48 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth GaskellCranford
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1853A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “Old Letters”
During teatime, Matty tells the narrator stories of her childhood. She pulls out her collection of old letters; she has been longing to read them but plans on burning them to prevent the letters from falling into the wrong hands. Miss Matty and the narrator agree to read the contents of each letter before burning them one by one. The narrator remarks that she never realized how sad it is reading old letters, even when the letters are happy. Reading them makes her feel like she is vividly experiencing the letters’ events in the present, as if the past never slipped away.
She and Miss Matty read letters written by Matty and Deborah’s parents, Molly and John, before they married. The narrator is surprised to learn from the letters that Matty and Deborah have a brother.
Once they finish with Molly and John’s letters, Miss Matty and the narrator come upon Deborah’s letters. Miss Matty simply can’t burn them because Deborah’s writing was so superior that she feels anyone would delight in reading them. The narrator finds Deborah’s letters boring and long-winded, though she doesn’t mention that to Miss Matty.
They read letters between Matty and Deborah’s father and their brother, Peter Marmaduke Arley Jenkyns, whom Miss Matty refers to as “poor Peter!” (97). It is evident that Peter is a very mischievous boy who was always getting into trouble.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Poor Peter”
Miss Matty tells the narrator about Peter, her mischievous younger brother. Their mother adored Peter, but their father was often disappointed in him. Deborah, who was always more serious and conscientious, was their father’s favorite. Peter was known for playing pranks on and making fun of the Cranford women, none of whom found it very funny.
Miss Matty tells the story of a prank that took a turn for the worse. He liked to pull pranks on Deborah, who never liked his jokes and found him uncouth. One day he dressed up in her clothes and walked around town cradling a pillow that he made look like a little baby. His father tore the clothes off Peter and flogged him with his cane in front of a crowd of onlookers.
Peter took the flogging quietly and slowly walked into the house like a man, not a boy. He hugged and kissed his mother and asked that God bless her. After that, he disappeared. Their father was wracked with guilt, not having known the effect his flogging would have on Peter and anguished at the pain he had caused his grieving wife. Their mother died not even a year later, unable to carry on not knowing what had become of her son. It turned out that Peter had gone to Liverpool and joined the Navy. Peter wrote to his mother before she died, letting her know he might soon go into battle and that he hoped to see her again soon, but he never did.
On the day of their mother’s funeral, Deborah told Matty she would never marry or leave their father, who had become a changed man after Peter’s departure and his wife’s death. Peter did eventually return to Cranford as a lieutenant, and he and his father became close friends. Their father died after Peter returned to sea, and Deborah and Matty moved out of the rectory into their current home. They haven’t heard from Peter since, but Matty believes that he must be dead.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Visiting”
Miss Betty Barker is the daughter of a Cranford clerk. Formerly a maid, she climbed the social ladder when she became acquainted with an aristocrat named Lady Arley. Lady Arley would share the patterns of some of her clothing with Miss Barker, who would then copy and sell these to the women of Cranford at her own millinery shop.
Miss Barker calls upon Miss Matty and invites her to tea on Tuesday. The other Cranford women are present, including Miss Barker’s former employer during her days as a maid, Mrs. Jamieson. During Miss Barker’s social engagement, she serves a socially unacceptable number of pastries on an overloaded tea-tray, which the narrator worries the others will find vulgar. She is surprised to see the ladies eating—especially Mrs. Jamieson, who eats three big pieces of seed cake even though the narrator remembers her claiming she disliked it. The narrator realizes that Mrs. Jamieson is eating the cake to spare Miss Barker’s feelings, knowing Miss Barker doesn’t understand the customs but cares about Miss Jamieson’s approval.
The Cranford women are surprised when Miss Barker’s maiden brings out a second tray stuffed with supper luxuries. They normally never eat supper, but they partake in the food to appear gracious to their host. Miss Barker then brings out cherry brandy, a beverage that none of the ladies have ever tried. As they all drink, Mrs. Jamieson, who had been quiet throughout the night, says that her sister-in-law, Lady Glenmire, is coming to stay with her.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Your Ladyship”
Lady Glenmire arrives in Cranford, and the Cranford women are greatly offended when Mrs. Jamieson informs them that she won’t be introducing them to Lady Glenmire. She implies that the Cranford women are not important or noble enough to be in Lady Glenmire’s presence. The slight bewilders Miss Matty, while Miss Pole finds it highly insulting, especially since she purchased a new hat for the occasion.
It seems like something changes Mrs. Jamieson’s mind because she later invites the Cranford women to a party where she will introduce them to Lady Glenmire. At first, Miss Matty and the narrator decide to decline the invitation on account of a previous engagement at home, which is really just an excuse to reject Miss Jamieson the way she rejected them. Miss Pole convinces them to go, however, by arguing that it gives Mrs. Jamieson too much power if she thinks they are still hurt by what she said about them 10 days earlier. Miss Pole doesn’t say so, but the narrator recognizes that Miss Pole really wants to go to show off her new hat.
At the party, the Cranford women finally meet Lady Glenmire, a pleasant-looking middle-aged woman. The women are quiet and uncomfortable at first, as they are unsure how to address someone of such high status. Miss Pole asks Lady Glenmire if she has been to court lately, and Lady Glenmire responds that she has never been to court in her life. This seems to thaw some of the tension, and the women and Lady Glenmire start to converse more freely and warmly.
Chapters 5-8 Analysis
Miss Matty’s story about her brother Peter is one of the few moments in Cranford that isn’t at all humorous. When his father catches Peter dressing as his sister Deborah, he ruthlessly flogs him. This act of violence ultimately leads to Peter running away from home, which then contributes to Mr. Jenkyns’s wife’s death since she is unable to cope with the grief. Peter’s father’s cruelty cuts through the novel’s lightheartedness and briefly mirrors the dark undertone of Gaskell’s more controversial novels, which explore social issues such as class inequality and sexual politics.
The party that Miss Barker hosts is a quintessential example of how the Cranford women’s rules of decorum interfere with their ability to indulge in pleasantries. Miss Barker is not familiar with Cranford etiquette, so when she brings out a full tea-tray of extravagant desserts, Mary fears that the women might think that the tea-tray is “vulgarly heaped up” (129). The women ostensibly accept the refreshments out of politeness toward Miss Barker. Given how all of the food disappears, however, it is clear that the Cranford women secretly enjoy the excuse to indulge for once.
The arrival of Lady Glenmire, Mrs. Jamieson’s husband’s brother’s widow, once again tests the women’s values. The Cranford women practice “elegant economy,” or the belief that talking about money-spending is vulgar—“a tremendous word in Cranford” (9). Elegant economy is all about appearances and performance because it is common knowledge that the Cranford women simply don’t have much money to spend. Not discussing money matters makes them look refined and aristocratic as opposed to poor. Therefore, when Mrs. Jamieson snubs the women by implying that they are not important enough to meet Lady Glenmire, they are shocked and offended. Even though everyone in Cranford knows that their income is low, they work hard to keep up appearances. For Mrs. Jamieson to so blatantly disrespect that rule is the greatest insult.
When the women eventually do meet Lady Glenmire, they can’t help but feel nervous, but they relax when they realize that Lady Glenmire is not as aristocratic as they thought. Clothing symbolizes identity in Cranford, so the fact that Lady Glenmire dresses in “old black silk, and a shepherd’s plaid cloak” causes the Cranford women to suspect that Lady Glenmire might be poor (140). Her modest dress, coupled with her statement that she has “never sat in the House of Lords” sets the Cranford women at ease (149), and they are able to enjoy Lady Glenmire’s presence because they no longer feel inferior.
Related Titles
By Elizabeth Gaskell
