Expert Witnesses: Women and Publicity in Mary Barton and Felix Holt

Separated by almost twenty years, Elizabeth GaskelFs Mary Barton (1848) and George Eliot's Felix Holt (1866) illustrate the development of the industrial novel and present similar concerns about the political power of the working class and the role of women in society. The political and class problems in Mary Barton (a bitter strike) and Felix Holt (an election riot) result in the dramatic trial scenes which effectively conclude each text. The heroines in both novels become important witnesses, testifying at crucial moments and ultimately saving the heroes.