Chapters 31-32: 0:00—Mary’s trials. 4:47—Jem’s trial. 7:01—Beatrice Cenci. 12:20—Dear reader. 31:56—Interlude.

Chapters 32-33: 33:03—Courting Jem. 38:14—Where is she? 43:16—Mothers. 46:43—A wan, feeble figure. 48:30—Interlude.

Chapters 34-38: 49:36—Mary opens her eyes. 51:12—The blood-shedder. 55:43—Jem’s job. 56:22—Words of love. 59:20—Carson’s pain. 1:03:51—Child care. 1:07:27—The oppressed creature. 1:09:27—God’s plan. 1:15:58—Taught by suffering. 1:17:39—Crushed butterfly. 1:20:15—Canada. 1:21:07—Interlude.

Conclusion: 1:22:14—Unrepresentative representations. 1:25:36—Blaming the poor. 1:26:41—The animosity of irritated workmen. 1:27:47—Fear of violence. 1:29:00—Ideological confusion. 1:29:52—Extreme and unrepresentative. 133:13—Good masters. 1:34:34—Too many deaths. 1:35:40—Love & labor. 1:37:26—An evasion. 1:41:48—Avoiding the problem. 1:44:48—Closing.

Text: Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton. 1848. Oxford Univ. Press, 2006.

Interludes: Frederic Chopin, Scherzo no. 3, in C# minor (1839), performed Jacob Katsnelsonm, 2015 (www.jacobkatsnelson.com).

Image: Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell by George Richmond, 1851 (Wikipedia).

Click here for transcript

Contact me: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Chapters 15-18: 0:00—Barton’s burden. 2:30—Communism manifesting. 4:46—A strike in Manchester. 7:27—Harry vs. Jem. 9:39—Masters & Men meet. 12:54—Drawing contempt. 15:26—Drawing lots. 20:50—“Good-bye to ye.” 23:23—The Irish. 38:28—Murder! 46:37—Interlude.

Chapters 19-30: 47:25—Anosognosia. 53:33—Arrested romance. 1:00:54—Victorian melodrama. 1:03L52—Esther returned. 1:08:58—A piece that fits. 1:10:54—Seeking an alibi. 1:13:35—House of correction. 1:15:59—Mary & Jane & Margaret. 1:19:11—Purple haze. 1:25:51—Going down to Liverpool. 1:27:51—Crossing the bar.

Text: Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton. 1848. Oxford Univ. Press, 2006.

Interlude: Frederic Chopin, Scherzo no. 3, in C# minor (1839), performed Jacob Katsnelsonm, 2015,(www.jacobkatsnelson.com).

Additional music: "Crossing the Bar," by Alfred Tennyson (1889), music by Joseph Barnby (1893), performed by the Edison Mixed Quartet (1913); UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive.

Image: Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell by George Richmond, 1851 (Wikipedia).

Click here for transcript

Contact me: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Chapter 7: 0:00—Morose & sour. 4:33—Typhoid. 5:03—The underworld. 11:31—Brute tribes. 13:53—The Davenports. 16:20—City life. 19:07—Rags to riches. 20:49—Meeting the master. 25:22—The ghoul. 32:17—Unpolished Jem. 34:39—Mary’s fantasy. 36:49—Interlude.

Chapters 8-10: 37:26—Unrelenting depression. 42:44—Criminal sentence. 45:47—Chartism. 49:17—When Harry used Sally. 52:04—Chartist failure. 54:26—“Song of Slaughter.” 56:26—Crawling through life. 57:41—Visions of the future. 59:34—After angry words. 1:02:58—Bad parenting. 1:05:01—Jem & Jane. 1:06:15—Opium for the masses. 1:09:56—A woman of no doubtful profession. 1:13:00—Interlude.

Chapters 11-14: 1:13:36—Dear Mary. 1:18:13—Mary, Mary quite contrary. 1:20:32—A little touch of Harry in the night. 1:24:39—An impossible distance. 1:26:05—Will & Alice. 1:27:21—Courts & grubs. 1:32:21—The story of Esther. 1:35:15—The seeds of vice. 1:45:11—Someone should die. 1:47:13—1848. 1:49:21—Closing.

Text: Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton. 1848. Oxford Univ. Press, 2006.

Interlude: Robert Schumann, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor (1847), performed by the Claremont Trio, Jan. 26, 2025 (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum).

Image: Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell by George Richmond, 1851 (Wikipedia).

Click here for transcript

Contact me: jimjneilson@gmail.com