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!

So sorry to hear that, and I hope you have some good people supporting you through this. Yes, Ruth is quite dark and oppressive in parts, isn't it? I think there is some loveliness and even some humour coming up but it would be understandable if you felt this wasn't the right time for you. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself.💖

Thank-you Bishy and @FuzzyCaoraDhubh - it sounds safe to continue.

We are all leaning together here but it has been a very sad time.

(My sister always reads the ends of novels before beginning them - just in case they end badly.)

Chapter 6
In which Ruth realises exactly what the world thinks of her, Mr Bellingham succumbs to a brain-fever and only his mother is good enough to care for him.

Many watchers are observing Ruth and commenting on her situation or appearance. We learn how harshly the world judges her, but she is oblivious until a small child punches her in the face and tells her to keep away from his baby brother. She realises he has heard adults talking about her disgrace, sees deep sorrow on the face of yesterday's gallant stranger, and feels condemned by young and old. She does not want to spoil Mr B's more buoyant mood so keeps her shame to herself.

They walk in a dense, dark wood where green gloom reigns, but away from the town, he can admire her beauty and she can forget everything except his pleasure. Without the outside world to intervene, her existence can just be "feeling and thinking and loving."

But returning to the inn she becomes pensive and sad, which irritates B. To please him, she asks to learn a game, and he enjoys the sensation of teaching his "beautiful ignoramus".

His headache suddenly becomes a serious illness and the doctor is called. He recognises Ruth is no common person, but she cannot be allowed to nurse B, so his mother, "as haughty a lady as you could wish to see" is sent for.

Thank you Bishy. An excellent summary as always.

I felt sorry for Ruth as she begins to realise the implications of her association with Mr. B. The incident with the little boy was awful. Also, the cheek of Mr. B to chastise Ruth for not being a joyful companion when he was the one who took her to this secluded place is too much!

@FuzzyCaoraDhubh He's just awful in this chapter, isn't he? So utterly contemptuous and manipulative. Belittling her and calling her names. It feels so modern as a classic abusive relationship - he has groomed her, isolated her, destroyed any independence or self-esteem she may have had, and is now completely controlling her in a way that builds up his own self importance at her expense.

And the start is just unbearable! Seeing the way they talk about Ruth while she is oblivious, and then the way she finds out how much she is despised from a self-righteous young boy. Just heart breaking.

I am clutching at your no-spoiler reassurance from Chapter 5 that things will get better for Ruth - it's all looking a bit grim at the moment!

@BishyBarnyBee I couldn't agree more with you.

Ruth is going through some major trials and tribulations but there is a silver lining.

So sad that Ruth feels that she is judged by both young and old when really I think she is misinterpreting the older man's expression. Another way of showing us how her self-esteem is being eroded.

I agree all seemed very sad. Not least because we are reminded again (a few times) how bloody young Ruth is. And how kind she is (eg going to kiss the baby).

In particular, I thought the scene in the woods very 'telling' because Ruth has little value in her own beauty but it is the ONLY thing Bellingham values in that scene. And, of course, all he cares about is how her sad mood impacts him. And, of course, all she cares about is the same thing and resolves to be cheerier... for HIM!

However, in need of a good sign, I remember my Gran used to say speedwell brought luck - so maybe the fact that this is the flower they saw in the woods is a ray of hope?

I like the idea that this novel contains so much 'language of the flowers'.
My mother used to have (and may still have) an old book with a title like this and it contains flower names and their meanings when included in a bouquet. It seems that you really could send a message that way in the 19C.

@LiesDoNotBecomeUs , I am so sorry for your loss as well 💐

I agree with everyone else's comments. Bellingham just gets worse and worse! The irony of him saying to Ruth, 'you really should learn to have a little sympathy' !!!

I find myself wishing Ruth would be less self-sacrificing and saint-like, but these qualities have been ingrained in her I guess.

I feel, coming after the War and Peace and Madame Bovary readalongs, that this is a very feminine/womanly novel. I was talking to a friend recently about the womanly arts and crafts that I grew up loving, slightly despised in my 20s, and have come to love again in later life. Things like baking, decorating, knitting, embroidery etc.

The art and craft of everyday life - so oppressive if it's the only sphere you are allowed, but actually life enhancing and more important than I might have acknowledged when I first found feminism. I think it's here in Gaskell's love of detail and description, and I am really enjoying it. The language of flowers is very much part of that traditional feminine sphere.

@BishyBarnyBee I seem to have run the same route from feminine to feminist to feminine-feminist :)

I am hoping that Ruth's self-sacrificing goodness will not turn her into one of Dickens' heroines. 'The angel in the house' always seems a 19C male fantasy of how women should behave and feel.

I agree completely with you both. Feminism doesn't mean women have to reject the spheres of domesticism, arts and crafts, nature and so on: it just means that women get to CHOOSE them, rather than being confined to those domains and having tasks imposed on them whether they like it or not. To me, feminism is about more options rather than fewer. It's not about saying little girls can't like pink, for example; it's about saying little boys can like pink too, and little girls can like whatever colour they fancy, and if that colour happens to be pink, well, great!

Ruth does seem quite 'angel in the house'-like to me at the moment, but I assume that future plot developments are going to throw a spanner in the works and make her a more complicated character. It will be interesting to see what happens when 'angel' meets 'fallen woman'.

I'm also delighted to be reading a book by a woman author and seeing what she does (or doesn't do) with the usual gender tropes.

Chapter 7
In which Ruth throws herself into nursing Mr B, his mother arrives and throws Ruth out of the picture, and Ruth is thrown into an agony of suspenseful waiting.

Ruth is utterly engrossed in nursing and praying for B. She is completely in the present moment with no thought of past or future, until Mrs B arrives and she is banished from the sickroom. The landlady worries for her own reputation, but is brusquely kind when Ruth collapses from exhaustion.

At night, Ruth creeps to the sickroom to listen for any clues to B's wellness. She reflects on the beauty of the mountainous countryside which she had thought so lovely that no sorrow could enter, but now realises that earth has no barrier against agony. A glorious dawn marks the end of a long grey night, and as Ruth waits curled up outside the door, B awakes from healing sleep and his mother allows herself to leave the sickroom.

Ruth cannot help but ask how he is, and Mrs B immediately understands that this is the girl who has led her son astray and, in her opinion, caused his illness. She shows her contempt, tells Ruth that he is better but instructs her to stay away from him. Mrs Morgan also admonishes her but is not without some kindness. Ruth is reduced to occasional nighttime forays where she can just catch the sound of B's voice. She passes the time dreaming how he will send for her when he is better, but Gaskell tells us she is building vain castles in the air.

The description of the long grey night with all the carefully described detail of the dawn feels like the bright spot in an otherwise quite bleak section. Having found out how the world views Ruth in chapter 6, we now see her cast aside - and Mrs G tells us clearly that this is not going to go the way Ruth hopes. Such a sad chapter.

I felt very sorry for Ruth in this chapter. The description of the dawn over the mountains was beautiful.

I feel maternal towards Ruth and I have the urge to protect her.

I am a little surprised by her naivety. Surely a female of her generation had the importance of protecting their reputation drummed into them by the church and by society. I would have expected her to feel greater internal conflict.

(another feminist here who has rediscovered the joys of embroidery and cooking)

‘’I don’t think he would get better myself, though-Galert does not howl for nothing.”
I have no idea who Galert was/is so looked it up on Wikipedia and there is an explanation that Gelert was a legendary wolfhound and there is a tale of a missing baby and Gelert being wrongfully accused and killed and Llywelyn who killed the hound never smiles again. Fascinating! Another thing I picked up was the superstitions regarding health such as Mr B can’t possibly be on the turn on the fourth day, this would have to be on the third, fifth or seventh day.

If you go to Beddgelert in Snowdonia , you can visit said grave!

Oh wow thanks @Piggywaspushed I may well do one day

Gelert = wrongly accused of a crime he was trying to prevent
Ruth = wrongly accused of the crime of trapping Bellingham in the relationship when the reverse is true

I wondered also if there was something in Mrs Bellingham bringing all the staff... like her view of doing the best for her son is to spend £. But doesn't have the same empathy with the sick that Ruth does, who knows Mrs Bellingham should not have worn the noisy silk dress in the sick room because it will disturb him.

I’m not sure why, but my username seems to
fluctuate between two depending on which thread I am posting.

Anyway, I am StColumb hopefully with my new name.

I feel like my comments are going to come across as a little frivolous and flippant given all the wonderful chat and background. My biggest problem so far (and I realise it’s ridiculous) is that Bellingham just doesn’t come across as remotely desirable. I like my cads to
at least make me question my own feelings about them and help to understand why Ruth would be attracted to him.

I do see why:

• Anna falls for Vronsky’s charm and aoxiety
• Emma’s yearning for excitement with Rodolphe and Leon
• I like Willoughby and believe he esteemed Marianne but prioritised ££
• I understand how Wickham draws the Bennett sisters

But I just don’t feel it here.

I find Ruth herself a bit flat and I’m a little ambivalent to her. I feel bad feeling that way as I can objectively see the grooming, terrible way he treats her, and that her immediate future does not look promising. I remember quite clearly more than a decade
later feeling quietly terrified of what was happening to Tess when I read it and being shocked at every turn and stopping to comprehend the things that happened. I’m finding it so hard to connect with and I am not sure why.

Interesting comments @AgualusasLover - not least because I almost feel exactly the opposite. Which is, of course, why reading literature as a group like this is so great: to see how others read it.

But I see Ruth as being very vulnerable indeed to grooming and can see why she has hyper attached herself to Bellingham. The grief and loss of her loving home and the subsequent bleakness of her existence has left her too open to the mearest kind words that Bellingham has offered her. She desperately needs love and has found something she has mistaken for love in entirely the wrong place. He doesn't need to be a charming cad to hook her. He just needed to show her some shadow of affection.

Whereas, I always found it hard to really connect to Tess and never saw why she stuck around Alec when all her senses tell her he is dangerous and she doesn't like him. Why she continues to stay with him post rape (I know there is much debate about the degree to which what happens has any consent from her) and why she continues to think Clare is such a decent man when he does nothing but make me so mad I want to slap him

Objectively, I see all of the above, I really do. I don’t remember liking North and South that much either, so perhaps I just don’t connect with Mrs Gaskell. I just have very little opinion or draw to any of the characters for any reason. The man she met in the woods I have found the most interesting so far and I hope he features
more.

I might read ahead to next week, because maybe that is the issue, having a gap maybe means I disengage so I might try a bit of momentum and see what happens.

Argh… this name thing is driving me
mad.