This essay will look at the first chapter of Mary Barton: a tale of Manchester life and to show how the ideas raised here are relevant to the rest of the novel.
Chapter one of Mary Barton is the exposition of the novel, in which Gaskell sets the scene and introduces the reader to the characters.
The chapter begins on a happy Sunday afternoon walk between two families, the Bartons and the Wilson's. The setting is that of local beauty spot Green Heys Fields. Gaskell goes on to describes the surroundings of Green Heys Field and the people that were choosing to take a walk there:
'Groups of…
