The goal of this project was to explore the connection between political publications pertaining to the labor movements and revolutions of the mid 19th century and the novels with similar political issues published in England. Specifically, through topic modeling, this connection was examined through the lens of language found in these political pamphlets, for example words similar to proletariat, bourgeois, and revolution. The novels selected were North and South, Mary Barton, A Tale of Two Cities, and Barnaby Rudge. 

1848 marked the outbreak of labor revolutions all across Europe. These revolutions began with a revolt in Sicily, and quickly expanded to France and Germany. The revolution in France began at the end of February, becoming known as the February Revolution. This revolution was the most successful, with a foundation of the Second Republic and the introduction of universal suffrage for all men. While all of these revolutions were eventually overturned, the content of the published works of the time are of interest.  In the lead up, during, and after, politicians, philosophers, and other political writers were publishing works about working-class issues and revolution. 

Among these writers were early socialist writers, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Auguste Blanqui, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and Felix Pyat. However, the socialist thought and style of this writing can be traced back to previous philosophers, Georg Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel, and Henri de Saint-Simon. Saint-Simon is considered the father of socialism and credited with coining the term industrial class. As for Hegel, his influence can be traced to Marx, who was a member of a leftist sect of his followers known as the Young Hegelians. Additionally, both Marx and Engels would make use of his dialectic form. While ultimately, Marx and Engels criticized both Hegel and Saint-Simon, their thought became crucial to them developing their idea of dialectical materialism, which takes into account the material conditions and social relations of society. Proudhon, was French socialist and considered the father of anarchist, who during his life published heavily on the subject of property and class. Contemporarily, Proudhon has been criticized for anti-semitism and early fascist thought. Blanqui, was French socialist noted for his attack of many institutions through his participation in revolts in France and support of violent means in his publications. Pyat, another French socialist, was a journalist who published a “Toast at the Democratic and Socialist Banquet”. These authors, in their own ways, discuss the idea of labor, revolution, and socialist thought, however the most influential are the writings of Marx and Engels. 

In 1842, Friedrich Engels spent time in Manchester working at his father’s thread factory, whose hope was to help him lose some of his radical beliefs. However this was not the case, instead Engels spent time gathering information and publishing information about the conditions of the industrial towns of England, which in 1845 he compiled and published as The Condition of the Working Class in England. One the newspapers he published these in, as well as prior to his time in Manchester was the Rheinische Zeitung, which was run by Karl Marx, whom Engels met in 1842. In 1844, both Marx and Engels lived in Paris for a while and worked together to publish multiple political documents. Later, in 1848, while living in Brussels, the Communist League commissioned them both to publish a manifesto about communism, which was titled Manifesto of the Communist Party, now known as The Communist Manifesto. This would become one of the most influential revolutionary documents ever made. 

As mentioned before, the major way political publications were distributed was via newspaper, two of which were the German based Rheinische Zeitung, and the French based La Reforme. Rheinische Zeitung was established in 1842 by Moses Hess, and Marx was among the first to publish in it, and later served as the editor. Many different socialist thinkers of the time published articles via the Rheinische Zeitung, causing it to suppressed and ultimately shut down by the Prussian government. This also led to Marx leaving Germany and staying in Paris. However, after the events of February 1848, the Communist League had the newspaper relaunched under the name Neue Rheinische Zeitung, which directly translates to New Rheinish Newspaper. The La Reforme, however was established in 1843, and was incredibly popular for many socialists, including Marx. The newspaper ultimately stopped all publications in 1850. 

While England never saw a true revolution like that of France, the working-class movement was prevalent through a movement known as Chartism. This movement’s beginning came in 1838, as the result of meetings and the publication of the People’s Charter. As a part of this movement, there were strikes and protests all across England, including Manchester, which was the industrial hub of England at the time. One of the scholars of this movement was Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish historian. Among his books was The French Revolution: A History, which was a history of the 1789 revolution in France, which is noted for being carried by Charles Dickens while he was writing A Tale of Two Cities. Additionally, his Latter-Day Pamphlets served his reflection on the revolutions of 1848, which he claimed to be an injustice. In many ways, Thomas Carlye serves as an opposite to the socialist authors mentioned earlier, as in this work he denounces democracy. His work would later be referenced and appropriated by the Nazi party in Germany.

The works of Charles Dickens focus on the nature of society and often the conditions of labor and the lower class. Dickens at a young age was exposed to these conditions, as he worked in a factory at the age of twelve. Additionally he was a strong advocate for child labor reforms. His commentary was praised by Marx. The other British author is Elizabeth Gaskell, whose work focused on the area of Manchester and the other manufacturing cities in the middle of England. Gaskell was born in Chelsea, a wealthy area in London, but moved to Manchester after her marriage. It was during this time that she wrote Mary Barton and North and South, two novels centering around the working class. 

It is clear that both Gaskell and Dickens’ works contain commentary on the industrial class and revolution. The purpose of this research is to explore how the works published by Marx, Blanqui, Carlyle, Engels, Pyat, and Proudhon in the lead up, during, and after the revolutions of 1848 could have impacted the rhetoric found in novels with these themes by Gaskell and Dickens.