My thoughts about North and South (2004)

I've been watching period productions recently, and one that made quite an impression on me was "North and South." It's a story about the contrasts between the industrial north (where the cotton mill owned by John Thorton was located) and the rural south (where Margaret Hale grew up as a pastor's daughter). It also contrasts the points of view between employer and employee. 

What caught my attention early on was that Margaret was not a typical 1800s heroine. She wasn't knitting or painting while waiting for guests to arrive at her house (just like many heroines from Jane Austen's novels). Instead, she was looking for a home she and her parents could stay in when they moved to the fictional town of Milton in northern England. Moving to the North was quite an adjustment for her; nevertheless, she befriended a family whose source of income was tied closely to the cotton mills. 

John, on the other hand, was not a typical rich man. He had risen from humble beginnings and credited his mother for everything he had achieved to that point. He was concerned about the safety and welfare of the people working in his cotton mill, unlike the other industrialists in the show. He was shown talking about dealing with bank loans and struggling to keep the mill operational so that he could continue funding the mill's payroll. 

Their story is set against the backdrop of the rise of organised labour organisations that demanded higher pay and better working conditions for their members. The Higgins, a working-class family Margaret had befriended, was deeply embedded in the events leading towards labour strikes. Nicholas was a union representative. His daughter, Bessy, became sick with byssinosis because she inhaled dust from a poorly ventilated cotton mill (and she moved to John's mill because the working conditions there were better). As with any worker, Nicholas failed to see the man behind the façade of fancy clothes that John wore to blend in with the industrialists. He only saw a greedy fellow who wanted to keep the cotton mill operational during a strike by employing Irish workers. He didn't realise at first that John's cotton mill had to honour its delivery commitments to be paid and to pay its workers in turn.

Margaret served as a mediator between the employer and (eventual) employee. Over time, Nicholas observed that John worked long hours to balance the mill's finances. Nicholas decided to play a bigger role and contributed to developing a workers' canteen (where John was seen having a meal with workers) and ensuring that production quotas were met. However, the financial imbalance created by the strike put the mill's operations in jeopardy. John had to close down the shop and lay off people. Again, in an unconventional twist of events, Nicholas gave him a list of people willing to work for John if he ever opened the mill again... and Margaret, who inherited the cotton mill from her godfather eventually, provided the capital to reopen the mill again.

Does the show have a fairy tale ending? No. It's too gritty to end it with happily ever after. However, it did end on a happy note for John and Margaret, fully knowing who they were marrying (they got engaged in the end) and what they risked by continuing to run the cotton mill (Margaret's godfather's "speculation" in the stock market made Margaret rich; John's refusal to risk the payroll and other cash on-hand made him miss an investment opportunity).