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

[BishyBarnyBee]

Following the very successful Madame Bovary readalong, we have decided to explore another woman who refused to be bound by contemporary mores.
So shocking at the time, two of Gaskell's friends burnt their copies.

"Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth (1853) was the first mainstream novel to make a fallen woman its eponymous heroine. It is a remarkable story of love, of the sanctuary and tyranny of the family, and of the consequences of lies and deception, one that lays bare Victorian hypocrisy and sexual double-standards. Shocking to contemporary readers, its radical utopian vision of a pure woman faithfully presented predates Hardy's Tess by nearly forty years."

We will aim for two chapters a week - a weekend chapter and a mid week chapter. If I have time, I'll try and do a ChatGPT chapter summary, but anyone else is welcome to jump in if I haven't got there first.

We start 1st Jan, so if you are up for a bit of Victorian passion, guilt, regret and redemption, sign up here!

The delicate hints that Mrs Mason's bad mood might be due to a dose of PMT😮

I liked the way the social hierarchy was being built into the story. The elegant people at the ball, but also those more disadvantaged than the seamstresses - the family of the rescued boy, the homeless person, the nameless servant in Mrs Mason's household whom Ruth sent on errands.

And of course, with my Mumsnet head on I was yelling, "No, Ruth, DON'T! Throw this one back!"

I was struck with use of a symbol: Mr B gives Ruth a scentless flower (one that is only lovely to look at- all about appearance). A warning about what he is and what he will offer.

That's definitely a very apt observation LiesDoNotBecomeUs. It's clear from the outset that Ruth will not be able to deal with this man.

Loving the summaries and comments so far. I'm struck by how innocent and honest and unassuming Ruth is at the beginning. Guessing she'll change. Oh! how the world, and Mr B, is going to change her.

ChatGPT said she was an orphan. Is that right. I thought her father was still alive?

We get Ruth's family history in the next chapter.

Interesting that when Ruth artlessly says, "I know I'm pretty," presumably because she has been told she's pretty when she was growing up and just accepts it as a neutral fact, she gets the same sort of response from her peers as a 21st century teenage girl might get if she indicated that she was satisfied with her appearance.

Oh I am enjoying this and looking forward to the next chapter. I liked this line in the writing

“Literally and figuratively, their lives seemed to wander through flowery pleasure-paths.” Where Ruth reflects on the riches and grandeur of the rich now she is back in her real world. Mr B is a scoundrel. His lack of tact towards the old lady regarding her dwelling was rude to say the least. I am envisioning a broken heart ahead for Ruth. Please don’t go there Ruth!

I seem to have missed that wonderful line @Midnightstar76. I must go back and find it. It's brilliant.

Yes. That woman, the little boy's grandmother, had the measure of Mr. B. alright. The voice of experience!

Loving the commentaries so far. Good spot on the camellia without scent and I definitely think it represents Bellingham: all looks and no use.

A couple of things that stood out to me...

1. Ruth lives in a world of snow - no warmth or colour. Bellingham lives in a vibrant warm world. The whole book so far seems to be about contrasts but this one is reinforced a few times and maybe explains it is not just Bellingham that attracts Ruth, but the colourful world he inhabits.

1. Jenny was Ruth's only defence against Bellingham - her wisdom and advice and care. She has been removed and Ruth is now vulnerable. There may be no one else who will be able to protect her. EG not so subtle with this one, she literally says as much right at the end of the chapter.

I missed that symbolism. I think I took it at face value, viewing it how Ruth viewed it! I re-read it and notice that I had also missed that the flower Mr B gives to Ruth was one that 'someone had left on the table'. It's a bit like oh here you are, have this object that someone has discarded. An opportunist!

Yes - @Livinginthenineteenseventies I am appreciating that MG's detail is always likely to be significant. The (discarded) flower is nothing to him but will seem more to her...

I also didn't fully appreciate the meaning of the scentless, discarded flower.

Very much enjoying the book so far and all of your comments. Reading at this pace enables you to look at the language, symbolism etc.. more closely

Clever that EG can enable us to see Bellingham through Ruth's eyes but also for what he really is.

I found Bellingham's lack of understanding of Ruth's life interesting. Not understanding how difficult it would be for her to meet him again and to check up on the boy. Plus asking if she went on walks- as if she would have the time/energy for walking for pleasure!

I had almost forgotten how clever and sly the women writers of that period were. I do remember picking up Jane Austen for the first time and being surprised at how much I laughed. I hadn't expected that.

I've just caught up finally! Thank you @BishyBarnyBee for the fabulous summaries, and everyone else for the thought-provoking comments.

@Piggywaspushed , I also noticed the coincidence of both this read-along and the Nicholas Nickleby read-along featuring the theme of oppressed seamstresses! In Nickleby there are a few comic touches, however (with Mr Mantalini and Miss Knag), but here the tone is much more relentlessly sombre.

I was also thinking of how the two 'fallen women' read-alongs that some of us did last year (Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary), followed by this one, are taking us lower and lower down the social ladder. First we get aristocratic Anna, then bourgeois Emma, and now Ruth the working woman. There are already elements that remind me of Emma Bovary, such as the scene of the grand ball. Both Emma and Ruth marvel at a world they aren't part of. But Emma is quite materially comfortable and just wants more excitement and thrill, whereas Ruth is even more on the margins: it's not just love and romance she lacks, but basic physical essentials like enough food and sleep.

I'm interested in Ruth's biblical name. Ruth in the Old Testament is characterised by her loyalty and her altruistic care for others. And she's also a hard worker. In the Book of Ruth, the heroine is rewarded by getting to marry the owner of the field where she's gleaning wheat, but I don't think our Ruth will be so lucky with Bellingham!

Caught up

i am also finding the comments of other posters very interesting, at this rate of reading i can go back to parts of the chapter once i have read the comments and pick up on more of the nuance. I probably would miss most of these left to my own devices 😀

The word ruth also has the same origins as sorrow and rue - and an old meaning of misery/sorrow.

I read chapter 2 this morning and loved it. I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and have shared many of the same thoughts and feelings.

Already, there's a sense of dread, knowing that Ruth's youth and innocence will lead her to make some disastrous decisions. I want to tell her to LTB!

I hadn't picked up on the symbolism of the flower without a scent so thank you for pointing that out.

The only thing I have to add is that I thought MG was very good at pointing out how people misinterpret the meaning of each other's words because they don't know what the other is thinking.

There were a couple of conversations between Ruth and Henry Bellingham where that happened, largely because HB's privilege means that he has no understanding of the reality of Ruth's life and, on Ruth's part, because of her naivety.

I'm really enjoying Ruth. I think it will be one of my top reads of 2024. Thanks to everyone so far for the interesting comments. The crossover between this book and 'Nicholas Nickleby' is timely. The description of the daily grind of the lives of seamstresses and servants highlights how hard life was for those who didn't live privileged lives. I feel Ruth is very close to becoming destitute and her innocence and naivety makes me feel alarmed for her. A sense of dread is right, cariadlet.

I also hadn’t picked up on some of the nuances. So thank you.

What struck me is the lack of social manners Bellingham displays towards the grandmother. It’s ok for him to say that they live like pigs. But I’m guessing he would say he had much better manners than her. It’s just she’s not worthy of him using them. If that makes sense.

That totally makes sense.

At the ball, he initially ignored Ruth. Her function was to mend his partner's ball gown and he didn't look past her function.

He only really noticed her after he caught her smile. He wouldn't have taken any interest in her if she hadn't been young and pretty but she was also of a station which allowed him to take an interest in her.

She's working class but "respectable" w.c. as shown by her trade and her dress.

The old woman belongs to an even lower station and doesn't have anything which he would consider an inducement for him to treat her with respect.

In his privileged position, he would have no concept of how difficult it would be for an old woman in poor health to feed herself and her grandson and keep a roof over their heads in those days before benefits and labour saving devices.

Damn! Posted accidentally and can't edit on my phone.

Meant to say that it would have been difficult just to survive let alone keep the place clean and tidy. She would have been struggling both physically and financially.

I'm enjoying it too. Two things struck me

• Bellingham wasn't at all interested in the welfare of the boy beyond saving him. Doesn't bode well for Ruth.
• His comments regarding the house show that he is of the opinion that the poor living conditions are due to a personal failure rather than poverty per se. I was going to say "Victorian opinion" but there are plenty of people who still think this way.

Hi - first timer and book lover here!

Hoping to comment on a read along thread for Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Ruth, which I started when someone shared it on Twitter. And that someone will help if I get stuck or miss the latest update on that. I’m actually about 1/3 of the way through it now.

Thanks!

Yes, that was immediate thought too - is she going to be a Helen Burns? Thankfully not, as it turns out - she’s older and not mawkishly religious for a start. She seems to represent the solidarity and sisterhood between a number of these working class girls, and to act as a surrogate mother to Ruth (maybe just the first in the novel….? Though there’s a parallel in that with Jane Eyre, as Miss Temple at Lowood plays that role too.

Reading this straight after Crime & Punishment and really enjoying the contrast - a much easier, though less intellectually stimulating read. I’m already about a third of the way through as it’s such a page turner, but I won’t spoil anything! I read Mary Barton and North & South decades ago but this is the first of GE’s lesser known novels that I’ve tackled.

I’ve always been fascinated by the theme of the ‘fallen woman’ in Victorian art and literature so it’s interesting to compare Ruth to Gaskell’s own Esther in Mary Barton (a minor character there), George Eliot’s Hetty Sorrel in Adam Bede and of course Hardy’s Tess. Interesting that Ruth is a free spirit, a child of nature like Tess and that through her Gaskell insists - like her friends the Brontë - on the Romantic idea of the spiritually healing power of Nature.

I too love all the social commentary, and especially the more complex, socially ambiguous characters like Mrs Mason, who isn’t painted as a complete villain, but has her own personal struggles that explain her hard-headedness. I like the detail showing she can’t afford to know too much about her workers’ private circumstances, because her conscience might then compel her into duty-bound but financially costly action. Gaskell is so good on the social psychology of our moral choices, and on older women.