Margaret as a New Woman in Gaskell’s North and South

Margaret, the female protagonist in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, shows a kernel of a free, emancipated woman. By analysis Margaret’s shrewd yet dynamic attitudes, and comparing her to the tamed and static female characters in the novel, she is proved to be a prototypical “New Woman.” Gaskell, the creator of such a strong female persona, is then identified as a protofeminist if not a feminist pioneer.