Elizabeth Gaskells Ruth as a Victim of Circumstance :: Elizabeth Gaskell Ruth Essays

Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth as a Victim of Circumstance When her parents die when she is still very young, innocent Ruth Hilton is sent to the city by the guardian she does not know. In the city she is to learn the trade very common for young girls during this time, that of the seamstress (Ugoretz), but events take a drastic turn when she becomes noble Mr Bellingham's mistress. Only 16 years old, Ruth is thrown into the for her unknown adult world and in this world, she cannot separate right from wrong and is thus considered to be a sinner. However, life is never simple and straightforward and in this essay, I discuss the moral aspects of the novel to decide if Ruth really is a bad person. What do we know about Ruth? Well, she seems to be very innocent and not at all aware of Bellingham's intentions, maybe due to the fact that she was left an orphan at such early an age. Like in most literature of this era, descriptions of sexuality are left out and the only way we find out that Ruth and Bellingham have a sexual relationship (although of course we guess that this is the case) is when we are told that Ruth is pregnant, but we are never told whether she knows how this baby was conceived. My guess is that she had never been told about sexuality and knew little about marriage, else a religious and piteous girl like her would never have been this blind to what she was doing. She knows that her relationship with Bellingham make other people talk, but she does not seem to understand why. She could not have known how wrong it was and that this really is the case is confirmed by Ruth herself: "I was very young; I did not know how such a life was against God's pure and holy will - at least not as I know it now" (p 246). When she learns that she is expecting a child, her only wish is to make this child grow up to be good and religious. She promises God that she will try only to do good deeds to make up for her sins, a promise she keeps during the rest of her life. The real hero in this novel is the Dissenter minister Mr Benson, who feels for Ruth and wants to protect her.