Cranford Literary Elements

Fiction

Nineteenth century England in the fictional small town of Cranford

The narrator is a young woman called Mary Smith who recounts anecdotes and stories about Cranford and its inhabitants from her own perspective.

The tone and mood are essentially gossipy; there is a tone of superiority from the "ladies" of the town and there is also a mood of anticipation and excitement in many of the chapters because of exciting things that are about to happen in the town.

Deborah Jenkyns is the protagonist and Captain Brown the antagonist when he first arrives, because she sets the tone of the town's etiquette, and he seems to unwittingly fly in the face of it which of course riles her significantly.

There is conflict between Deborah Jenkyns and her younger sister Matty regarding her possible engagement, and the fact that although Matty loves Thomas Holbrook, and he loves her, Deborah does not consider him suitable as a husband for her sister. Since this means that her sister remains lonely and unmarried her whole life it creates quite a bit of buried animosity from Matty.

Peter Jenkyns, believed missing in action during war in India, returns to Cranford after hearing from Mary Smith about the fall in his sister Matty's fortunes.

The letter that Matty receives from the Town and Country Bank foreshadows the fall of the bank and the associated fall in her financial fortune.

Deborah is said to set the tone of what is acceptable socially and what is not, but this is an enormous understatement because her word goes and woe betide anyone who contravenes her ideas and statements over what is acceptable and what is not.

The author alludes to the British colonial rule of India as several of the characters are "ex-pats" who have spent considerable time living in the colony.

The majority of the imagery is based around the appearance of the female characters who are painted as being often quite flamboyant, and who are individualized by one particular item, such as a red silk umbrella, or a large, up to the minute hat.

Deborah Jenkyns is the doyenne of the social scene and included in everything that goes on, but primarily because people are frightened of offending her. Her sister has nowhere near the influence and does not even seem to influence her own life particularly, yet she is beloved and popular within Cranford.

There is a parallel between the fall in fortune of Matty Jenkyns and the decision of many of the more aristocratic members of the community to reject their social status and live a simpler life.

Cranford is usually given to represent all of the women in its social scene.

Cranford as a place is also personified; for example, "Cranford believed" is a phrase oft-used by the narrator, when a town does not have the ability to think or believe anything.