Mary_Barton_And_The_German_Women_Textile_Workers

Mary Barton And The German Women Textile Workers Mary Barton and Female Textile workers in Germany, 1890 The employment of women in Textile factories in the late 19th century provided many examples of inhumane work conditions and the ability of those working there to overcome such adversity. Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Mary Barton provides good examples of the conditions of the textile mills in Manchester, England in the late 1800’s. When compared to the conditions to the conditions of female textile workers in Germany around the same time many similarities are made apparent. The conditions and depredations felt by Mary Barton and many of the women working in the mills was one of the novels many focal points. The women that worked in the textile mills knew that the conditions were awful, but they still felt the happiness, and the urge to sing old folk songs even though things didn’t look good. The romantic intertanglings that Mary encounters with Jem Wilson and Henry Carson can be compared to the women textile workers for they “love their machines like loving a faithful dog.” In this conflict of the heart, Gaskell is able to show the division between the two classes. Also in Mary’s own initial inability to choose textile, workers, women, mary, german, conditions, barton, one, mills, life, page, made, love, good, work, wilson, unionists, two, trade, seen, same, jem, henry, hand, dreams, condition, carson, both, ability, ‘shining, workplace, working, wanted, until, time