Abstract

Gaskell evokes the image of the Madonna in several fictional works, to consider its value as a metaphor for the maternal aspect of God. Her representation of the Marian cult is placed in the context of contemporary debates about the universal value of the Virgin Mary as a religious symbol, a discourse which includes the voices of Anna Jameson, Frances Power Cobbe, and Sarah Stickney Ellis among others. Gaskell’s Mariology is shaped by Unitarian theological views on the use of religious images, and by Gaskell’s own ambivalence towards the spiritual/moral status of maternal feeling. Thus her fiction includes multiple versions of the Madonna, which are invested with different symbolisms, and which Gaskell variously celebrates and critiques. In 'Cranford' and to an extent ‘The Poor Clare’, the Virgin Mary is a sympathetic and counter-cultural icon, invested with egalitarian and feminist values. Yet in ‘The Poor Clare’ the cult of the semi-divine grieving mother is shown to be ethically dangerous. The protagonist in 'Ruth' is informed by many ideas of the Madonna, including the biblical Mary, the Mater Amabilis, the Mother of Mercy, and the pagan Magna Mater.