Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton and Charles Dicken's Bleak House show many poverty similarities and differences and offer little opportunity to resolve the character's situation. By addressing these issues in this essay, I will explore how characters try to improve their situations along with the external influences that help make their environment better or worse. Starting from a historical point of view with the Industrial Revolution, which was gaining momentum, having begun its life. in the heart of Manchester. Steady technological and economic progress was gaining momentum in the maritime industry, cottage industry, along with new developments in factories. Thanks to these improvements, there was an increase in food production, resulting from new investments spent in machinery and the modernization of factories. Further afield, profit from foreign trade and further growth and development in the banking sector, they now had the ability to provide flexible lines of credit to those who could afford the repayments. Comparing Elizabeth Gaskell's life to that of her protagonist Mary Barton from the novel Mary Barton, it is very similar in that Elizabeth's mother died when she was thirteen months old, leaving her father to care for her daughter who was then looked after by her aunt . While Elizabeth's aunt is depicted as a cripple and becomes young Elizabeth's companion, this is then reflected in Mary Barton, the character is shown as Margaret Jennings who is blind, while Mary Barton becomes her companion. While on the other hand, young Charles Dickens experienced poverty firsthand, with his family in debt, his father ended up in a debtors' prison unable to pay the debt. At the tender age of twelve… middle of paper… and his associates, the working environment and social implications of the working class had a huge effect on the daily lives of the working classes; which are seen through these two texts Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell and Bleak House by Charles Dicken showed that a dark side still existed despite all the prosperity in England. That a large number of reforms had to be endured by people like Frederick Engels to help improve the working and living conditions of the working class to move forward, but sadly they did not come soon enough for many people who died due to poor standard living conditions life, health problems resulting from the various fevers that were circulating, lack of sanitation. But these problems did not exist only in London or Manchester, these problems and issues knew no borders, as they reached the breath of England..