Ruth (Penguin Classics)

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Matus, Jill L., ed. (2007). The Cambridge companion to Elizabeth Gaskell (repr.ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521846769. , p. 9. I liked the inclusion of Jemima as a character in contrast to Ruth’s. Gaskell doesn’t condemn Jemima for traits that were no doubt considered unbecoming a young Victorian lady. Yes, there’s a sense that she needs to grow up and start behaving better (not the least because her behavior is not getting her what she wants). But her chafing at the sense that she’s being managed into a marriage with Mr. Farquahar is treated as understandable. Sure, I still have issue with seeing Ruth as a sinner at all, and the religious stuff doesn’t really work for me, but at least there’s a glimmer of understanding in 1853 that a young woman should not be condemned for a mistake made when she was 15 (even Ruth, trying in some small way to defend herself when she’s found out and castigated, says sadly “I was so young”). By building Ruth’s character into an allegorical martyr, Gaskell presents her argument against this common injustice entirely on principle. Ruth condemns herself more than a reader would and lives as a perpetual penitent, despite the fact that she is largely irreproachable. Gaskell forces the reader to face the reality of how Ruth is victimised and, by extension, how this was true for thousands of women at the time.

Basically, I liked this book for two reasons. Elizabeth Gaskell has a way with words. She knows how people talk and she invents good dialogues. She can draw a beautiful description of nature. She has the ability to accurately capture a situation and places and people as they really are. The result is that what is drawn is realistic and convincing. The book’s realism is the second reason I like the novel so very much. I came to feel convinced that events could roll out just as they did. Another reason I so like this book is that I saw and felt and experienced another person’s reality, and that person is very different from myself. Later on, Mr Bellingham meets Ruth coincidentally and proposes for marriage but she rejects him. Mr Bradshaw learns that Ruth is a fallen woman and has an illegitimate child, banishes her from his home. Gaskell, Elizabeth (1854–55). North and South. Penguin Popular Classics. p.277. ISBN 978-0-14-062019-1. She delighted in the exercise of her intellectual powers, and liked the idea of the infinite amount of which she was ignorant; for it was a grand pleasure to learn—to crave, and be satisfied. Ruth is a social novel written by the famous English author, Elizabeth Gaskell, in 1853. It is consisting of three volumes and published by Chapman and Hall.The French Play in London': Performing, Translating, and Adapting from the French in Victorian Britain

All upcoming public events are going ahead as planned and you can find more information on our events blog It's funny; Gaskell's novels seems to me to be what everyone thinks of as a "Victorian novel," and yet she is not really read or taught widely. Just a thought. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Gaskell, Elizabeth. Ruth. 1853. Oxford University Press, 1998. Approximately ten years after her arrival in Eccleston, Mr. Bellingham, now called Mr. Donne, appears in town and recognizes Ruth. Motivated by guilt and desire, Mr. Donne begs Ruth to marry him and allow him to care for their son. She declines both proposals, explaining that she is no longer in love with him and does not want their son to be influenced by Mr. Bellingham/Donne’s immoral character. Soon after, a gossiping shopkeeper recognizes Ruth from her younger days. Knowledge of Ruth’s true past as a fallen woman and mother of an illegitimate child begins to spread through Eccleston, eventually reaching her employer, Mr. Bradshaw. Though Jemima, her pupil, attempts to stand up for Ruth, her father is enraged when he discovers the truth. Ruth is fired from her job and the town shuns her, Leonard, and the Bensons. Ruth is a sympathetic character from the very beginning. When the story opens, Ruth is in the employ of a dressmaker. She is around 16 years old and has recently been orphaned. Her mother was an educated, kindly woman who married an older farmer, and Ruth was raised in a loving, kindly home. She soon meets a young man named Henry Bellingham who lives with his wealthy mother and has a rather loose character in the way of many young men in Victorian novels (some drinking, some gambling, some womanizing, etc.). Ruth's beauty catches Henry's attention, and he makes an effort to see her on Sundays when she is not working and is able to go to church. Ruth and Henry are out on a day trip one Sunday when her employer catches her in what she thinks is a compromising position and dismisses Ruth on the spot. Because Ruth is desperate and has no where to go, Henry takes her to London. End Scene 1.Perhaps in an attempt to make Ruth appealing to her readers, Gaskell strips her of all human vices. She is a virtuous, gentle, calm, ever-patient, never-complaining, selfless girl. She is the perfect heroine, except for her ‘sin’ in mothering an illegitimate child. So I think this characterisation of the young girl makes her seem unrealistic. Katherine Wootton is a feminist writer and reviewer, and works in television production. She loves literature, theatre, traveling and enthusiastic debate. More of her opinions on politics and culture can be found on her blog

Sussman, Matthew (March 2022). " "Austen, Gaskell, and the Politics of Domestic Fiction" ". Modern Language Quarterly. 83 (1): 1–26. doi: 10.1215/00267929-9475004 . Retrieved 5 June 2023. The novel demurely resumes in Wales, where Bellingham has taken Ruth, who is enamored of him. She is much taken with the landscape, but, untaught and unsophisticated, she can do little to entertain him, and he grows bored and restless. Until a small child vociferously disdains her touch, she appears to be unaware of her compromised moral position. Then Bellingham falls ill and his mother arrives to transport him to London, casting Ruth off with a token pittance.The social realism inherent in Gaskell’s work is what makes it so vivid to me, I think – as much as I enjoy a lot of 19th century literature, I also often also find it inaccessible, because the characters and situations don’t feel relatable. Morever, the emotions of the characters often aren’t recognizable or resonant to me. I find it somehow thrilling when I do feel that sense of connection, that moment of understanding of the human condition, as I frequently do with this author’s work. It makes the past come alive for me – I know that’s a well-worn phrase but it’s one that really applies here. Still, with all the fervor of youth, Ruth has convinced herself that she loves Bellingham. She doesn’t seem to have strong feelings about her “fallen woman” status unless it’s shoved in her face, as when a young boy castigates her in the village in front of his nanny, having heard that Ruth is a “bad woman” from his mother. It occurs to me that her love for Bellingham is probably partly motivated by a desire to self-justify her “sinful” behavior. (Spoiler: he’s not that lovable!)