Turner Street is the setting of two important events in Mary BartonI: Jem and Young Mr. Harry Carson's altercation in the bar as well as Harry's murder. The significance of this place is that it is key evidence that implicates Jem for the murder of Harry. While struck with the news of his son's death, Mr. Carson talks with a policeman that recounts the night that Jem and Harry fought: "But after your son had left, the man made use of some pretty strong threats. It is rather a curious coincidence that the scuffle took place in the very same spot where the murder was committed; in Turner Street" (274). The policeman interestingly takes the side of the Carson's even though it was Harry who threw the first punch and Jem who was defending himself. It shows favoritism towards middle and upper classes against the working class. Further favoirism is shown when Jem is charged for murder with nothing but circumstantial evidence, such as the location in common, even though he is an...

The Isle of Man is a small thirty mile long by ten mile wide island that has been populated by humans since the Mesolithic period. It is one of the British Isles in the Irish sea off the coast of England. Parliament purchased the royalties including the Isle of Man in order to control any trade that harmed England’s revenue. Britain removed the Lord of Man and declared themselves the overlord. When they became the overlord they chose to use the legislative, executive, and judicial powers through the influence of the Lord of Man who claimed the island was his property. The Isle and its people were mostly dependent on Britain beginning in 1765 until 1866. At the time Mary Barton was published in 1848 Britain had owned the Isle for decades but had allowed for the Manx Tynwald to exercise limited control over its people. In the novel Will Wilson goes to visit his uncle...

When Miss Pryor is first given the opportunity to work for the Le Poer family, she realizes that they live in a Yorkshire village (48). Located in Northern England, Miss Pryor left her home and travelled (presumably) some distance to her new post. I had thought that the Le Poer family lived close to London or some other large city, but that was not the case. Miss Pryor and Zillah are removed from society in that regard and they live in a degree of isolation from high society. I wonder if this was a calculated move on the part of Mr. Le Poer, or if the family had always lived in Yorkshire. Either way, Zillah is kept from the view of people who would ask unwanted questions and the space keeps Mr. Sutherland from seeing the true nature of the situation.

Craik, Dinah Mulock. The Half-Caste, edited Melissa Edmundson. Broadview Editions, 2016.