Have you ever wondered how life would have turned out for Margaret if her father had stayed in Helstone?
Obviously, the entire story arc of North and South would be completely deflated. No move to the North would mean no Milton, no cotton mills, and no Thornton (gasp!). No encounter with new surroundings and mindsets.
And that’s the rub. Staying in Helstone and the gentler South would have given Margaret little opportunity to grow. So of course she needed to make that leap into the unknown for her personal journey! Literature like Gaskell’s North and South show us how unexpected trials can bring enriching change for the main characters.
So away from paradise Margaret must go, although she loved it there so dearly! I often think of how she dreaded the move that ultimately led her to a more fulfilling life. It’s a helpful lesson to remember how human nature would resist change, especially if you believe you are perfectly happy and comfortable where you are.
And Margaret definitely didn’t want to leave Helstone. She had spent 9 years in London dreaming of going home to Helstone for good. It’s heart-rending that she is only given a few months to live there before her father’s decision tears her from her childhood home.
But how many years would she have truly been content to live in Helstone? Would her mother have tried to encourage a courtship between the Southampton carriage maker’s son and her daughter? Would Margaret have grown at all weary of the limited social contact and lack of intellectual stimulation?
Her love for her childhood home in the New Forest is unequivocally described in the book. Although Henry teases her about it being Paradise, she apparently does feel it is “the best place on earth.” To Margaret, it’s place of calm beauty — a place where she has freedom and where she has a helpful role in the community as the vicar’s daughter. Her status and position in Helstone are secure.
Her entire world comes crashing down around her the night her father tells her he’s leaving the church — that the family is moving to Milton. Everything will be turned upside down when they move to Milton.
Margaret soldiers on during the weeks of planning and packing. But her heart is heavy and she’s loathe to leave. On the day she leaves — that momentous day when one life chapter is closed— Margaret cannot contain her emotions.
Railroad time inexorably wrenched them away from lovely, beloved Helstone, the next morning. They were gone; they had seen the last of the long low parsonage home, half-covered with China-roses and pyracanthus--more homelike than ever in the morning sun that glittered on its windows, each belonging to some well-loved room…A sting at Margaret's heart made her strive to look out to catch the last glimpse of the old church tower at the turn where she knew it might be seen above a wave of the forest trees…She leant back and shut her eyes, and the tears welled forth…
After living in such a beautiful place, it’s a depressing adjustment to live in the thick of an industrial city. The transition to the dirty, bustling city is difficult for the women of the house — for those clinging to the past. The scenery around them is dreary, it’s foggy and cold, their living quarters are much smaller, and they know absolutely no one in town.
But Margaret’s horizons will be broadened, she will meet people who will enrich her life, she will find a life purpose that engages all her soul, mind, and heart. She will meet someone who matches her passions and intelligence and will cherish and encourage her spirit. In Milton, she will find love — and her home.
I love the scene of Margaret’s arrival at the mill — a place, unbeknownst to her, which will become so vital to her future.
As she impatiently waits to speak to the man who will someday become her husband, she takes a turn about his office with curiosity. I always hold my breath as she examines the handwriting of the one who manages the great factory.
The magic of what is about to happen is suspended in this quiet, reflective moment. For she is about to burst into the center of John Thornton’s world (and explode it!). Nothing will ever be the same for her again.
It takes time, lots of tears, and great doses of humility and patience. But at the end of all her struggles there is this:
I believe in finding John Thornton she has found a new Paradise! Now she will always be able to praise the day she left Helstone.
Thanks so much for following my blog. I know I haven’t been tending to it very well this year. It’s been a year of tremendous challenges and changes for everyone.
It’s been an especially huge year for my family. And I think you’ll understand why I’ve been too preoccupied to blog. We’ve moved across the continent! I’ve been busy planning and packing and traveling. And unpacking and exploring and settling in. It’s been quite an adventure for us this year as we moved from a major metropolitan area in California to a small slice of quiet paradise in Vermont.
Having never lived in a rural area before, I feel much closer to Margaret’s heart now in loving the beauty around me here. It fills the soul. And like Margaret, I find myself wanting to be outside as much as possible.
I hope everyone is doing well and learning lessons on what is really important in life. I know I still am.
