some thoughts on cranford by elizabeth gaskell
fiction
“In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women. If a married couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties, or he is accounted for by being with his regiment, his ship, or closely engaged in business all week in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble.”
a town in the possession of Amazons with barely any men. yes, go on.
cranford is a delightful, short work that we discussed this week at the virtual Literary Salon I attend monthly. my edition didn’t even pass 150 pages, which made it a delightful snack during a busy time. it was initially published as a serial, so reading it chapter by chapter, even one a day, would serve well in capturing the original rhythm of the writing.
it is engaged in the daily ongoings of the village residents as observed by the female narrator who, only in chapter 14(!) do we learn her name (Mary Smith).
“A man,” as one of them observed to me once, “is so in the way in the house!”
a light read, reminiscent of an Austen meets a Bronte - fun, but not frivolous - themes of kindness, friendship, aging, and social norms are prevalent throughout.
“It is very pleasant dining with a bachelor…I only hope it is not improper; so many pleasant things are!”
in another writer’s hands, cranford might have been a secret society or a coven of witches. as it is, it feels haunted by what if’s and other lives that could have been.
There is a cow dressed in flannel, a man who abhors capitalization who changes his name to begin with two ‘ff’s that finds himself a lovely partner whose name also begins with two lower case ‘ff’s. the layers of detail, from the significance of the names, to the rushing to get new caps made for social events, really has to be taken in slowly.
marisa from Le Salon Literary Discussions has a helpful blog post with a great summary and a list of who is who, which can be VERY handy when reading this book!
Gaskell wrote the vignettes of Cranford in response to the Victorian debate that women couldn’t be friends with other women (because of a ‘natural’ tendency for jealousy, vindictiveness, and spite) and wouldn’t be able to manage outside their designated domestic sphere. She set out to show the Victorian angels in the house could live alongside each other and thrive in the outside world. blog post here.
keeping this one to read slowly, two chapters a night, in future. you should too.
N x