Our discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
Our discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
The Joan Leach Memorial LectureA Cranford Reader: Margaret Leicester Warren (1847–1921) of Tabley House Pic: Wikimedia Commons We're delighted to welcome Sarah Webb, a trustee of the Tabley House Collection.In 1861 Margaret Leicester Warren (1847-1921) read Cranford. She was not impressed. This novel of devoted sisters, female friendship and the precariousness of female lives did not appeal to […]
Kathleen Gentle's talk for our October meeting will focus on familial/spousal abuse in Gaskell's works. She'll discuss Gaskell's depiction of physical and mental cruelty and how she criticises her contemporary culture for their complicity in the abuse of women in spousal relationships. Kathleen completed her undergraduate and MA degrees in English Literature at the University […]
*** Please note that this event is now online only, via Zoom.*** Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season. Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough […]
We're delighted to welcome back committee member and one of our favourite speakers, Anthony Burton. He'll be offering a tempting taster for our 2024 Conference, which explores the theme of travel. Anthony was intrigued by paintings featuring railway stations and omnibuses in the Dining Room at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. He has explored the background of […]
Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season. Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough life on the farm, when she meets Charlie Kinraid, a dashing seaman. […]
Elizabeth Gaskell’s interest in the fairy tale and her use of fairy-tale motifs throughout her writing have been curiously neglected by scholars. The fairy tale, like the Gothic and the ghostly, operates in a world of magic realism, its conventions straddling two worlds in which the supernatural is accepted as normal in an apparently realistic […]
Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season.Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough life on the farm, when she meets Charlie Kinraid, a dashing seaman. After their […]
Is Elizabeth Gaskell's House a 'typical' Victorian house? Surely houses changed a lot over Victoria's 63-year-long reign? Anthony Burton examines various aspects of Victorian domestic architecture, in order to show how Elizabeth Gaskell's House fits in. Doors open at 1pm and the talk begins at 1.30pm. We'll make a recording available for online viewing after the […]
Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season. Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough life on the farm, when she meets Charlie Kinraid, a dashing seaman. […]
We're thrilled to welcome Jessica Smith, Creative Arts Archivist at the John Ryland Research Institute and Library. As you may know, the John Rylands Library holds a collection of Elizabeth Gaskell's printed works and letters. They hold the original manuscripts for 'The Grey Woman', Wives and Daughters, The Life of Charlotte Brontë and 'The Crooked […]
Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season. Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough life on the farm, when she meets Charlie Kinraid, a dashing seaman. […]
Our Chair, Dr Diane Duffy will be discussing Sylvia's Lovers for the 2023-24 Knutsford season. Gaskell’s only historical novel, Sylvia’s Lovers is set in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven, against a backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives a simple enough life on the farm, when she meets Charlie Kinraid, a dashing seaman. […]
Moss and Mosses in Elizabeth Gaskell's Worlds This year's Joan Leach Memorial Lecture will be given by Dr Ingrid Hanson. In Mary Barton, Margaret’s grandfather Job Legh has been out ‘moss-hunting’, Margaret tells Mary, and the elderly Alice, reminiscing about her countryside youth, says to the girls: ‘Eh, lasses! ye don’t know what rocks are in […]
Edmund Potter is probably most famous for being the grandfather of the author, Beatrix Potter, but he had an illustrious career of his own. Edmund was a Calico Printer who owned a calico print works at Dinting Vale, near Glossop, Derbyshire, that was once the largest calico printing factory in the world. Kate Raine will […]
Many critics have considered the similarities between these two texts, thus suggesting one having influenced the other. Eliot’s reputation has been such that there is often an assumption that Gaskell would be influenced by Eliot, however, this could not be the case as ‘The Moorland Cottage’ was published ten years before The Mill on the […]
Author Sherry Ashworth looks at how Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot and Charles Dickens used biblical heroines to develop their own characters. Our Manchester meetings take place in Cross Street Chapel on the first Tuesday of the month, October-March (exc January). Everyone is most welcome to come along, members and non-members alike. Doors open at 1pm […]
Many critics have considered the similarities between these two texts, thus suggesting one having influenced the other. Eliot’s reputation has been such that there is often an assumption that Gaskell would be influenced by Eliot, however, this could not be the case as ‘The Moorland Cottage’ was published ten years before The Mill on the […]
Elizabeth Gaskell, Celebrity: How she coped with fame In ordinary life, Elizabeth Gaskell enjoyed a certain status in Manchester as the wife of a prominent clergyman. But she soon achieved fame in her own right, through her writings. This talk, by Anthony Burton, explains how these appeared at first anonymously, then under the names ‘E. […]
In Session 3, Dr Diane Duffy takes a look at the portrayal of sisters in these well-loved works by George Eliot and Elizabeth Gaskell. Our monthly Knutsford meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month, between October and April (except December). They take the form of an informal and friendly open discussion / […]
Margaret Emily Gaskell (1837-1913) – universally known as Meta – was the second of William and Elizabeth Gaskell’s four daughters, and the elder of the two who remained unmarried. She lived at Plymouth Grove until her death, and during her father’s lifetime and beyond she helped to maintain the household’s standing as a noted centre […]
Many critics have considered the similarities between the works of Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot, thus suggesting one having influenced the other. Eliot’s reputation has been such that there is often an assumption that Gaskell would be influenced by her. The question we should be asking is: Did Gaskell in any way influence Eliot? In […]
We're delighted to welcome Duncan Hamilton to our March meeting. We live in a world of friction between the nations of the United Kingdom. Resurgent Scotland, resilient Wales and confident Northern Ireland jostle with long-dominant England for an equal voice on Britain’s national stage. From Scotland’s independence referendum to Brexit, the 2010s and 2020s have […]
In this session, Dr Diane Duffy will be looking at Fallenness in Adam Bede, Ruth and Mary Barton with a focus on the characters of Hetty Sorrel, Ruth and Aunt Esther. Our monthly Knutsford meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month, between October and April (except December). Bring your own packed lunch […]
