Gaskell, Elizabeth - The Moorland Cottage

Gaskell, Elizabeth - The Moorland Cottage

"The Moorland Cottage" is a novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell, which was first published in 1850.
The main themes addressed by this book are: the parent-child relationship, religion, the setting as an integral part of the narrative and the role of women in the society of the time.
The house on the moor is the residence where Maggie and Edward live with their mother, widow of Mr Browne, who was the curate of Combehurst.
This isolated house in the English countryside almost looks like a painting, a work of art drawn on canvas, as beautiful as it is unreal and idyllic and as the author explains, it was like a "German fairytale house set in the forest".
At least until a certain moment when the fairy tale will not have its happy ending.
The Brownes have as neighbors the Buxtons formed by Mr and Mrs Buxton. his son Frank, his cousin Erminia.
This novel is pervaded by contrasts, women versus men, Frank and Edward and the Brownne versus the Burton.
Edward is the favorite son, the mother defends him with the sword in every situation and until the end she prefers him to Maggie. He always justifies it, probably at some points in the novel I think it was Gaskell herself who spoke and not the character; we know well that to overcome the disappearance of the only son he started writing and turned it into a profession.
"Her mother had a certain respect for her, and she depended enormously on her. Yet it cannot be said that what she felt towards her was affectionate, Or, if she was, it was a bland and indolent feeling compared to the profound love and joyful pride for Edward. "
Edward is arrogant, selfish, conceited and interested only in money, he spends a period away from Combehurst to study and when he returns instead of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a curate, he decides to become a lawyer. But his character has not improved in fact, even Maggie notices it.
Despite all this, Edward also treats his sister badly does not consider her as a human being, but a person to be "manipulated" at will and to achieve their own goals.
Maggie, Edward's sister, is a humble and very religious girl, unable to hate anyone, unfortunately she grew up in a modest family and above all with her mother who does not consider her equal to her brother and who continues to repeat her as she should behave and what a woman can do with respect to a man. I really appreciated his steadfastness in claiming and following his feelings.