Blogs & News

: Online Talk: Charles Darwin – Literary Science in Wives and Daughters

Elizabeth Gaskell’s final novel Wives and Daughters explores the Victorian interest in science and logic through the character of Roger Hamley and the gentleman scientist Lord Hollingford. Roger was heavily based on the famous evolutionary scientist, and author of The Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin. Wives and Daughters was Darwin’s favourite novel and he had it re-read to him on his deathbed. Discover how Elizabeth’s knowledge of the public debates around science influenced her storytelling in her

: Online Panel: Mary Barton and ‘Condition of England’ Novels

Elizabeth Gaskell spoke of the ‘unhappy state of things’ in her debut novel, Mary Barton and explored the issue again in her later work North and South. She was one of a number of authors concerned with the divide between the rich and poor. Contemporaries such as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Kingsley, Fanny Trollope and Harriet Martineau shared her concerns in novels such as Hard Times, Bleak House, Shirley and Michael Armstrong: Factory Boy. So what answers

: Online Talk: Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë – Fame and Fortune

Literary success brought great acclaim to authors Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë. Their debut novels, Mary Barton and Jane Eyre, brought them huge public attention. Both found themselves thrust into a new world of Victorian celebrity, alongside famous writers, artists and cultural figures such as John Ruskin and Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. So, how did these two gifted writers handle their new-found fame? Was Elizabeth Gaskell always keen for company? How did Charlotte Brontë’s

: Online Talk: Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë – A Friendship

This introductory talk explores the relationship between two giants of nineteenth century literature. Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell were opposites in many ways. Yet they were profoundly interested in each other's work and lives. Their first meeting in the Lake District in 1850 led to a real friendship. Charlotte had written the instant classic Jane Eyre and then Shirley, while Elizabeth’s astounding debut novel Mary Barton had been well-received. Vice-Chair of the Gaskell Society Libby Tempest explores letters, writing

: Online Talk: The Life of Charlotte Brontë – An Introduction

The Life of Charlotte Brontë, written by Elizabeth Gaskell, told the story of a ‘wild, sad life and the beautiful character that grew out of it’. Yet it was not without controversy when it was first published in 1857. The first biography to be written both by and about a woman writer, it remains a classic of the genre. Join Susan Newby, Learning Officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, to discover how Elizabeth's The Life secured the legacy,