Who Margaret Hale is
Margaret Hale grows up partly in her aunt's London house and partly in the Hampshire village of Helstone. She loves Helstone, but her father's decision to leave the church takes the family north to Milton. When her father cannot face the practical work of moving, Margaret carries much of the responsibility.
What Margaret Hale wants
Margaret believes that people with power owe others more than wages, and she challenges John Thornton on this duty. She urges masters and workers to know each other as people rather than remain divided by their positions.
How Margaret Hale changes
At first, Margaret judges Milton against the gentility and familiar ways of her southern home. The town's plain speech seems rude to her before she begins to recognize the independence behind it. Her growing knowledge of working lives unsettles her confidence that social rank reveals a person's worth.
Margaret Hale and the others in the story
Her friendship with Bessy Higgins brings her close to the suffering caused by cotton dust in the mills. Bessy's father, Nicholas Higgins, helps her understand why workers turn to their union. John Thornton challenges her from another direction, and their disagreements bring pride, attraction, and misunderstanding together.
Questions
Who is Margaret Hale?
Margaret Hale is the central character of North and South, a clergyman's daughter adjusting to life in industrial Milton.
How does Margaret Hale know John Thornton?
Thornton studies with her father in Milton. Margaret comes to know him through visits and arguments about mill owners' responsibilities.
Is Margaret Hale proud?
Yes, Margaret is proud and quick to judge people by their rank. Her encounters in Milton teach her to question those judgments.