Cranford, based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell - Essay Example

TV series Cranford based on the eponymously d book by Elizabeth Gaskell is a very interesting though quite reflective of single and partly widowed women living in the Victorian Era. First off, Cranford is a town inhabited mostly by women who seem to be well off without men. Second, bearing in mind the specificity of a female nature, the novel gets its fabulous and fantastic look on the screen. Third, as might be seen, the life of a woman in a conservative Victorian period is well highlighted as the core idea of the series starting from June 1842 through August 1844 (Birtwistle and Conklin).

Thus, a summary of the TV series provides a viewer with a set of details aimed at provoking live talks, deeds, and conflicts between the main characters. The first thing to boggle the minds of viewers is the person of the narrator. In this respect the story is told by Mary Smith. This trick helps into describing the sincere motives of the main characters through the eyes of their friend and neighbor, so to speak. Miss Deborah and Miss Matty Jenkins are two maidens being sisters and indicative of their antithetical characters.

The first asks for more in her intentions and inclinations whereas the second one is quite shy and timid. Mary Smith is a close friend to Misses Jenkins each time she visits the town. The story starts with the arrival of young Dr. Harrison who assists old-fashioned Dr. Morgan in doing a surgery to Mr. Hearne, a carpenter (Birtwistle and Conklin). It makes women get excited about the person of Mr. Harrison. Moreover, another figure of a man to be of great authority in the town is Captain Brown, a very admirable man with the military background.

It is Captain Brown who gets involved into the railway business and keeps close to the place far away Cranford. As a result, his daughter refuses the proposal which came from Major Gordon and regrets thereafter (Birtwistle and Conklin). Moreover, Miss Deborah Jenkins dies just after the news Captain Brown is going to leave them (Birtwistle and Conklin). Meanwhile, Dr. Harrison is quite passionate for Miss Sophie Hutton, a daughter of Reverend Hutton (Birtwistle and Conklin). Along with the death of Miss Hutton’s brother, townspeople feel terribly ignorant toward the person of Dr.

Harrison and then to his friend and colleague, Dr. Marshland. The former sends a letter and makes Miss Tomkinson believe that a proposal of marriage was from Dr. Harrison who seems fallen in love with Miss Hutton (Birtwistle and Conklin). Furthermore, the plot of the series consists mostly of the talks and situations where the rule of the women comes first and the need in the men stays far behind the necessity. The morale is the pivotal for the public opinion spread over Cranford. Thereupon, it is a case of vulgar attitudes when someone dips into his/her means or something like that.

This is why the rule of women in the town gives grounds to an alleged poignant evaluation of the main characters. When Lady Ludlow arrives at the town, she is attacked by Mrs. Jamieson despite of the fact that the former is a member of the peerage from London. The party at the Lady Ludlow’s estate is an opportunity to get engaged with the hidden life of the town full of different intrigues. Nevertheless, miniseries show the way women try to have their best when living in Cranford. In this vein, along with Caroline Tomkinson, Mrs.

Rose also thinks that Dr. Harrison feels for her and is intended to court her as well (Birtwistle and Conklin). However, the story gets another coloring when Dr. Harrison asks to bless their with Sophie relationships (Birtwistle and Conklin). The question is that Reverend Hutton gets to know about Miss Tomkinson and Mrs. Rose assured in that Dr. Harrison deals doubly in his attitudes toward women. As a result, Reverend Hutton disrupts Dr. Harrison’s plan to marry Sophie Hutton (Birtwistle and Conklin).

This is a core intrigue which takes the viewers’ breath away. Moreover, this line in the plot runs into the story of Matty Jenkins who once got a refusal to get married with Mr. Holbrook and then, years later, agrees to get together with him notwithstanding he dies afterwards (Birtwistle and Conklin). At the final part of the series, Dr. Harrison is asked to leave due to the provocative facts about his games with poor ladies of Cranford. Major Gordon still seeks to marry Jessie Brown and succeeds this time; and Matty Jenkins is happy to have her own tea shop (Birtwistle and Conklin).

Finally, miniseries end up with the fabulous and quite fair marriage of Dr. Harrison and Sophie and that the railroad was finally built in Cranford (Birtwistle and Conklin). Hence, the overall impression after watching Cranford is that, in the Victorian Era, it was important to set the record straight before judging upon people’s deeds. Works Cited Cranford. By Sue Birtwistle and Susie Conklin. Dirs. Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson. BBC Warner. 2007.