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proves that Margaret is a woman who has the economic independence as a singer. Thus, she can help others who need economical support like Mary. This also
shows that she is including to the static and flat character. It is because she is only described as a blind woman who has a good voice and she does not change in the
development of the story.
4. 1. 2. 6 Esther
Esther is Marys aunt. She is a factory girl who always maintains her appearance and beauty with her salary as the factory girl. “That’s the worst of
factory work for girls ... You see Esther spent her money in dress, thinking to set off her pretty face; and got to come home so late at night ....” Gaskell, 2006: 9.
This quotation is expressed by John Barton to describe the attitude of Esther as the factory girl. She can do everything with the salary that she has, such as buying
clothes to enhance her appearance. It can be concluded that as the factory girl, Esther is a woman who has economic independence. She is able to meet her own
needs with her salary. Esther is also adjuvant character since she help Mary to find the real killer since Esther finds a clue of murder mystery of Harry Carson.
4. 1. 3 Analysis of Setting
In general, the settings of place of this novel are in Manchester particularly in the Lancashire. This region is one of the cotton mill industries in Manchester.
“I said in ‘Manchester,’ but they are scattered all over the manufacturing districts of Lancashire. In the neighbourhood of Oldham there are weavers, common hand-
loom weavers, who throw the shuttle with unceasing sound ....” Gaskell, 2006:
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37. This quotation is expressed by the narrator directly. The narrator says that the story in this novel occurs in Manchester more precisely in Lancashire. Lancashire
is a local cotton mill industry. Near Lancashire there is a region called Oldham. In this area, there are traditional cotton weavers who are always busy with their
shuttle of cotton. It proves that the setting of place in this novel is in the central area of the spinning industry in which many people are busy spinning cotton
traditionally or by machine. Manchester is a representation of the suffering of the working class. It is
because every event that happens in Manchester are always tells about a miserable life and filled with death. “The fever’ was as it usually is in Manchester of a
low, putrid, typhoid kind; brought on by miserable living, filthy neighbourhood, and great depression of mind and body.” Gaskell, 2006: 59. It is an expression
of the narrator as an idea of the conditions in Manchester. The quotation states that some deadly diseases have plagued the society in Manchester. This is caused
by their poverty that makes them used to live dirty and away from cleanliness. It proves that the workers are vulnerable to disease, because they have economic
limitations so that they cannot live properly. Meanwhile, the setting of time of this novel begins in the evening in May.
The narrator describes the setting of the time of the novel at the beginning of the story directly.
There are some fields near Manchester ... It was an early May evening...for heavy showers had fallen all the morning, and the round, soft, white
clouds which were blown by a west wind over the dark blue sky, were sometimes varied by one blacker and more threatening Gaskell, 2006: 5 –
6.
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The quotation above provides information that the novel happened ten or a dozen years ago. The quotation is also expressed by the narrator that the story
begins in May evening at which time the rain is always down. Overcast replaces white clouds in Manchester. This shows that the darkness wraps the Manchester
area. The darkness and the rain illustrate that the situation in Manchester is bad. Furthermore, this novel also displays the event in Manchester that occured
in 1839. In that year, the Manchester Chartism Movement sent six demands of the workers to the Parliament. This event also happened in this novel, although the six
demands were not mentioned explicitly in the novel. “An idea was now springing up among the operatives, that originated with the Chartists ... So a petition was
framed, and signed by thousands in the bright spring days of 1839, imploring Parliament” Gaskell, 2006: 83. The quotation above illustrates that a petition
that is spearheaded by the Chartist has been signed by thousands of the workers. It is sent to Parliament in 1839. This suggests that the author seems to adjust the
settings of time in this novel with the real setting of time of the Manchester Chartism Movement.
Moreover, the social setting of Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life is industrial life in Manchester, where the society is divided between the working
class and the factory owners. The workers live painfully in Manchester, especially the workers who live in Lancashire. “Food gives heart, say the Lancashire people”
Gaskell, 2006: 141. It is revealed by the narrator as a picture of the famine that swept across the Manchester area like Lancashire. People in Lancashire liken
foods as a heart that can provide life to them. This shows that Manchester is an
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area of hunger, so that people in Manchester assume that the food is the most meaningful thing in their lives.
4. 2 Analysis of Extrinsic Elements
