In The Hand of Ethelberta and Mary Barton, the strong relationship between parenting and social mobility is evident, particularly the maternal relationship and the effect on female protagonists, with the latter dictated and limited by the former. As such, Gaskell and Hardy present the harsh Victorian gender roles at play in their respective novels, as neither Mary nor Ethelberta are allowed to move freely across class boundaries of their own accord, rather both are presented with the possibility of severe repercussions for have transgressed. against their apparent social class. Ethelberta cannot abandon her family ties and live isolated, but at the same time she cannot abandon the image and personality she created for herself in London, while Mary cannot attempt to achieve social mobility for fear of being marginalized by society and to end up in a lower position. of what he inherited from his family, like his aunt Ester. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During the Victorian era, motherhood was considered the highest achievement for a woman and was therefore idealized in society, with many women fully aspiring to become mothers and nothing else. In her article Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain, Abrams states that "the ideal of true motherhood required women to be constantly present for their children" and their caring role consumed their entire life and concentration, preventing them from fully to contribute financially to the family and to be committed. paid work. As such, this meant that mothers, particularly those from a working or lower class, were destined to exist in the realm of the domestic sphere where they had to sacrifice, care and know everything. The Victorians embarked on the idea that only mothers were responsible for the upbringing of their children, the ones solely responsible and entrusted by their husbands and society at large to cover all areas of development and essentially to ensure that they raised moral and intellectual children who were even physically and spiritually intact. Undoubtedly, this was the only occasion in which mothers, and women in general, were granted the power to adopt higher authority, but this could only occur within the domestic sphere. The Absence of the Mother and the Role of the Mother Figure in Mary Barton It is particularly interesting to note how Gaskell intentionally omits Mrs. Barton from the narrative due to her early death, leaving young Mary a "motherless girl." Mary herself states that "...my mother died before I was thirteen, before I could know right from wrong about some things..." blaming her mistakes and mistakes on her mother's absence, failing to take responsibility for her actions because she believed that "if my mother had lived she would have helped me." She believes that she would have had a better moral compass or, at the very least, rules to stick to if her mother had been alive to dissuade her from doing the badly and, ultimately, teach her how to be "proper". independence and the ability to make decisions on her own, although she was initially making the wrong ones, automatically corrects her mistakes throughout the novel. This freedom and independence meant that Mary was able to break out of the rigid confines of her social class, too if fleeting, and momentarily detach from the stigmassocial groups associated with his class. This however, as expected, does not last long as her naivety has meant that although she is able to use her beauty as a means to gain wealth and higher social status, "her "plan" is not well designed and based on Carson's total acceptance of her as a valid partner in marriage", as Jung argues in Gaskell's essay Liminal Feminiity in Mary Barton and Wives and Daughters. While the young and superficial Mary believed that her beauty should make her a "lady" and marriage was the way to do so, relying solely on Carson to change her position in society, his reckless courtship blinded her to the fact that he loves another. man, Jem. Her desire and idealization of potentially being a woman push her to totally ignore her father's urge to not be like her aunt Esther, forgetting the harsh fate she faced for transgressing society. In her goal to elevate her position, Mary has not considered that the failure of her relationship with Carson has a very serious and very realistic possibility of stripping her of her already low status and making her a social outcast. As such, her mother's absence is here most evident through her flawed character and thus highlights the relationship between parenting and social mobility - while her father did his best to instill his beliefs in Mary, her mother was not there to impose it. her and so, the decline of her social status was increasingly possible. Unlike Mary's notion of her supposed need for a mother, Gaskell does not present a direct relationship between having a mother and necessarily being a good or "healthy" virtuous woman in the novel. This is particularly evident through the character of Sally, who is described as “vulgar-minded” despite having a mother who could have helped her become a proper and virtuous young woman. Rather, her mother encourages her behavior and has the same behavior as her daughter. This is therefore strongly contrasted with the character of Margaret, presented as a virtuous young woman and opposite to that of Mary herself, yet despite this, Margaret was raised by her grandfather without a female figure. As such, perhaps Mary is wrong to blame her behavior on her mother's absence and should rather place this blame on her father, who was present during her adolescence. John Barton's depression soon after his wife's death, however, led him to greatly increase his involvement in the Union as a Chartist, spending less and less time with Mary. In doing so, he fails to effectively convey his beliefs about class and social inequalities to Mary, rather she ultimately adopts the need to help others when she internalizes Jem's feelings for her and saves his life, effectively learning from his lover what he could. he goes to his father. In doing so, Gaskell undermines the Victorian notion that female virtue and behavior are the direct result of a mother-daughter relationship as she fails to take into account motherless daughters who are virtuous as well as daughters who are negatively influenced by their own mothers . mothers are promiscuous and frivolous. Rather, Gaskell demonstrates the many different internal and external factors that determine female virtue, particularly considering the role of class in determining how a woman might act sexually or promiscuously while still being considered socially acceptable. Despite her mother's death and Mary's personal beliefs that she had no mother figure, in fact she has several women who seemingly play this role in her life throughout the novel,each with a different amount of influence on her respectively; including, apparently, his aunt Esther and Jane Wilson. Mary, however, fails to recognize that there were other women who could have fulfilled her longing and longing for a mother as a young woman simply because she was so often living in the past and thus was blind to these suitable candidates. Rather than seeking maternal help from other women, Maria seeks out her dead mother in her dreams of the past. Although Mary ages and matures over the course of the novel, Gaskell presents her in a childlike manner when she dreams, transforming into her young, vulnerable self, with her heart crying out to her mother for help as he sees her in her "half-dreaming, half-awake state." Gaskell does this to heighten the “pitiful” loss that Mary faced at such a young age, while avoiding undermining the sheer influence this had on her development as a young woman. Evidently, while these "surrogate" maternal characters could fulfill Mary's need for a mother, her biological mother could never be replaced and perhaps this lack of an existing relationship with her mother is what prevents her from achieving such social mobility. such as lack of relationship and interaction with women of higher positions. This is in contrast to Hardy's Ethelberta who had a relationship with her mother, providing a basis for her moral foundation, as well as a relationship with her mother-in-law that provided her with the means to support her newfound class identity. In The Hand of Ethelberta, Hardy, like Gaskell, omits Ethelberta's mother from much of the narrative, instead presenting her as having a stronger relationship with her father through their frequent dialogue and communication in the letters they exchange. Thus the ill Mrs. Chickerel is stripped of her role as wife and mother and becomes rather dependent, like her children, on her husband and older working children, and therefore no longer has much influence on her. children. This reversal of the roles of mother and daughter is highlighted by Hardy in the novel so as to justify Ethelberta's maternal concern for her family and her incessant attempts to raise their position on the social ladder. Ethelberta believes that “it is my duty, at all risks and with every sacrifice of feeling, to educate and provide for them. I can't help the adults much, older than me, but I can help the little ones." Mrs. Chickerel is described as having "played the part of mother and wife", the latter being a more apt description of Ethelberta, who despite being the middle child, is essentially forced to grow up and act selflessly to care for the his large family. - a role that her mother could no longer play due to her worsening personal well-being. Ethelberta's relationship with her family as a whole is severely strained due to the class differences that operate within the family. Evidently, it is not only social status and class that divide the family, but other factors also increase tensions including education, language, beliefs and social relationships. experiences that only serve to further divide the sense of familiarity between them. In order to support and provide for her family, Ethelberta requires multiple sources of stable income due to the size of her family. This is what drives her to consider renting accommodation in her London residence, using her home as an area to gain monetary value despite the fact that this could tarnish her position in society and dismantle her image if was discovered. She argues that she must ignore the risk involved in the act because "I have thought of every possible way to combine the dignified social position I owemaintain to make my tale attractive, with my absolute want of money, and I see no better.” As such, Hardy presents Ethelberta as hopeful but naive since in order for her to maintain her image, her family would be forced to play a role in her act. There is a theatrical element to this wishful thinking as everyone has a part to play and it is orchestrated by Ethelberta, who can be seen in some ways as a director in the play that is her life. In plotting and planning his act of class identity, he must recruit his family, creating a cast that is essentially more workers than his relatives. The colloquial language used by Ethelberta's family members is a representation of their internalization of working-class culture and is used by Gaskell as a means of resistance against the middle and upper classes, including Ethelberta herself, further dividing them. Another character in Hardy's novel who fills the role of the mother is Lady Petherwin, who takes Ethelberta under her protection, educating her into a good young woman, taking "much trouble for her education" to give her the ability to create a sustainable image for herself and exist without question or being discovered in social spaces. Ethelberta quickly became his “daughter and companion,” living under her mother-in-law's roof with the attached condition that “Ethelberta should never openly acknowledge her relatives.” While it may seem harsh and restrictive, in hindsight it is clear to readers that Lady Petherwin did this to protect Ethelberta and to ensure that she maintained her position in society without threat. To maintain this position, Ethelberta must maintain appearances as expected by society and particularly that of her class. She cannot be seen with people of a lower class position let alone living with her family as she desired and often requested, which Lady Petherwin rightly refused. It is evident that Ethelberta's relationship with her mother-in-law, who initially and immediately before her death was a surrogate mother to Ethelberta, played a fundamental role in her ability to participate in social mobility, providing her with the tools to become independent. It is essentially Ethelberta's family and parents who burden her and totally prevent her from climbing the social ladder and furthering her position, identity and fulfilling her personal desires. Hardy explains that there is not only economic pressure for Ethelberta to bear, but, in adopting the role of "mother" in the family, she must also invest her emotions heavily through genuine care and frequent contact with them - the latter probably has the power ability to be much more harmful than the other as it leaves her more vulnerable to the possibility of being unmasked and revealed to reveal her true class background. Both Ethelberta and Mary Barton see marriage as the initial and accessible means of transforming their social positions, relying entirely on their male counterparts to strengthen them, in the hope of bringing themselves and their respective families out of poverty and into the comforts of life. However, both women lose this perspective shortly after this becomes possible, Ethelberta's husband dies prematurely and Mary realizes that her true feelings are for Jem. Ethelberta however had Lady Petherwin who supported, provided for and educated her to allow her independence and validate her position in society. However, even after being cut off financially, Ethelberta provided for herself through her literary work and was able to maintain her class position and her.