He also makes an effort to listen - really listen - to the ladies so that he is able to help them in any way that he can. He and his younger daughter, Miss Jessie, go without so that his older daughter, who is suffering from a debilitating illness and in enormous discomfort, can have some simple things that make her life a little bit easier. However, whilst his poverty is immediately obvious on meeting him, his kindness and generosity of spirit are not he begins to win over the townspeople with his absolute niceness that really makes him stand out. His first and most serious faux pas is to admit that he is poor. Usually nobody challenges her, but when Captain Brown arrives with his two daughters, he unwittingly flies directly in the face of the traditional mores that she has established. Miss Deborah Jenkyns is the leader of the ladies. One of the younger women in the town, Mary Smith, is the narrator of the book and she manages to keep abreast of all of the town happenings even when she is out of town because her friends write to her and give her all of the up to date information. It is also a place with a set social hierarchy presided over by a group of older women whose word about etiquette is law.

We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.Ĭranford is the type of small town where everyone knows everything about everyone else.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell