Previous
Sally Leadbitter
Mrs. Carson is wife to Mr. Carson and mother to Harry Carson, Sophy Carson, and other daughters. Her maiden name was Bessy Witter. As a young working-class woman, she wanted to marry mill worker Mr. George Wilson, but George wouldn’t jilt his then-sweetheart Mrs. Wilson for her. She was once a factory girl but became a rich woman when the man she married, the formerly working-class Mr. Carson, succeeded in business and became a mill owner.
Get the entire Mary Barton LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bessy Witter/Mrs. Carson Character Timeline in Mary Barton
The timeline below shows where the character Bessy Witter/Mrs. Carson appears in Mary Barton. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 10
...husband Mr. Wilson was and how handsome he was as a young man. Bessy Witter—now Mrs. Carson —wanted to marry him when they were young, though now she and Mr. Carson are...
(full context)
Chapter 11
...Harry claims that he loves her so much he’ll even marry her—though Mr. Carson and Mrs. Carson would hate the idea so much that he’s “never thought of it till now.” He...
(full context)
...would sooner forgive a “temporary connection” than a bad marriage. When Sally points out that Mrs. Carson once worked in a factory, Harry snaps that there’s a larger social distance between him...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...about Harry’s malign purposes—Harry might want to marry Mary. After all, his own mother ( Mrs. Carson ) was a factory girl. With this in mind, Jem plans to ask Harry outright...
(full context)
Chapter 18
Mrs. Carson , drawn by the noise, walks into the servants’ hall to investigate. Mr. Carson tells...
(full context)
Sophy knocks on the dining-room door and asks Mr. Carson to speak with Mrs. Carson , who is acting bizarrely. Sophy and Mr. Carson walk to Harry’s room, where his...
(full context)
