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    Ruth
    Ruth
    Ruth
    Ebook689 pages9 hours

    Ruth

    By Elizabeth Gaskell

    3.5/5

    ()

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1967
    Author

    Elizabeth Gaskell

    Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) was a British novelist and short-story writer. Her works were Victorian social histories across many strata of society. Her most famous works include Mary Barton, Cranford, North and South, and Wives and Daughters.

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    Reviews for Ruth

    3.5/5

    180 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The story of Ruth, an orphan apprentice milliner, who is abandoned by her gentleman lover and taken in by a dissenting minister and his sister. It is a story of repentance and judgment: Ruth is for years represented as a widow, but her secret of course comes out eventually. I found the story moved on at quite a pace. Mr Bellingham, the seducer, is a nuanced character and, although I never really warmed to Ruth, there were lots of other satisfying characters. I particularly enjoyed the Ruth/Jemima/Mr Farquhar love triangle. A satisfyingly weepy ending.
    • 3/5
      I really didn't care for this novel. Gaskell is a great writer so it isn't the quality of the prose but the content which disappointed me. For those unaware of this classic, Ruth is about a young woman who gets seduced and becomes pregnant. Luckily for her, a Dissenting minister takes her in when she is abandoned by her lover and he & his sister decide to take her home and hide her "misfortune" by declaring her a widow. Eventually the secret comes out.I can see that this topic would have been daring when this was written. Unfortunately, Ruth is annoyingly sweet and simple (to the point of stupidity in places) and the entire novel is too preachy in tone. That said, I added another ½ star because despite the fact I didn't like Ruth and was mostly bored by the book, I still cried at the end. Only a good writer could pull that off!
    • 2/5
      “Ruth” is quite a departure from the likes of Elizabeth Gaskell’s “Mary Barton” and “North and South”. Those two novels were amongst many that I had to read whilst at university. I liked them enough to want to read more works by this author.What I’ve read since has been hit or miss. I can state that if “Ruth” had been the first book I’d read by Elizabeth Gaskell then I would not have read any more of her fiction. The quality of the author’s writing is the only reason I’ve rated this novel two stars instead of one.The title character is passive, placid, and too good to be true in many respects. The reason for this virtue is to compensate for her wicked sin of having a child out of wedlock. This act is upon what the novel revolves around.I may have appreciated the themes in this book more if I’d lived during the 1800s, but then I like a lot of stories written during the 18th century that deal with topics that have little or no relevance today.There are a few good scenes but a few is not enough in a lengthy novel. Few characters stand out as being especially interesting. Jemima is perhaps the most engaging, especially early on, but as the story progresses, her appeal digresses.There’s a lack of real conflict and a heavy focus on religion, making this reader at least feel like I’m being preached to. I’m certainly all for Christian values and virtues, but when I read a novel I expect to be engaged by a convincing plot and strong characters, and don’t want to read a sermon. To sum up in a list, I found this too mundane, too didactic, too slow, too repetitive, too uninspiring, too lacking in conflict, too much religious preaching, too pitiful in regards of the main character, and far too depressing.If you’ve never read a Gaskell novel before and want to check her out, I’d recommend that you pick “Mary Barton” or, better still, “North and South”. But each to their own, as this is just my opinion.She’s a great writer but the themes she writes about determines the quality of her work.
    • 4/5
      This one was mostly just depressing. There is an extremely funny moment where Faith Benson realizes she likes making up stories, which was definitely my favorite bit of the whole book, though.  
    • 3/5
      I was unfamiliar with Elizabeth Gaskell’s work until I saw the BBC production of Wives and Daughters. This story I enjoyed so much that I sought out further of Gaskell’s works, beginning with Ruth.Ruth has all the elements of a perfect Victorian storm: the young eponymous heroine is orphaned, turned out by her guardian, seduced and impregnated by a wretch with enough wealth to be considered a gentleman, and then deserted by same. She is subsequently taken in as a “widow” by the kindly Bensons; alas, it is a deceit they are not able to sustain indefinitely. The discovery that Ruth is a “depraved” woman naturally has far-reaching implications for her “bastard” son. Indeed, she is reminded that the implications are eternal: “Those wild autumnal storms had torn aside the quiet flowers and herbage that had gathered over the wreck of her early life and shown her that all deeds, however hidden and long passed by, have their eternal consequences.” (258)This Penguin Classics edition notes, and I agree, “In writing Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell daringly confronted prevailing views about sin and illegitimacy with her compassionate and honest portrait of a ‘fallen woman.’ (back cover) Among the things I did not like about Ruth: I had difficulty buying into the absoluteness of Ruth’s ignorance and naiveté, youth and lack of parental guidance aside. And a substantial portion of the text was slow for me; the novel took me longer than usual to see my way through.Truthfully, I wanted to enjoy this read more than I did. Still, I recommend it if you are able to look past these minor faults.
    • 5/5
      i love elizabeth gaskell novels in general
    • 3/5
      Too melodramatic. Ending was not very realistic. Not nearly as good as North and South or Wives and Daughters.
    • 4/5
      A bit more dismal than most of Gaskell's novels, Ruth is a fairly typical story of a poor young girl seduced, taken by her lover to Wales, and abandoned. As she is about to commit suicide, she is rescued by a vacationing disabled curate who convinces his sister that they should allow Ruth--now known to be pregnant--to come live with them. She decides that they should present Ruth as a widow and a distant relative. Ruth is determined to redeem herself as much as possible, for the sake of her little boy, and all goes reasonably well until her secret is revealed. A standard tale of the cruelty of the class system and the intolerance of Victorian morality.

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    Ruth - Elizabeth Gaskell

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