much she has a deep and passionate heart. In some ways I feel she is the heroine I wish I could be and in other ways I feel very much like her. By this I mean, I am not always good at expressing my emotions but I do have a deep heart to love. Molly is written off as plane and I sometimes when I look in the mirror I see a plane girl. Also Molly is noted for spending too much time in her books. But I wish I was like Molly in the way she is always caring for others above her own self and this in the end gives her a happy ending.
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I used to get annoyed with characters who are seen as behaving properly all the time, they seemed too perfect, and a good heroine has flaws. Though the more I read the more I find the more I love these heroines who are sacrificial in the way they act, do not always let their hearts known, but yet they do long for passion and a soul mate. I would count Elinor Dashwood, Fanny Price, Amy Dorrit, and Anne Elliot even though I am not a big fan of Persuasion.

If you love Jane Austen or if you are looking for another heroine to fall in love with I recommend Molly Gibson. I hope she is the kind of heroine I can become and write about in my stories for I feel she is a great role model to live up to. 
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Besides my love for Molly Gibson, the whole mini-series is great with some great one liners...
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To read more on other heroines I have fallen in love with... A Jane Austen Heroine

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Period Dramas: The Good, the Bad, and all The Heartache...

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My summer of watching Period Drama continues

So far here are my favorite (in no particular order) I have discovered this spring/summer

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I have already written about this series in my post Period Drama Weekend but I still love it. Some times I am tempted to re-watch it all over again. But right now I am still seeking new films and my pinterest board To Netflix or Not to Netflix is growing (even though I don't have a Netflix account I am finding YouTube and the Boston Public Library to be a great place to find movies... even if I have to watch them in pieces. 
Here is a preview...



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I am actually surprised I have not written about this one yet. I think I discovered it during my blogging break during the end of my semester. It is the story of Denise who comes from the country to work at her uncle's tailor shop but he doesn't have enough work for her so she finds employment at the new department store of The Paradise. Some one on Pinterest told me Mr. Selfridge is better than the Paradise... I do not think that is correct. Denise is very motivated to have the best in life, and that might sound selfish, I would say Denise is far from spoiled she is just a go-getter with big dreams and an ambition to see it through. Mr. Moray, her boss, is also a go-getter but he has a dark past that haunts him. I loved The Paradise and while it is only 8 episodes long (they are up on YouTube thanks to MsElifora) there is so much fun drama.

Here is a preview...
Also the costumes are fabulous... not so much the shop girls as they frequently wear black dresses but the customer's get to wear pretty dresses.
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You might recognize the girl in that picture she also plays Laura in my next favorite...

3. Lark Rise to Candleford
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I have already recently talked about this one in "My one Weakness" post but I think from that post it is quite clear my love for it. I think this is the most humorous period "drama", it is so light hearted and hard to some times believe all the drama that can happen in a small town and in that way it make it funny.

3. Cranford-
The controllers of Cranford
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 I can't remember when I originally watched this so I don't know if it is right putting it under the category of films I discovered this spring and summer and loved. But I do love it. It based off of three works of Elizabeth Gaskell. It is about the lives of this little town and the single and widowed middle class women. They all seem to be busy bodies but they always say to keep to themselves, that is until a new young doctor comes into town and really shakes things up. At one point he has three women thinking they love him but he only has eyes for Peggy (they are in the picture at the top). There are other sub plots as we learn the story of the town of Cranford but I must laugh at all the "drama" that can happen in these small towns.

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The blog post this picture comes from as some good insight.
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It is based of a Louisa May Alcott novel. I thought the story was good but a little too sappy.Yes, I can think stories are too sappy. The one scene I really liked was when our heroine, Edith, turns down the proposal to James Percy (Thomas Gibson from Dharma and Greg), it is not that she doesn't love him she just knows that their places in life are so distant that it would be wrong to get married. Then she goes off and he finds her being attacked by another man and he comes to her rescue and sticks up for her virtues. But over all it is like a Cinderella story with a twist of fate.

My Gilmore Girl fans will recognize some of the places that are also used in Chilton and the Hutzenberger's home. 
Chilton Academy
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Huntzberger's foyer
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I may or may not have seen Gilmore Girls too much to realize this.


Here are some I did not like...
1. Jane Eyre.
I have already used up too much of my blog on this movie in my "Jane Eyre...what the" post so I will not rant about it again. 
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I also talk about this movie in my "Period Film Weekend" and while I give it an A+ on the costuming and thought it was great to see Hugh Bonneville play a bad guy.I did not like it because I found the story dragged out too much and I was not happy because the woman I thought was the heroine did not have a happy ending. So just watch it for the great costumes...
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3. The Way We Live Now
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I watched this film because I have been really impressed by Andrew Davies adaptations, he did Mr. Selfridge, Bridget Jones Diaries, Little Dorrit and LOTS of others. And I love Matthew Macfayden, even though Colin Firth is my favorite Mr. Darcy he is great and I love him in Little Dorrit, so with these two credentials I watched it. Sadly I never wanted to hit someone so bad. He is spoiled, in the beginning of the movie he has already spent his inheritance and goes searching for a rich wife (who he does not love) and then sleeps with a poorer girl. Later on in the story when the poorer girl is upset he won't marry her, she leaves, and then he almost raps her (fortunately she is saved). His only redeeming quality is he does protect his sister, Hetta, from entering a marriage to a man who is a scandal. Fortunately he has a happy ending for Hetta. 
Hetta and Paul
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Now since I'd rather talk about things I love more than things I dis-like I will stop my list there...
I think this post has gotten too long so I might have to write another post to cover some more period dramas I like. If you want to see more Period Dramas I like follow my Chivalry Does Exist board on Pinterest. If you have any questions about links to these shows please contact me

Here are some other blogs I love that talk about Period Dramas...

And one last picture, that I think all us period drama lovers can agree with...
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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

North and South


It took me since October but I have finally finished North and South!!! I am doing a happy dance only because it has taken me so long to read a book. Of course I have been attempting to read a novel while going to grad school and working a full time job. But still I did it. I finished it last night at 1:05 AM.

The biggest lesson I learned was if you are going to read a book in grad school make sure you can pick it up and be able to put it down again. I was only able to do this because I had watched the mini series of it a few months ago(for my blog post on that click here). I knew the plot and basically what was happening but sometimes I did get lost in Higgins dialect. I don't know factory workers actually talked back then but Elizabeth Gaskell did a good job I felt of being authentic. It wasn't until after I read the book I saw a little glossary in the back of all the slang.... so maybe that would have helped too.

I cannot decide if this is a spoiler alert or not... but for the most part the love story between Mr. Thorton and Margaret Hale is a lot like Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett. They both have assumptions about how the world should be. Margaret is kind of idealistic but her life has been kind of sheltered so it makes sense that she is shelter. Mr. Thorton though now he is on top, he has a hard life and that has made him hard. But Margaret's beauty, her idealism and even the way she stands up for the things that she sees as wrong make Mr. Thorton attracted to her. Then when she stands up to the crowd of picketers for Mr. Thorton every one is convinced she loves him. So he goes and proposes to her, like Mr. Darcy, she refuses him but still Mr. Thorton can't stop loving her. But both are very wrong in their perception of each other. Of course North and South is not as rosy as Pride and Prejudice, Margaret must go through a lot of heart ache before the end of the story. But some how through it all she still has her ideals intact. She also learns to love Milton, a place she thought she would never love. She also discovers she loves Mr. Thorton.

Since I have already written about this story in my Love some Melodrama post you can read the plot there. Plus I don't want to give too much away.

Over all while I enjoyed reading the book I think the movie is a must watch before trying to read. As a lot of things happens, there are a few different characters to keep track of and there are a few twist to follow. I can't yet tell if this a book I will read over and over again (like I do with my Austen's) or if this is a one time read. Maybe one day when I am not in grad school it won't take me so long to get through it.

But now on to my next book A Jane Austen Education. It was recommended to me by roommate who shares a love of Jane Austen. It is about a guy reading Jane Austen and discovering life truths in her novels. So far he is anti-Jane Austen but from his first paragraph he seems to turn into a Jane Austen fan (more proof that men can like Jane Austen). It is not a novel so I look forward to some non-fiction.
" I was twenty six, and about as dumb, in all human beings, as any twenty-six-year-old has the right to be, when I met the woman who would change my life. That she'd been dead for a couple hundred years made not the slightest difference whatsoever. Her name was Jane Austen, she would teach me everything I know everything that matters."- William Deresiewics (first paragraph).

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Love some Melodrama?

Found at Enchanted Serenity of Period Films
On Saturday Night I went to my friend's house and we watched North and South  a BBC miniseries based of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story. It is not about the Civil War as I orginally thought when my friend suggested we watch it. My friend told me it was mix of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. I was intrigued to watch this because this friend does not like anything romantic so I was not going to pass up a chance to watch an historical romantic film with her but I knew nothing about it, and I don't really know Elizabeth Gaskell's writing but after watching this movie I am intrigued. Now if only it was winter break the next time I have free for fun reading. 

So the plot is a lot like like Pride and Prejudice...
Bessie Higgins
Found at Austenitis
Margaret Hale moves from her simple country village in the south part of England. A town she has romantic ideals about and cherishes in her heart to Milton a mill town (in the North, and completely different than the South) where she meets John Thorton. They immediately disagree and she's him really harsh, which I agree with. I mean the first time we meet him he punches a man for smoking in a factory. But John Thorton has a hard past. He has been working hard to get his family to the position it is in most of his life. Also smoking could cause the whole factory to burn down and its 100s of employees to die in the fire. So I guess reflecting on it, he harsh for a reason but it was little unsettling. Margaret has a hard time adjusting to this new life, she says even months after living there she makes wrong turns every where she goes. The people of Milton are proud and don't take charity even when starving. But she does make friends with Bessie Higgins, who you might know as Cassandra Austen from Becoming Jane. She is the daughter of Mr. Higgins who is trying to organize all the mill workers to unionize and strike. Of course the bosses (Thorton included don't want this and will use their power to stop it). Through out this time you see Thorton's budding feelings for Margaret, because she speaks her mind and stands up for what she thinks is right, ah women with independent thought are always attractive. The strike does happen but Thorton can't risk losing business just because he has no employees so he hires Irish men to come over and work. That only arises violence and in the sweep of things Margaret tries to calm the crowd and gets hit in the head with a rock.

Margaret defending Mr. Thorton
Found at Felice's Log
People, including Mrs. Thorton (Thorton's mother) sees Margaret defending Thorton as a public deceleration of her love for him. So the next day he goes over and proposes... and like in Pride and Prejudice he is turned down. But it is so melodramatic it is just great to get swept up in. 

Then like in the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice you see Mr. Thorton walk away replaying the past incident, upset at what has just happened. The next hour is very much the Charles Dickens side of the story seeing the aftermath of the strike and the violence and sadly a few good characters die and Margaret is thrown into controversy. Her long lost brother returns home to be with her ailing mother and when he tries to sneak out of Milton people see her embrace him and not knowing she has a brother think she is scandalous. They also think she was involved in a murder, yeah its kind of complicated but I don't want to give away any spoilers. But when Margaret's name is brought up in controversy Thorton does what he can to protect her name from being spoiled. Also through some twist of the, Margaret ends up with a great deal of fortune and owning the mill Thorton has leased through her godfather Mr. Bell (yeah another complication) but like any good love story the couple ends up together happily.


Beside the melodramatic movie and the blend of a Jane Austen love story and the plight of the working man. I liked how accurate the movie was. In my history classes I have read stories about the mill factories being dangerous places to work. But this kind of brought it more to life. When ever there is footage of the mill factory we see cotton flying around. You see the danger of the working conditions that these mill workers have. And even Bessie through out the movie as a constant cough and complains it is a cold but really it is cotton particles clogging her lungs. These scenes are greatly shot. 

I also have to give a shout out for the great costume design. Rather they are the poor workers, to the high class Thortons and the in the middle the Hales every outfit captures the attitude of the character. 
Found at Felice's Log

To see more on this mini series check out these sites...
North and South
Felicie's Log
Period Drama.com
Enchanted Serenity of Period Films