Author of the Week

THIS week I have decided to focus on Elizabeth Gaskell, a 19th-century author with lots to say about the position of women in Victorian society. After reading Ruth for my third-year English module Sex, Scandal and Sensation in Victorian Literature, I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I have ever read.

It tells the tale of the titular heroine Ruth, an orphaned 16-year-old girl who gets seduced by Mr Bellingham, an older gentleman; she gets abandoned by him and she becomes pregnant as a result of their encounter. Left to survive in a world unkind to ‘fallen women’ such as herself, she gets taken in by the kind Mr Benson, a dissenting church minister, who invents a new persona for Ruth as a widowed mother so she doesn’t get shunned by society. Although Ruth’s passivity is frustrating in parts of the novel, it shows the endearing journey of a young mother; Gaskell aims to show that societal discourse is to blame for the shunning of fallen women, some people as it can sometimes not be as aesthetically pleasing as the well-known classics. But is it justified to call art galleries ‘ugly’ just because they might not fit in with the common use buildings? After all, architects who designed them might be themselves considered artists as art galleries are often designed with thoughtfulness and consideration of how they interact with the artworks displayed in them. In St Ives, many people started to appreciate the Tate gallery for bringing more tourists into town. Considering that, maybe Tate Modern in London should be more appreciated for the world recognition that it brings to the city and forgiven for the disruption of the nearby residents. and that everyone is capable of redeeming themselves through a good morality and kind nature. Revolutionising discourse around femininity and sympathising with women’s place in Victorian society, Gaskell’s books are important to the wider reflection on patriarchy and how judgemental society could be about women.