Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

"Common as railroads are now in all places as a means of transit, and especially in Manchester, Mary had never been on one before; and she felt bewildered by the hurry, the noise of people, and bells, and horns; the whiz and the scream of the arriving trains.

The very journey itself seemed to her a matter of wonder. She had a back seat, and looked towards the factory-chimneys, and the cloud of smoke which hovers over Manchester, with a feeling akin to the "Heimweh." She was losing sight of the familiar objects of her childhood for the first time; and unpleasant as those objects are to most, she yearned after them with some of the same sentiment which gives pathos to the thoughts of the emigrant."

In this quote of Elizabeth Gaskell’s “Mary Barton”, Mary is travelling alone for the first time. With all of the rush of the new, Mary is fascinated by all of the things around her. This experience is quite different than her usual, and this is a taboo excursion for a women to be taking. Through this, the reader can sense that Mary may be turning into the “fallen woman” troupe that Gaskell keeps revisiting throughout her novel. Mary is finally travelling, and alone nonetheless. As well as she is losing sight of familiar objects around her, not only meaning the literal sights surrounding her on the day to day, but the thoughts and emotions she feels on the day to day. Her independence is growing with each day, as she is entirely. Since this was seen as something to look down upon during this time, the “fallen woman” stereotype starts to fall on Mary as well. This is a large commentary from Gaskell as she is stating that any woman who conveyed independence was seen as a fallen women.