Mrs. Gaskell

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 666K words
Chapters: 67

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mrs. Gaskell by Elizabeth Cleghorn GaskellAuthor: Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 2, 2018

Editor's review

Titled Mrs. Gaskell, this work belongs to the literature on Elizabeth Gaskell, is catalogued under English language and literature, and is distributed free of charge by Project Gutenberg. Gaskell is known for novels such as Mary Barton, North and South, and Cranford, and excelled at depicting class differences and everyday human relations in industrial society. The book serves as a supplementary aid to understanding Gaskell and her writings; read alongside her major novels, it can help readers grasp the connections between nineteenth-century English literature and social issues. Because the source material indicates only the author and category without specifying the contents, readers should first confirm the nature of the text (biography, criticism, or a collection of works) before deciding whether to read it closely or selectively. For students of Victorian literature, it is an easily accessible public-domain text; for general readers, it is better suited to extended reading than as a first introduction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature seeking foundational material for Gaskell studies
Lovers of Victorian fiction who want to learn more about the author and her works' background
English teachers looking for public-domain texts for classroom excerpts or comparative reading
Readers accustomed to English-language source texts who can judge the content for themselves

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners unfamiliar with Gaskell and her era
Readers who want only strongly plotted novels and have limited interest in biography or criticism
Exam candidates who need systematic literary histories or authoritative annotated editions

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and preface to determine whether the book is a biography, criticism, or a collection of works, then plan your reading accordingly
Read it alongside Mary Barton or North and South, noting how the text presents the author's life
Annotate passages dealing with social issues and writing background to make later note-taking easier
If reading the original English, work through a short section each day and look up unfamiliar words to avoid being derailed by language difficulties

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a novel written by Gaskell?

According to the source material, the author is credited as Elizabeth Gaskell, the title is Mrs. Gaskell, and it is classified under English language and literature, so it is more likely a biography, critical study, or collection of related documents about her rather than one of her novels. The actual contents should be confirmed from the table of contents.

Is it suitable for an English literature course assignment?

It can serve as supplementary material, especially for looking up background information when studying Gaskell or Victorian literature. But it is a public-domain electronic text and may lack scholarly annotation; before citing it, check the edition and page numbers and consult authoritative literary histories and formally published research.

Will I have trouble reading this if I haven't read Gaskell's novels?

Somewhat. The book leans toward biographical and background material on the author and her works, without the narrative grounding of her novels. Reading a major work such as Cranford or North and South first will give you a basic sense of her style and the issues of her time, making this book easier to follow.

Comments

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About the author

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865 Author

Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (1810–1865) was a British novelist of the Victorian era. The library holds 28 of her works, including Cranford, Wives and Daughters, North and South, Sylvia's Lovers, and The Life of Charlotte Brontë. Her writing focuses on daily life in English villages and industrial towns, with a delicate and often humorous touch, and she excels at portraying characters and circumstances across different social classes. Cranford depicts a small-town female community with gentle irony; North and South interweaves industrial conflict between employers and workers with personal feeling; and her biography of Charlotte Brontë is also an important biographical work. Public information is limited, so this note outlines her subjects and style based only on the works held here.