Mary Barton is a story of material temptation, sexual seduction, and spiritual transformation. The character of Mary Barton is a poor girl with considerable material ambitions, seduced by the lavish wealth of her rich suitor. Mary's lifelong poverty leaves her with a fervent desire to secure material comfort. Her experience as a seamstress in a frivolous milliner's shop also gives her a trace of vanity. This combination of vanity and materialism makes Mary an aspiring social climber, making her very susceptible to the seduction of the wealthy Harry Carson. Mary is tempted by Harry's wealth and sees his seduction as a golden opportunity for social advancement. For the first half of the novel, Mary focuses on her goal of using her beauty to trap Harry into marriage so that she can become a lady of leisure. Her attraction to Harry is entirely mercenary. By seeking to capitalize on her physical beauty and marry a man with whom she has no romantic attachment, Mary transforms herself into a sexual commodity waiting to be purchased by a man who can afford it. However, Mary experiences a life-changing revelation midway through the novel that completely alters her outlook on life. This epiphany purges her of her vanity and forces her to end her romantic entanglement with Harry. After freeing herself from Harry Carson, Mary undergoes a stunning transformation, going from a passive mistress to a self-sufficient, independent woman. Mary's experience demonstrates that there are several paths for a woman to gain comfort and success. Becoming empowered is much less destructive than selling yourself as a disposable sexual product. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay In order to understand Mary's initial attraction to Harry Carson, it is important to understand Mary's character. In the first half of the novel, Mary Barton is a vain and materialistic woman. His superficial ambitions are a direct consequence of his living environment. A resident of a slum in an industrial city, Mary was born into poverty and has always lived in the most miserable poverty. For as long as she can remember, the people around her have been plagued by a lack of the essential things in life. These slum dwellers are known for their intense materialistic obsession. The emaciated and hungry people around Mary focus on obtaining “food, light, and warmth” (Gaskell 98). Their materialistic outlook is not motivated by greed or avarice, but because they are dying for lack of basic necessities. Surrounded by “sorrow and need” (209) and witnessing daily the spectacle of hungry children and concerned parents, it is entirely natural for Mary to develop materialistic goals. She is desperate to escape her situation of poverty. The financial necessity of her family makes her “ambitious” (122) and enterprising. Her practical outlook on life gives her a “practical shrewdness” (122) and makes her a social climber. At this point in her life, Mary's most ardent wish is to climb the social ladder and lift her family out of the quagmire of poverty and lead a life of relative ease and comfort (121). Mary's vanity is also the product of her environment. When she gets a job as a seamstress in a fashionable millinery, Mary enters a decadent world of frivolity. The millinery is famous for its luxurious atmosphere where most conversations revolve around “fashion, clothing, and parties” (143). It is an imaginary world, completely irrelevant to the conditions ofpoverty to which Mary returns home. Mary spends her days making dresses and other fripperies that will appeal to elegant ladies. His entire existence is dedicated to beautifying his clients with decorations and ornaments. Not surprisingly, Mary's daily contact with these decorative objects makes her susceptible to the seductive influence of pretty dresses and elegant appearances (122). These beautiful trappings attract Mary and awaken a new kind of hunger in her young and impressionable mind (122). As an uneducated woman, Mary only knows what she sees around her, which makes her even more vulnerable to the temptation of wealth. While serving the millinery's elegant customers, Mary develops a desire to become a member of this privileged class. She is fascinated by the lifestyle of the nobility and harbors hopes that she might one day lead a similar lifestyle by "doing all the elegant things that belong to being a woman" (122). Mary gradually begins to become fussy about her appearance and spends her time deciding "what dress she should wear" (63). She dreams of the day when she will become a distinguished woman, living life and leisure. She begins to take pleasure in transforming herself into a decorative object (63) and “making an impression” (63) on others through her appearance. Mary's new vanity and materialistic outlook explain her initial attraction to the wealthy Harry Carson. She is ambitious and determined to improve her situation in life. Mary's state of mind makes her extremely vulnerable to the seduction of wealthy men like Harry. Mary is attracted to Carson because he has the power to satisfy her materialistic ambitions and lift her family out of poverty. He is the son of an immensely wealthy industrialist who owns vast properties and estates. His refined manners and “neat and well-appointed” dress (107) reflect a luxurious and indulgent lifestyle. Mary sees it as a prize that she competes to win. Although Carson has wealth, Mary's beauty is his most valuable asset. As a low-level seamstress earning a meager living, she has very little chance of achieving any social advancement through honest industry. Mary's only opportunity to climb the social ladder lies in her ability to ensnare a rich man. At first, Mary is determined to capitalize on her beauty. Her “awareness” (58) of her physical attractiveness gives her the determination that “her beauty should make her a lady” (58). This state of mind reveals his awareness of the monetary value of feminine beauty. Her beauty gives her the ambition to aspire to great heights, such as marriage to Harry. By seeking to use her desirable body as an entry ticket into the world of privilege and wealth, Mary unconsciously treats herself as a sexual commodity to be bartered. Through this lens, her body becomes something with commercial value. Any wealth that Mary obtains through the commodification of her body is thus tainted, because it is the product of carnal exchange rather than that of honest industry. Mary's mercenary attraction to Harry turns her into a passive commodity. Retired in the milliner's shop, she spends most of her time dreaming of the day when she will be drawn into a life of wealth and status. She is barely aware of the political turmoil around her (143) and is entirely "absorbed by visions of a golden future" (116) as Mrs. Harry Carson. However, Mary never expresses feelings of love for Harry. When she thinks of him, her mind is always consumed by the vision of the fabulous wealth and material abundance that await her. In Mary's mind, Harry is only associated withmaterial things to the extent that his personality takes second place. The reader soon discovers that Mary's true affection belongs to Jem Wilson, her childhood sweetheart and a man of her own class. Mary blushes scarlet when Jem appears and suffers greatly at the sight of her agony. She has a spontaneous outburst of affection for Jem with a passion she never shows for Harry. Mary's feelings for Jem are therefore natural and genuine, stemming from true love and affection. On the other hand, her attraction to Harry has nothing to do with true emotional attachment or love. Yet despite her affection for Jem, Mary's material goals take priority. Since Mary treats her body as a commercial commodity at this point, money becomes the most important determining factor in her choice of husband. She does not consider her husband as an emotional companion. She refuses Jem's marriage proposal because he is only a "poor mechanic" (181) and could never place her in "circumstances of ease and luxury" (181). Marie therefore makes marriage a commercial exchange. By refusing Jem, Marie sacrifices her affection for the cause of wealth and social advancement. Driven by material ambition, Mary is eager to gain value in the eyes of high society by “showing them all [that Harry is the one who] would be happy to have her” (178). Her firm and categorical declaration that she "can never be [Jem's] wife" (179) powerfully expresses her practical outlook on life. Mary becomes a pure sexual commodity through her willingness to surrender to the highest bidder, even though she has no serious romantic inclinations towards him. After rejecting Jem's proposal, Mary suddenly experiences a revelation that will change her life. Jem's passionate declaration of love takes Mary by surprise. Since Mary has always loved Jem, all it takes is one small passionate affirmation from Jem for Mary to release her repressed feelings of love. After Mary discovers the intensity of her affection for Jem, she realizes that the most important thing in life is love rather than the riches of the world. After this revelation, Mary decides to give up her vanity (181) by ending her entire affair with Harry. She realizes that marriage should be an act of love rather than any material considerations. She also realizes that all the world's possessions are empty unless they are shared with the one she loves (181). After this realization, her feelings for Carson immediately shift from desire to near-hatred (181). She hates Carson for “diverting” her (181) from the life of honest work and emotional truth. Mary transforms from a passive commodity into a self-reliant, independent thinking woman. As an empowered woman, she is free to go where her heart leads her. By choosing to marry her true love, Mary has once again become an autonomous woman governed by the dictates of her heart and is no longer a disposable commodity to be sold to any rich man. By rejecting Harry, Mary narrowly escapes the fate of becoming a sexual commodity. Mary is correct when she says she moved away from danger (181). She indeed exposed herself to great danger by encouraging Carson, because his intentions were never honorable towards her. Harry still treats Mary like a sexual commodity. He never gave serious thought to the idea of ​​marrying a girl so lower than his social class. He simply wants to indulge in a casual love affair with Mary by making her his mistress. In contrast, to the devoted Jem who loves Mary "with all his heart and soul" (190), Harry is a pure libertine who boasts of his ability to "get any lady in Manchester" (189). He, 2000.