Silas Marner | Historical Context
Weavers in England
Historian E. P. Thompson, in his book The Making of the English Working Class, describes four different employment situations for weavers during the nineteenth century. The first was the “customer-weaver,” like Silas Marner, an independent worker in a village or small town who fulfilled orders from individual customers. Although customer- weavers were diminishing in numbers, those who continued the practice made a good living. In Silas Marner, Mr. Macey guesses that the hardworking Marner may make a pound a week from his weaving, which...
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