Refutation of Masculine Ideals in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford

Abstract

This researchbased on Elizabeth Gaskell’s novelCranfordis the scrutinizing analysis female world. One of the values the women ofCranfordpossess is being independent from men. Even though there is lack of males, the women do not seem to be interested in the men thatare available. A surplus of women in a society would lead to a deficit of men, which is opposite from the case in Cranford. When Captain Brown inhabits the town of Cranford, the women moan over the invasion of their territories by a man; the paradox undeniably illustrates their value of being independent from men. The women of Cranford have learned to live without men, and have begun to value being single. In fact, being a spinster is so common in Cranford that Miss Matty and other females decline to get married. Commitment to a man is so absurd that the women would rather live with their fears of thieves, burglars, and ghosts instead of living with men. Nonetheless, Cranford is Gaskell’s vision of continuity of Amazon culture which can alone, it seems in the novel, survive female identity.