慈善行為是《北與南》作品中的主軸。蓋斯凱爾不但將小說女主角刻劃成一位持家且品行端正的人物，也讓瑪格麗特從事慈善探訪。瑪格麗特一方面廣泛應用她持家的專長，照顧貧困的人，並且提供即時的幫助。另一方面，瑪格麗特的優良操守使她能在慈善探訪時發揮道德感化力量。除了她持家專長及道德影響力外，瑪格麗特也因其慈善探訪有所成長。她學會了拋開對於某些社會階級的偏見，並且修正自己對於南方故鄉的美化遐想，而此兩點也顯示她謙卑的特質。透過呈現作者對於瑪格麗特持家、品行端正、謙卑的性格描述，本論文旨在彰顯蓋斯凱爾的信念：具有如瑪格麗特一樣特質的女性是理想的慈善訪客，有助於社會和諧。
本文首先將討論維多利亞時期女性訪客的持家、品德、謙卑特性，說明此三項特性是理想女性訪客不可或缺的。接著本研究將論證，身為蓋斯凱爾心中理想訪客的代表，瑪格麗特具有此三項的特質。透過如此角色刻劃，蓋斯凱爾得以傳達她對於女性訪客慈善拜訪窮人、及提供協助時該如何應對進退。最後，本論文將探究蓋斯凱爾描寫慈善事業的初衷為何。《北與南》中瑪格麗特努力倡導對於窮人的憐憫之心、勞資關係的平和以及坦誠相見，對於十九世紀中葉無法進入社會公共場域的女性而言，女主角儼然是她們追隨的社會行動理想典範。

Philanthropy is a central focus of North and South. Characterizing her heroine as a domestic and moral figure, the novelist authorizes Margaret to perform philanthropic visiting. On the one hand, Margaret puts her expertise in domesticity to good use, taking care of the poor and offering them timely assistance. On the other hand, Margaret’s moral integrity enables her to serve as a moral guide in her philanthropic visiting. In addition to her domestic expertise and moral authority, Margaret also undergoes personal growth throughout her charity visits. She learns to discard her biases against certain social classes and modify her idealized views about the South, both of which demonstrate Margaret’s capability for humility. Given the novelist’s characterization of Margaret as a domestic, moral, and humble woman, this thesis aims to illustrate Gaskell’s contention that proper charity visitors like Margaret can facilitate social harmony.
The study begins by situating the discussion about women visitors’ domesticity, morality, and humility in the historical context of the Victorian period to show that these traits are indispensable for a philanthropic visitor. Then the research goes on to demonstrate that Margaret Hale as Gaskell’s ideal visitor is endowed with domesticity, morality, and humility. This portrait reveals Gaskell’s views about how a lady visitor should conduct herself when visiting the poor and offering help. Ultimately, the thesis will conclude by investigating into Gaskell’s purposes with such a composition of fictional philanthropy. With Margaret vigorously advocating compassion for the poor, placidity between masters and workers, and openness in industrial relations, mid-century women who had no access to the public social realm had a model of social action to emulate while acting in the social space.

Bodenheimer, Rosemarie. “North and South: A Permanent State of Change.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 34 (1979): 281-301. JSTOR. Web. 11 August. 2016.
Brown, Pearl L. “From Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton to Her North and South: Progress or Decline for Women?” Victorian Literature and Culture 28 (2000): 345-58. JSTOR. Web. 31 March. 2015.
Burman, Sandra, ed. Fit Work for Women. New York: St. Martin’s, 1979. Print.
Christie, Nancy. “Women, The Public Sphere, and Middle-Class Culture.” Rev. of Our Sisters’ Keepers: Nineteenth–Century Benevolence Literature by American Women, by Jill Bergman and Debra Bernardi; Women, Philanthropy, and the Language of Charity in Nineteenth–Century Dublin, by Margaret H. Preston; The Whole Wide World Without Limits: International Relief, Gender Politics, and American Jewish Women, 1893–1930, by Mary McCune; Public Lives: Women, Family, and Society in Victorian Britain, by Eleanor Gordon and Gwyneth Nair. Journal of Women’s History 20.1 (2008): 237-46. Project Muse. Web. 17 April 2015.
Collins, Wilkie. The Moonstone. New York: New American Library, 1984. Print.
Davis, Deanna L. “Feminist Critics and Literary Mothers: Daughters Reading Elizabeth Gaskell.” Signs 17 (1992): 507-32. JSTOR. Web. 31 March. 2015.
Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1977. Print.
---. Hard Times. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. Print.
Elliott, Dorice Williams. “Introduction.” The Angel out of the House: Philanthropy and Gender in Nineteen-Century. London: UP of Virginia, 2002, 1-31. Print.
---. “The Female Visitor and the Marriage of Classes in Gaskell’s North and South.” Nineteenth-Century Literature 49 (1994): 21-49. JSTOR. Web. 7 April. 2016.
Ellis, Sarah Stickney. “Female Education.” Education of the Heart: Woman’s Best Work. Ed. Setsuko Kagawa. England: Thoemmes Press, 2002, 1-24. Print.
Engels, Friedrich. “Historical Introduction.” The Condition of the Working Class in England. Trans. W. O. Henderson and W. H. Chaloner. London: Penguin Books, 1845, 9-26. Print.
Gaskell, Elizabeth. Mary Barton. New York: Oxford UP, 1906. Print.
---. North and South. London: Harper Press, 2011. Print.
---. Ruth. New York: Oxford UP, 1853. Print.
---. The Letters of Mrs. Gaskell. Eds. J. A. V. Chapple, and Arthur Pollard. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1967. Print.
Gérin, Winifred. Elizabeth Gaskell: A Biography. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1980. Print.
Hall, Catherine. “The Early Formation of Victorian Domestic Ideology.” Burman 15-32.
Harman, Barbara Leah. “In Promiscuous Company: Female Public Appearance in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South.” Victorian Studies 31 (1988): 351-74. JSTOR. Web. 4 July. 2016.
Henry, Nancy. “Elizabeth Gaskell and Social transformation.” Matus 148-63.
Hopkins, Annette B. “Dickens and Mrs. Gaskell.” Huntington Library Quarterly 9 (4): 357-85. JSTOR. Web. 11 March. 2018.
“Hungry Forties.” Oxford Index. Web. 27 July 2018.
<http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095950840>
Kagawa, Setsuko, ed. Female Education Considered: Nineteenth-Century Britain. England: Thoemmes Press, 2002. Print.
“Lady Bountiful.” Dictionary.com. Web. 27 July 2018.
<https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lady-bountiful>
“Lady Bountiful.” Wikitionary, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Oct. 2017. Web. 27 July 2018.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Lady_Bountiful>
McBee, Comanchette Rene. “Revoking Victorian Silences: Redemption of Fallen Women through Speech in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Fiction.” MA thesis. Iowa State U, 2012. Web 7 July. 2018.
Mann, Nancy D. “Intelligence and Self-Awareness in North and South: A Matter of Sex and Class.” Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature 29 (1975): 24-38. JSTOR. Web. 1 July. 2016.
Martin, Scott C. “Female Moral Suasion,” Devil of Domestic Sphere: Temperance, Gender, and Middle-class Ideology, 1800-1860. DeKalb: Northern Illinois UP, 2008, 87-105. Print.
Matus, Jill L., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Elizabeth Gaskell. New York: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
---. “Mary Barton and North and South.” Matus 27-45.
Maurice, John Fredrick Denison. “District Visiting.” Kagawa 117-34.
Parker, Pamela Corpron. “Fictional Philanthropy in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton and North and South.” Victorian Literature and Culture 25 (1997): 321-31. JSTOR. Web. 3 July. 2016.
Pikoulis, John. “North and South: Varieties of Love and Power.” The Yearbook of English Studies 6 (1976): 176-93. JSTOR. Web. 6 July. 2017.
Prochaska, F. K. Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth-century England. New York: Oxford UP. 1980. Print.
Roetter, Frederick A. “The Princess: A Medley.” The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson. James R. Osgood & Company, 1872, 238-287. eBook Collection (AbeBooks), <https://ia802300.us.archive.org/15/items/completepoetical00tenniala/completepoetical00tenniala.pdf.>
Ruskin, John. Sesame and Lilies. Chicago & New York: Scott, Foresman & Company, 1906. 105-46. Print.
Sanford, Elizabeth. “Causes of Female Influence.” Kagawa 1-13.
Siegel, Daniel. “Charity and Condescension: Victorian Literature and the Dilemmas of Philanthropy.” Victorian Studies 56 (2012): 1-36. Project Muse. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
Spencer, Jane. “Warring Members: Elizabeth Gaskell, Writer,” Women Writers: Elizabeth Gaskell. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: The Macmillan Press, 1993. 1-31. Print.
Stoneman, Patsy. “Gaskell, Gender, and the Family.” Matus 131-37.
Summers, Ann. “A Home from Home－Women’s Philanthropic Work in the Nineteenth Century.” Burman 33-63.
Sutton, Charles William. “Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth.” A Web of English History. Web. 27 July 2018.
<http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/kay-shut.htm>
Woollacott, Angela. “From Moral to Professional Authority: Secularism, Social Work, and Middle Class Women’s Self Construction in World War I Britain.” Journal of Women’s History 10 (1998): 85-111. Project Muse. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.