Gaskell’s Vision of a Feminine Utopia in Cranford

Abstract

Following the distinguishing characteristics such as emphasis on feminine values and issues, commitment to communalism, and an ability to overcome male intruders through either expulsion or conversion, Elizabeth Gaskell creates her feminine utopia in Cranford, which is mostly run by female characters alone. The self-protective power of the community is attributed to the tightly-organized circle of women, for the ladies of Cranford are related with cohesion to each other like family members. Cranford as a circle of elderly spinsters and childless windows is Gaskell’s vision of a community where they mother each other. Cranford serves as a woman writer's experiment with a utopian world which seems seemingly stagnant without changing, but which, if closely examined, is disturbed again and again by the outside forces of its boundaries. In the beginning of the novel, Cranfordians manage to obliterate an intrusive male or a progressive person in order to keep its utopia intact. Cranford, however, which constantly strives to preserve its independence and the precious qualities of the female community, opens its gate to the people who possess feminine virtues such as love, tenderness, and sympathy for neighbors. In creating a utopia, Gaskell puts more emphasis on feminine features than on femaleness itself. She envisions a utopian community which resists contamination by the industrial or commercial world. Her vision of utopia is not based upon whether the person is male or female, but upon whether the participant has a feminine quality.