This Movie Turned Richard Armitage Into a Heartthrob
BY
REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE
PUBLISHED 7 HOURS AGO
Before he was Thorin or in Hannibal, this Richard Armitage character made us all swoon.



English actor Richard Armitage has made headlines recently for his role in Netflix's Obsession, a miniseries adaptation of 1991's Jeremy Irons-led erotic thriller Damage. But it's also worth revisiting Armitage's breakout performance as mill owner John Thornton in North and South, a 2004 BBC miniseries adaptation of the Elizabeth Gaskell novel of the same name. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic between Thornton and Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe) has been compared to that of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, whose complicated courtship has been immortalized by numerous television and film adaptations.

However, North and South is a much testier examination of class differences in 19th-century Britain, with Thornton and Margaret clashing over everything from social graces to labor practices, to the value of work. While Thornton was taken from school following his father's death to run the family mill, Margaret is a formerly privileged minister's daughter who has relocated to the fictional northern town of Milton after her own father publicly breaks with his church community in the south of England. While adjusting to the town's working-class sensibility and suspicion of southern pretentiousness –– all while coping with her family's social decline and her mother's illness –– is no easy task, Margaret eventually wins the locals' hearts with her earnest and fiery spirit, likewise attracting Thornton to her.

John Thornton and Margaret Hale Are the Biggest Examples of Opposites Attract

Armitage's subtle and observant performance establishes Thornton as a complicated and independent man whose individualist values and at times callous approach to business are deeply challenged by Margaret's vocal disapproval of his mill's labor practices. At first, he portrays Thornton as abrupt and defensive, qualities that cause him to clash with Margaret. But although he initially perceives her criticism as ill-informed and even arrogant, he comes to appreciate her more humanitarian outlook, even as their differing views continue to provide grist for conflict throughout the series.

Thornton's gradual softening is what permits his excruciating first proposal of marriage. It's this new vulnerability that provides a compelling counterpoint to Denby-Ashe's portrayal of Margaret's indignant and angry reaction when Thornton first expresses his feelings for her. Cleverly, Armitage taps into how Thornton's profound hurt following this unpleasant and embarrassing experience provides him with a greater level of empathy and clarity –– when he later finds Margaret in a potentially morally compromising situation, and when faced with professional difficulties of his own, difficulties which threaten his family's hard-won prosperity.

North and South' Is About More Than Just a Love Story
This, coupled with the evolution of Thornton's political stance and his slow-burn affection for Margaret even after her initial rejection, makes North and South more than just a conventional story about two fundamentally different people who fall in love. Instead, its potentially melodramatic content is elevated by Armitage's performance, helping the series to avoid clichés. This makes it all the more satisfying when Thornton and Margaret both hit rock bottom in their personal lives, only to find their way back to one another. Both Armitage and Denby-Ashe's performances take into account how –– after a series of disastrous and discouraging events –– their protagonists must admit their deepest vulnerability: their love for each other.