New Year, New Fallen Woman: Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth Readalong

I think one very revealing detail about Sally that helped me forgive her sooner rather than later was her secretly keeping a few locks of Ruth’s hair. Whilst it’s clearly hypocritical and might make some readers hate her even more at this point, I thought it humanised her, as it suggests she knew she’d done wrong to destroy such a fine head of hair and the glossy locks would be a private rebuke to her. You may find that too charitable, but it surely reveals more subtlety and complexity to her character and feelings at this point than her brusque, savage actions would suggest.

In contrast to Sally’s energy and spiritedness, much as I feel for Ruth here, she’s becoming more and more infuriatingly passive and one-dimensional. She’s now just feels like Gaskell’s Fallen Woman Who Must Be Redeemed at All Costs - a vehicle for the author’s moral purpose and necessary narrative arc more than an unpredictable, realistic human character. And it’s already leading to some of Gaskell’s most sentimental, overtly religiose writing in the novel.

I also read Tess as knowing sex leads to pregnancy but not knowing how predatory men can be. She was cautious of Alec but maybe not enough to well and truly keep away. (That sounds a bit like I am blaming Tess, which I am not.)

I am not sure with Ruth though, either. I think that her orphan status, combined with her neglectful guardian afterwards, means there may have been little interaction with motherhood. i.e. no one to tell her and no one to observe.

However, she did then live in a dorm with girls at the sewing house and I wonder how much chatter there might have been to 'enlightened' her? Maybe enough to cause her to link sex with pregnancy but maybe nont enough to truly believe it or know exactly what act leads to pregnancy, the likelihood etc.

p.s. I actually really like Sally who, while being sharp and grumpy, is clearly still trying to do the best for everyone. I especially liked her getting very offended at the idea she was upset at Ruth because it would bring her some trouble and that she was trying to avoid it.

I agree about Tess @Piggywaspushed . I always thought that Tess knew about sex but was naive about men. It was actually pretty common for brides to be pregnant on their wedding day. Her mistake was trusting Alex to behave decently. After all, she thought he was a distant relative so that lulled her into a false sense of security. With Ruth I'm not sure. She seems more naive with nobody really explaining anything to her.

Tess definitley knew sex produced babies as she looked after her mother's. However, I'm not sure Tess ever knew that it could be predatory, or how men like Alec take advantage of naivete (and tiredness in her case).

I am pretty sure Ruth knows what sex is too - all young girls will have looked after babies and will have known of local women who had been taken in by the community or cast out, (community depending...)., hence her shame. What she did seem prior to her desertion was oblivious to how she was being used.

Hi @BishyBarnyBee thank you for your summary as always. I particularly liked 'drooping sorrow' which I think is very apt for Ruth. I was thinking back on Emma Bovary and wondered if she ever shed a tear for anyone or even for herself. I don't think so. She was as hard as nails!

I'm sorry to hear that things have been so tough recently @babybythesea Wishing you well! I think Gaskell wants the reader to consider Ruth as a complete innocent although as Bishy points out, is it likely that she didn't have any knowledge at all of the facts of life or morality? I think if we had seen more of an internal struggle on her part about taking up with Bellingham, she might have been a more interesting and realistic character. The fact that she is being punished for something that was done to her is hard to accept.

I hope you all enjoy chapter 16!

I don't see Sally in such a harsh light. I think she is fiercely loyal to the Bensons and wants to protect them and herself from the ruinous consequences of the village finding out the truth. Of course, when she cuts her hair, she doesn't even know Ruth. For all she knows, she is a freeloader who has taken advantage of the kindness and ingenuous nature of her employers.

Absolutely @cassandre I think you have it spot on. I’ve always thought that the strict prohibition against sex before marriage had more to do with the financial cost of supporting the mother and child before the welfare state, when the burden fell on parishioners. They may not have wanted to admit that though. Once we had a decent welfare state and childcare that enabled women to work by the 1970s, unmarried mothers became more accepted.

Just dropping in to say I’m still here!
It’s been a mad few weeks. A busy week at work followed by a week in bed with flu and a complete inability to read due to extreme high temperature and dizziness for 3 days and then a few days of just falling asleep constantly. I’d forgotten how bad flu can be.
That was Followed by a week back at work but failing to read because I was so tired in the evening. And then half term and children to occupy, and a child who broke her arm.
We are now back on course and I have almost caught up. I’m about to start chapter 13 - I’ve been reading the discussion after each chapter which has given me new things to think about every time.

I have also learnt (after 16 years on here!!) what the buttons at the bottom of the posts do - thank you to the poster who explained them! I’ve never even looked at them let alone tried them out!

Back to Ruth - I’m at the point where she’s just arrived at the Benson house. There’s all the hints that them taking her will not turn out right, but I can’t help wondering whether any option was a good option. If we could do a Sliding Doors thing, would she have thrived any better if they hadn’t taken her? She is so naive, no understanding of money etc - I can’t help
thinking whatever happens now, it’s no more of a disaster than any other course of action.

Also, I assumed fairly early on they were having sex although it wasn’t mentioned- as soon as they were sleeping in the one room in Wales I figured it was happening. But did she know??
What I mean is, if she is that young and naive, did she realise that it is this action that people condemn? She probably wouldn’t have been told anything about it so did she not have any negative associations and therefore no reason not to do it, if he wanted to? Hence the lack of understanding that people might condemn her and being taken by surprise when it happens. She trusts and loves him, he does it, presumably behaves as though it’s normal, she knows no different. Does she connect it with her pregnancy I wonder?

In other words, I think the characters in the novel fall into two categories: people who believe Ruth has done wrong and have no compassion for her, and people who believe she has done wrong and DO have compassion for her. And the latter are the true Christians from Gaskell's point of view. But everyone still believes to at least some extent that Ruth has done wrong, including Ruth herself.

I get the impression that Ruth is meant to be redeemed through motherhood: her self-sacrificial embrace of the role of mother will enable her to cross to the other side of the virgin/whore divide, and become Mary instead of Eve.

I just hate the penitential aspect of it all, like the fact that she chooses to wear clothes made out of the coarsest possible cloth.

She's at the opposite end of the spectrum to Emma Bovary: Emma is very self-centred, and Ruth is very self-effacing. It would be nice to see a heroine who's a bit more in the middle 😀

@narniabusiness , absolutely, I take your point! Gaskell is certainly trying to make readers see the narrowmindedness and hypocrisy of the people who judge Ruth. And for her time, that's radical.

At the same time, it irks me that Ruth has to feel repentant and humble at all. She is not to blame whatsoever. Having sex and getting pregnant aren't sins. I'm reminded a bit of modern-day evangelical Christianity and its 'hate the sin but love the sinner' mantra (when it comes to gay love, for example). While loving sinners is better than hating them, it would be more enlightened to do away with the concept of sexual sin altogether... or reserve the notion of sin for men who groom young women and dump them!

But yeah, I'm fully aware that when I say that, I'm thinking from today's perspective, and Gaskell isn't writing for me, she's writing for an audience of 1853.

It occurs to me that Gaskell skipping the scene of labour and birth is a bit like her skipping any mention of Ruth having sex. Women's bodies are clearly a delicate topic.

I looked it up. It's interesting :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow%27s_peak

Widows peak refers to hair receding at the temples as one ages. I fact I’m very aware of.

This attitude to unmarried mothers after all persisted into the second half of the 20th century, so unfortunately MG didn’t manage to change attitudes. But at least the treatment of the children and their ostracism reduced, although they may be limited in who they could marry.

I really just wanted to quote your 3rd paragraph but I wasn’t sure how to.
The point about the negative judgment of pregnancy out of wedlock. I think this is what MG is asking us to question. Why is Ruth so harshly judged? Is it really a Christian thing to do? If Ruth is repentant then that should be enough to redeem her in the eyes of God, so why isn’t it enough for society at large?

I found it hard to read that it took Faith a while before she looked at the baby. It seems very harsh!

And yeah, the birth happened so fast, with the jump to the baby being placed next to the 'pale white mother', that I first thought both mother and baby were dead! But soon realised that wasn't the correct interpretation.

Maybe as I read on, I'll feel more love for Sally, but at the moment I can't forgive her for cutting Ruth's hair. It does seem like an act meant to shame her and put her in her place. And I'm miffed by Ruth's dignified submission to the hair cutting as well. I would rather she told Sally to fuck off. 😳

And I agree with your remark, Piggy, about being piety-ed out.

That said, it's certainly an interesting glimpse into cultural norms. It's just all the negative judgment of pregnancy out of wedlock that I find difficult to endure. And Ruth's participation in the self-flagellation.

However, today's chapter does have a go at the local lord-of-the-manor type Mr Bradshaw and his self-aggrandising acts of piety! I'm on board with that.

I ma guessing the phrase widow's peak must derive from ideas about widow's hair? I thought they scraped it all back - but cutting seems more extreme. It felt in the book a bit like slut shaming but Sally doesn't present it as such. More that your purpose as a beauty is over. Troubling ideas to grapple.

Why.

I did enjoy the hint of tension around the difficulties of 3 women living in a small space.

sorry posted too soon

I have read up to today’s chapter. I have to admit I am struggling to emotionally engage with the characters. I feel quite detached and not invested in the situation as I was with Anna or Tess. I am not sure w

I found your thread a couple of weeks ago quite by accident. I thought your choice of book sounded very interesting so I got a copy and I’ve just read chapter 15 so thought I’d post.
I don’t have anything clever to say but I’ve enjoyed reading your comments very much. The thing that intrigued me was Sally cutting Ruth’s hair. I have never heard of a widow having to cut her hair before. and I thought I’d read a lot of 19th century fiction. It just sounds so sad at a time when long hair was so important and her grief so raw. I wonder whether it wasn’t the custom among the upper classes. I’m going to have to try to find out more.

Well what I found about chapter fifteen is how baffled I was that it jumped to the next paragraph and there she had had baby. No talk of her labour just she has had her baby.
This piece of writing reminded me of all those sleepless restless nights I had and how I couldn’t rest due to the excitement of being a new mum and wanting, needing to be there.

she opened them again with a start, for sleep seemed to be an enemy stealing from her the consciousness of being a mother. That one thought excluded all remembrance and all anticipation, in those first hours of delight.”

I also discovered a new word for me quixotic, what a great sounding word.

I am glad that Ruth was able to keep busy during her time leading up to labour making use of her seamstress skills. I am beginning to get a little annoyed that Ruth was moping around crying so much and can understand Miss Benson’s irritations. Sally however really shows a compassionate side on this note. Intrigued for the next chapter, chapter 16 and more of Sally