The emotional anguish Margaret endures and the responsibility she shoulders during her remaining days in Helstone is only hinted at in the film.Īnd by the way, Mrs.

On the very same day Henry proposes – the day that marks the end of her childhood as she had known it - her father drops the bombshell of his decision to leave his position and move to Milton, which shatters all the comfort and security Margaret clings to in her concept of home. Left on the cutting room floor is a significant part of what happened to our young heroine on a beautiful day in October when her entire world imploded. In order to get the story rolling in Milton, the mini-series largely skips over the first 6 chapters of the book – chapters that let us get to know Margaret. #2 Missing history of Margaret’s life in Helstone I’m convinced just grabbing Stephens and unceremoniously throwing him out of the mill would have been violent enough to shock Margaret’s sensibilities. However, I cringe at the violence we witness from Thornton. And the setting of a quiet room is not very exciting. Margaret’s Victorian prejudice against a workingman like Thornton is too subtle for film. (I’ve written about Thornton’s ‘temper’ here)īut I understand the reasons the film needed something more drastic to make Margaret’s disdain for Thornton more understandable for the modern audience. The damage? It paints Thornton as a volatile man, which is very far from the man of great self-control and self-discipline that Gaskell takes pains to describe in the book. A stormy confrontation in a frenetic setting completely upends the book’s version in which an outwardly calm exchange takes place between the newly arrived Southern girl and the Milton master in a sitting room of a hotel. Hands down, this is the most dramatic and damaging alteration the screenwriter makes from the original source. #1 The first meeting between John and Margaret Here are some of the main differences I see between the film and the book from my perspective as one who reaches for her book when needing a dose of Thornton. I’m a firm believer that you can love both, despite the inevitable discrepancies between the two forms of art. And then, I slowly fell in love with Elizabeth Gaskell’s book as well. I fell in love with the BBC’s adaptation of North and South first. Trudy Brasure has become a specialist in North and South and written 2 fan fiction books about it, one of them, In Consequence, is a favourite of mine and I will post the review in the upcoming weeks. Today I’m receiving a very special guest at From Pemberley to Milton to explain some of the differences between Elizabeth Gaskell’s book and the BBC adaptation. Have you ever wondered about their differences? I know you all love North and South, but do you love the book, the BBC adaptation or both?

Gaskell north and south sparknotes