Although Margaret Hale and John Thornton do not fall in love “at first sight,” sight, or gaze, plays an important role in the asymmetrical power relations implicit in the courtship of Elizabeth Gaskell's Northern and Southern protagonists. Laura Mulvey's 1975 essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” introduces the now-familiar concept of the gaze. Taking the work of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan as the basis of his theory, Mulvey argues that "in a world ordered by sexual imbalance, the pleasure of looking was shared between active/masculine and passive/feminine" (39). The voyeuristic gaze, traditionally exercised by a man, has the capacity to reduce a woman – that is, to fetishize or objectify her – in a way that renders her passive. Mulvey explains Freud's concept of scopophilia, or the pleasure of looking, and asserts that in "their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and exposed, their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact" (40). While Mulvey's theory draws on film studies, Nalini Paul suggests that "the phenomenon of the gaze in literature draws relevant parallels with the gaze in film theory" (1). Thus, the application of this theory to the North and South sheds light on the exchange of power within the court of Margaret and John. Certainly, even if John feels erotic pleasure in seeing Margaret, his gaze on her does not reduce her or make her passive; in fact, Margaret's attractive physical appearance and ability to own the gaze gives her authority over John and leads to a constant, reciprocal exchange of power that results in their marriage. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayThe power dynamic of Margaret and John's relationship is immediately established upon their first meeting in Milton. Gaskell writes, "Mr. Thornton was far more surprised and disconcerted than [Margaret]" at meeting "a young woman of a different type from most of those he was accustomed to seeing" (58). His perplexity is compounded when she returns his gaze with a “simple, straight, unapologetic gaze” (58). Seeing Margaret, John realizes that she is different from most women he has met before, especially those he usually "sees" or looks at. John's expectations are further disrupted when she openly stares at him. Her look is "plain", supposedly because she is unaware of the socially awkward or perhaps inappropriate nature of the look she returns. Of course, at this point in the narrative, Margaret has had little social interaction with potential suitors (with the exception of Mr. Lennox, whom she never considers as such) and is unaware of the implications of his gaze. The first glances exchanged between the two characters are depicted openly in relation to authority and power. Gaskell notes: "Mr. Thornton had habits of authority himself, but she seemed at once to assume a sort of domination over him" (58). Margaret is unpredictable as she returns John's gaze and, in doing so, presents herself as an equal – not inferior – person. From the beginning, Margaret exerts a personal influence on John, albeit unconsciously, through her gaze. Contrary to Mulvey's expectations, Margaret is not made passive but rather exercises power through her own gaze. In the same initial scene, John's gaze at Margaret becomes scopophilic; However, her continued return of the gaze further undermines the power – in the possessive sense – typically associated with the male gazevoyeuristic. Gaskell writes of Margaret and John: She sat facing him and facing the light; her full beauty met his gaze; her round, flexible throat emerging from her full but supple figure; her lips, moving ever so slightly as she spoke…her eyes, with their soft sadness, meeting his with a quiet, blank freedom. He almost told himself that not like her... to compensate for this mortified feeling, that while he looked at her with an admiration he could not repress, she looked at him with a proud indifference... (59) Margaret's physical description is decidedly erotic and highly sexualized. The narrative sketch focuses on her bare throat, lithe physique, and lips. John looks curiously at Margaret's body, which Mulvey says is a "function of the sexual instinct" (39). This process of objectification, for John, is positive; his “admiration” of her suggests pleasure, approval, or pleasant surprise at seeing her attractive appearance. The pleasant feeling of looking at Margaret, however, is disrupted by the look she returns again. His eyes have a “virgin freedom”; she is naive and fails to recognize the sexually charged nature of their gazes. Interestingly, although Margaret is unaware of the power dynamic of looking, John is uncomfortably aware of it: he is embarrassed to feel so much pleasure from looking at her and resents her effortless ability to make him question his own feelings. Therefore, while John's scopophilic gaze represents Margaret as a sexual and erotic spectacle, her unhindered return of the gaze prevents her from becoming merely a passive object. As the romantic intrigue continues to develop across the North and South, John's erotic gaze on Margaret begins to determine his actions and thoughts. Even after she rejects his offer of marriage, John feels more than ever the need to contemplate Margaret. To justify his visit to the Hales, John brings Mrs. Hale, who is ill, a second basket of fruit. He said to himself that “he would not deprive himself – or rather he could not – of the pleasure of seeing Margaret again. It had no other end than present gratification” (217). His gaze is openly scopophilic – he only aspires to the pleasure he feels in contemplating Margaret. For John, Margaret continues to be a sexual object and pleasant to gaze upon. Yet even though he feels pleasure in seeing her, this desire actually controls his actions more than those of Margaret. He is, in a sense, possessed by the need to see her. The need is so great that he wonders if he is “bewitched by those beautiful eyes” (192), further strengthening the connection between sight and sexual attraction. John's desire to watch Margaret reaches self-abusive heights. Upon learning of Mrs. Hale's death, John thinks of Margaret: “For all his pain, he wanted to see the perpetrator. Although he sometimes hated Margaret, when he thought of that sweet familiar attitude and all the circumstances that accompanied it, he had a quiet desire to renew her image in his mind” (247). Margaret causes extreme emotional distress in John, and yet he continually feels the need to see her again. To counter his growing preoccupation with his unrequited love, John vows to “see her as little as possible – since the very sight of that face and that form…had such power to unbalance him” (306). Indeed, Margaret's sight does less to control her than to control John. His obsessive need to look at her actually dominates his consciousness and exercises an irresistible “power” over him. Critics E. Ann Kaplan and Mary Ann Doane argue that men are not the exclusive bearers of the gaze, but even when a woman appropriates theglance. look, she fails to inherit his agency (121, 1). This is not the case with Margaret. Margaret is a particularly active heroine in the North and South, and this characteristic undoubtedly plays into her courtship with John. Margaret is the object of John's gaze, and yet Margaret reverses this formation by studying John and therefore becomes the subject of the gaze. She tells her father that John is “the first specimen of a maker – of a person engaged in commerce – that I ever had the opportunity to study, Dad. I know he is good in his species, and soon I will love this species” (152). Margaret presents herself as the observer, the study and the scientist, while John becomes the object of study, the "specimen." Her dehumanizing and condescending rhetoric places her in a superior position to her object of study – John. Later in the novel, after the two have been separated for over a year, she still plays the role of the scientist inspecting his specimen. Gaskell writes: “Margaret watched Mr. Thornton’s face. He never looked at her; so that she might study him without being observed, and note the changes which even that short space of time had wrought in him...” (389) This passage also focuses on sight and observation, and places Margaret in the position dominant as a student and subject of the gaze. The agency aligned with Margaret's gaze is most overtly demonstrated in the scene in which John comes to propose after Margaret protects him from her violent and disgruntled workers. Margaret is deeply offended that John thinks his actions were based on love and not feminine duty. “'You had nothing to be grateful for,' she said, raising her eyes and looking him straight in the eyes… her very eyes… did not, however, fall from their grave and steady gaze” (176). She denies having romantic feelings for John and flatly rejects his offer of marriage. His bright eyes reflect his complete disregard for John's intentions. His gaze is no longer "blank" and "simple", but rather it is deliberately severe and threatening. Margaret's rejection of a well-to-do suitor is a bold move given the particular social and historical milieu, and her fiery gaze reflects this bold decision. Essentially, Margaret's appropriation of the gaze, and the authority associated with it, allows her to play an active role in the narrative and exercise a strong degree of power over the male protagonist. Ultimately, Margaret and John willingly submit to each other's gaze; in doing so, they allow their relationship to culminate in a mutually satisfying marriage. After a year apart, the two meet again. Gaskell writes that Margaret “looked straight into his eyes with her speaking eyes” and then let them “fall beneath her eloquent gaze.” He looked at her for a minute” (392). Margaret returns his gaze at first, but eventually submits to John's. Taking into account the idea that gaze and power are closely linked, it is clear that Margaret's downward gaze loses the agency and power she has exerted with her gaze throughout the previous sections of the novel. Also, while she looks away, John continues to stare at her. He thus becomes the dominant actor in the interaction. The exchange of power between the protagonists becomes more significant in the final passages of North and South. Gaskell writes: For a moment she looked up; then she tried to veil her luminous eyes by letting her forehead fall on her hands... always lowering her head; the face was more closely hidden... after a minute or two he gently removed his hands from his face and placed his arms as they had been placed once before to protect him from the rioters... she made him.