PERSPECTIVE ON UNMARRIED MOTHER
AS REVEALED IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RUTH
IN ELIZABETH GASKELL’S
RUTH
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
NOVITA BUDI LESTARI
Student Number: 054214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
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SOCIAL CRITICISM TOWARD VICTORIAN SOCIETY’S
PERSPECTIVE ON UNMARRIED MOTHER
AS REVEALED IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RUTH
IN ELIZABETH GASKELL’S
RUTH
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
In English Letters
By
NOVITA BUDI LESTARI
Student Number: 054214029
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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This undergraduate thesis is
dedicated to
My mother
And my beloved Zombie Cat
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I am thankful to my undergraduate thesis advisor, Tatang Iskarna S.S., M. Hum and my thesis co-advisor, Dr. F. X. Siswadi M. A, whose guidance is very helpful for me in understanding the topic better and finishing this undergraduate thesis. I am very grateful to all lecturers, including my academic advisor Dra. Theresia Enny Anggraini M.A, who had given me knowledge and guidance during my study.
I want to give my big gratitude to my parents who support me spiritually and financially so that I can finally finish my study. I also thank my best friends: Rosalia Erta P, Vincentia Putri Kusumaningtyas, Tyas Putri Pamungkas, Ayu Saputri Puji Andarini, Krisensiana Christia Flory, Doni Agung Setiawan, Agaton Hutama, and many others, for so many great times that we had in Sanata Dharma.
My special gratitude goes to my beloved Zombie Cat, Bayu Aribowo. Thank you so much for your support and never ending love.
Last but not least, I thank all people that I cannot mention here one by one for no matter what form of support that you gave to me.
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A. The Description of the Character of Ruth ... 25
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NOVITA BUDI LESTARI. Social Criticism toward Victorian Society’s Perspective on Unmarried Mother as Revealed in the Character of Ruth in Elizabeth Gaskell’sRuth.Yogyakarta, Department of English Letters, Faculty of
Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
Ruth, written by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, is a novel about social condition in England which can be included as the part of Victorian society. This novel represents Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother and also some treatments given by the society to her.
This undergraduate thesis consists of two research problem. The first problem is how the character of Ruth is described in the story. The second problem is how the character of Ruth reveals social criticism toward Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother.
The writer used library research as the method of this study. The books were about related studies of characters, theory of literature and society, the history of Victorian society and unmarried mother in Victorian society, and the novel itself. The most suitable approach applied is socio-historical approach. This approach is applied here because it is the most appropriate one to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. By using this approach, the writer wants to compare the situation in the novel with the actual condition in Victorian society at that time.
viii ABSTRAK
NOVITA BUDI LESTARI. Social Criticism toward Victorian Society’s Perspective on Unmarried Mother as Revealed in the Character of Ruth in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth. Yogyakarta, Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Ruth yang ditulis oleh Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell adalah sebuah novel tentang kondisi social di Inggris, yang juga bisa dikategorikan sebagai bagian dari masyarakat era Victoria. Novel ini menggambarkan cara pandang masyarakat era Victoria terhadap wanita dengan anak di luar nikah dan juga sebagian perlakuan yang diberikan oleh masyarakat terhadapnya.
Skripsi ini membahas dua pokok permasalahan. Pertama adalah bagaimana karakter Ruth dijelaskan di dalam novel. Kedua adalah bagaimana Ruth menjadi perwujudan kritik sosial pada pandangan masyarakat era Victoria terhadap wanita dengan anak di luar nikah.
Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka sebagai metode penelitian untuk skripsi ini. Buku-buku yang digunakan adalah buku tentang studi karakter, buku teori literatur dan masyarakat, sejarah masyarakat pada masa Victoria dan pandangannya tentang wanita dengan anak di luar nikah, dan juga novel itu sendiri. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan sosio-historis karena pendekatan tersebut dianggap paling cocok untuk menjawab pokok permasalahan yang diangkat di dalam skripsi ini. Dengan pendekatan ini, penulis ingin membandingkan keadaan di dalam novel dengan kondisi masyarakat di era Victoria yang sebenarnya.
Pada bagian analisa, penulis menyimpulkan bahwa sifat Ruth adalah media di dalam cerita yang digunakan untuk mengkritik masyarakat era Victoria. Ada dua kritisi yang didapat di dalam novel ini. Pertama adalah tentang diabaikannya ajaran Kritiani tentang memaafkan yang ditemukan pada cara pandang masyarakat era Victoria terhadad wanita yang hamil di luar nikah. Masyarakat pada masa Victoria terkenal sangat religius dengan Kristen sebagai agamanya. Meski begitu, cara mereka memandang dan memperlakukan wanita dengan anak di luar nikah mencerminkan perilaku yang justru nertolak belakang dengan salah satu nilai agama Kristen yaitu tentang memaafkan yang lain. Di dalam novel, ditemukan bahwa mengabaikan nilai suatu ajaran yang sangat dipercayai adalah sesuatu yang tidak pantas. Kedua adalah mengenai kemunafikan yang ditemukan pada cara masyarakat era Victoria memandang wanita dengan anak di luar nikah. Masyarakat era Victoria memandang rendah tipikal wanita seperti itu karena karena status sosialnya sebagai wanita yang tidak menikah. Hal ini dikatakan sebagai suatu kemunafikan karena saat seorang wanita mempunya status social sebagain wanita yang mempunyai anak di luar nikah, semua nilai bagus yang ia miliki sebagai seorang wanita tidak akan diakui lagi walaupun sebelumnya nilai-nilai itu diakui oleh masyarakat. Memmandang rendah wanita seperti itu dan tidak memberikan dia kesempatan menjadi orang yang lebih baik hanya karena status sosialnya adalah sesuatu yang juga tidak pantas.
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INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
A society usually consists of a group of people who live together in the same area. People who become part of society usually have different ways of thinking and have different ways in observing and evaluating things which occurs in the society where they live as well. The different points of view between one person and another or between a group of people and another group of people in a society often become the base of social problem which is also a part of any society. It is why social problem is a very common thing happens in every society in all over the world.
People as members of society have different points of view in observing and dealing with social problem which occurs in the society where they live. Some of them are aware of it and some others are not. Those who give their attention to problem occurs in their society and aware of it share their thoughts in many ways. For example, they write some works of literature to let people know their points of view about problem which happens in their society. The points of view can also be said as a mean to criticize something which they think to be inappropriate in their society.
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It can help us to shape our judgment through the constant comparison of the good against the bad. It enables us, both in our everyday activities and in the decision we are responsible as citizens, to develop a perspective on the events that are occurring in the world (1987: 3)
Based on the opinion of Robert and Jacob about the values of literature above, it can be said that literature can be used as a tool to teach people to decide whether something is good or bad. Besides, it also enables people to develop their point of view toward something which happens in the society, such as social problem as stated previously.
Since a work of literature is created by someone, an author for example, there is another conclusion can be drawn from the statement of Robert and Jacob above. By creating a work of literature, an author states his opinion about something happening in the society. Based on this fact, it can also be said that an author of a literary work can state his opinion about something which seems to be wrong according to his point of view in the literary work that he creates. This opinion can be delivered in a form of criticism toward something which seems to be wrong or improper. It is later on used by the reader as a mean of consideration to help them giving their point of view toward something. It makes the revelation of criticism toward something happens in a certain society in a work of literature to be interesting to do.
Ruth, a novel written by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, is a good example of
work of literature which contains about social criticism toward something happened in Victorian society. It is the second novel of Gaskell. Before it, she wrote Mary Barton, in the year of 1847. Ruth, (1853), however, is perhaps deliberately evasive and shadowy about both the town of Eccleston in which
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much of its action takes place and about the dates of the twelve years its narrative spans (Gaskell, ed. Nancy Henry, 2001: xxiii)
Ruth tells a story about a young orphan named Ruth Hilton. In the age of sixteen, she became a mistress of a man of a respectable family named Mr. Bellingham, who was fascinated by her beauty. In the next part of the story, Mr. Bellingham left her alone and pregnant in North Wales, a place where she did not have anyone to hold on. Later on, she was rescued by Mr. Benson and his sister, Miss Faith, people that she never knows before. They took her to Eccleston, and give her a place to live. Here, Ruth changed her identity to Mrs. Denbigh on the suggestion given by Mr. Benson and Miss Faith. Although she was in doubt at first, she finally agreed to change her identity to avoid people’s harsh judgment and comment about Ruth’s status as an unmarried mother.
In reality at that time, the Victorian society considered unmarried mother as a very shameful person. It is stated by Tregidgo in his book A Background to English.
The shame attached to becoming mother before being married. If this does occur, a quick marriage is often arranged with the man responsible. If this is impossible, the officer may bring considerable shame to the girl’s parents as well as to herself, and they sometimes arrange to have the child legally adopted elsewhere (Tregidgo, 1971: 37 – 38)
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In this study, the writer used the character of Ruth as the main focus. The status of Ruth as an unmarried mother and how she acted as a part of a respectable society, which actually would never receive the existence of unmarried mother among them, are the main points of the observation done by the writer. By observing this, the writer tried to reveal the social criticism toward Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother from the character of Ruth Hilton, who was created in such a way by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell.
In present life, unmarried mother is a controversial subject which still appears in some societies in the world. It is sometimes also considered to be social problem since people have different points of view toward the existence of unmarried mother in their society. Although some people seem to be fine with unmarried mother, many others are not. Moreover, they often give harsh comments to the unmarried mother. The comments seem to limit the space of any unmarried mother, who is actually part of the society as well.
The example of people’s comment or point of view toward unmarried mother can be seen in an article posted in Pinknews.co.uk entitled “Senator asked to apologize for saying gay people and unmarried mothers shouldn’t teach”. This article tells about a senator who was asked to make apologize because he said something which seemed to hurt some people’s feeling in a debate which was broadcasted. In the debate, the senator said “I don’t think they should. We need the folks that are teaching in schools to represent our values.” <http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/10/06/senator-asked-to-apologise-for-saying-gay-people-and-unmarried-mothers-shouldnt-teach/> (February, 27th, 2011)
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The experience of Ruth as an unmarried mother who was rejected by the society where she lived is a thing that can be found in many societies in nowadays. The experience of unmarried mothers who are banned to teach because they are considered to be unable to represent the value of teacher because of their status as unmarried mothers, as stated in the example above, is actually the same with the experience of Ruth described in the story when she is fired as a governess because she is unmarried .
The revelation of social criticism toward the Victorian Society’s perspective on unmarried mother makes the topic of this study interesting and worth studying. The writer hopes that the reader will get some benefits after reading this paper.
B. Problem Formulation
There are two problems formulated by the writer related to the background of the study in the previous part. The problems are stated in the following.
1. How is the character of Ruth described in the story?
2. How does the character of Ruth reveal social criticism toward Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother?
C. Objectives of the Study
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tries to reveal the social criticism toward the Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother by observing the character of Ruth and comparing it with the reality at that time.
D. Definition of Terms
There are three terms that are used by the writer to make the reader understand the study better. The terms are ‘Social Criticism’, ‘Victorian Society’, and ‘Unmarried Mother’.
1. Social Criticism
Social criticism is a criticism which analyses social structures which are seen as flawed and aims at practical solutions by specifics measures, radical
reform or even revolutionary change.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_criticism> (7 December 2010) 2. Victorian Society
Victorian society is a society of Victorian Era which was governed under the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). It is also known as the time when people who lived in that society highly valued sexual purity of women. That was why the society never tolerated the existence of unmarried mothers who are not pure as women because they have child out of wedlock. In this study, the writer only focuses on England Victorian society since the setting of the novel mostly takes place in Eccleston, United Kingdom.
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3. Unmarried Mother
8 CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review on Related Studies
In this part of the study, the writer tries to review some related studies by
previous writers or researchers on the same work, topic or author. These related
studies are very helpful for the writer in doing this study.
The author of Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell became a writer in 1847. Nancy
Henry in the introduction ofRuthgives short history of Gaskell’s life.
ELIZABETH CLEGHORN GASKELL was born in Chelsea, London, on 29 September 1810. Her father William Stevenson, who had been a Unitarian preacher, was a clerk and also a journalist at this time. After the death of her mother, when Elizabeth was a year old, she was sent to Knutsford in Cheshire (the town upon which Cranford is modelled) where she was brought up by her aunt, Hannah Lumb, and where she attended the Misses Byerleys’ school in Warwickshire 1821 – 6. In 1832, she married William Gaskell, a minister at Cross Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester. The Gaskells had five children, the only son William dying before he was a year old in 1845. To alleviate her grief, Mrs Gaskell began writing fiction: her first stories appeared inHowitt’s Journalin 1847 (2001: ix)
Her second novel Ruth was firstly published by Chapman and Hall in
London, 1853. Since the setting of time of this novel is in the nineteenth century
of England, this novel is included as the Victorian Era’s novel. It tells story about
the life in Victorian society. Maryell Cleary and Peter Hughes in Elizabeth Gaskell, a biography of Elizabeth Gaskell, states that:
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The most controversial of Gaskell's novels, Ruth, 1853, tells of an unmarried woman who has a child. In it Gaskell pointed out the hypocrisy of a society which condones sexual adventures for men but condemns women for even a single slip. As the heroine was treated sympathetically by the author, the book was criticized severely. Some of her husband's
parishioners burned their copies.
<http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/elizabethgaskell.html> (10 November 2010)
The statement above shows that Ruth is a novel with controversial subject for people at that time because unmarried mother is the main focus in the story. Cleary and Hughes also state that the Victorian society treats men and women differently related to their sexuality. The society would forgive men who have sexual adventures, but they would not do so to the women. The rejection of the society toward Gaskell’s second novel is shown in this biography by the action done by her husband's parishioners. This action shows that the society rejected Gaskell’s idea on unmarried mother shown in the novel, which seems to be made as a heroine who was praised by people in the society where she lives in the end of the story.
10 perilous sympathies, no attempt to make a new line of action such as the world’s morality would refuse to warrant, but a clear insight into the nature of temptation, and wise words of exhortation to those who have fallen – showing them, that no matter what clouds of shame may have gathered around them, they may still redeem themselves if they will only rise and do honestly the work that still lies before them to be done, and that, in every position, however dark or degraded, there is always a certain right course which, if followed, will lead them once more into light (1991: 265-6)
Lewes says that Ruth contains advice for those who have the same experience with Ruth as the main character of the novel. The idea given by Lewes is similar to the writer’s idea, but in this study, the writer used the novel to reveal social criticism toward the society’s perspective on unmarried mother at that time.
The writer reviewed the related studies in order to compare this study with the previous studies and to show that this study is different from the previous ones. In this study, the character of Ruth is used to reveal social criticism toward Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother, especially England Victorian society because the setting of this novel mostly takes place in a town in United Kingdom (Eccleston). The writer revealed the criticism through the main character of the novel. Ruth Hilton, as an unmarried mother, is used as the focus of this study to reveal the criticism. The analysis will be different from the previous study, but it is still related for developing the studies.
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B. Review on Related Theories
In doing this study, the writer used two theories. Those theories are theory of character and theory about literature and society.
1. Theory of Character
Character is an important element in a literary works. They have an important role to bring the story to the reader. M. H. Abrams in his book entitled A Glossary of Literary Termsexplains that:
Characters are the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with oral, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say-the dialogue- and what they do-the action- (1985:23)
The statement above gives explanation that the reader of literary works can use character to help them understand the story through what the character says (the dialogue) and does (the action).
M. J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Student gives some ways to make the reader understand the character easily. It can also be said as a way to understand the characteristic of a character. Those ways are stated in the following.
a. Personal description
Personal description is a person’s appearance and clothes described by the author. b. Character as seen by another
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c. Speech
Speech is what a character says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever he/she is in conversation with another, whenever he/she puts forward an opinion, he/she is giving us some clues to his/her character.
d. Past life
Past life can be used as a clue to events that have helped shaping a person’s characteristic. This can be done by direct comments by the author, through the person’s thought, through his conversation or through the medium of another person.
e. Conversation of others
Conversation of others is the conversation of other people about a character and the things they say about him.
f. Reaction
Reaction is how a character reacts to various situations and events. g. Direct comment
Direct comment is a direct description or comment given by the author on a person’s character.
h. Thoughts
Thoughts are direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about, which are given by the author. The author can directly tell the reader what different people are thinking.
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i. Mannerism
Mannerism is a character mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the reader something about a character (1972:161-173)
2. Theory of Literature and Society
Literature and society are two things which cannot be separated. Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature state that ‘literature ‘represents’ ‘life’; and ‘life’ is, in large measure, a social reality, even though the natural world and the inner or subjective world of the individual have also been objects of literary ‘imitation’’ (1956: 94). In other words, it can be said that literature is a representation of life as social reality.
Used as social document, literature can be made to yield the outline of social history (1956: 94). Here Wellek and Warren give some example of literary works which can be seen as outline of social history.
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C. Review on History about Victorian Society and Woman in Victorian
Society
The main focus of this study is unmarried mother in Victorian society. That is why the writer gives the review on History about Victorian society and woman, including unmarried mother, in Victorian society. The concept will be useful for the writer in doing this study.
Before observing about the concept of woman in Victorian society, it will be better to know a brief explanation about Victorian society. Victorian society is a society of Victorian Era which was governed under the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). It is also known as the time when people who lived in that society highly valued sexual purity of women. That was why the society never tolerated the existence of unmarried mothers who are not pure as women because they have child out of wedlock. In this study, the writer only focuses on England Victorian society since the setting of the novel mostly takes place in Eccleston, United Kingdom.
Victorian society is known as society which was very observant to rules which were also considered as the standard which should be obeyed by all people in the society. That is why it is said that its rules were rigid and strict. The term prudish is used very much in reference to this point in time. Morality of the Victorian era is based upon a group of principles or standard of moral conduct including practicing sexual restraint, zero acceptance of criminal activity and a stern demeanor. <http://www.victorian-era.org/victorian-era-morality.html>. Because the rules and standards were very strict, all people in Victorian society
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should obey it no matter whether it was suitable with their way of thinking or not. That is why Victorian society is known to be a hypocritical society because of it.
Another proof about the hypocrisy in Victorian society is stated by Robert C. Long , M.D. in his essay Sexuality in The Victorian Era. The quotation below is the description of hypocrisy in Victorian society.
They sacrificed sincerity to propriety. Second, and worse, they pretended to be better than they were. They passed themselves off as being incredibly pious and moral. They talked noble sentiments and live quite otherwise. Finally, they refused to look at life candidly. They shut their eyes to whatever was ugly or unpleasant and pretended it didn’t exist. Conformity, moral pretension, and evasion, those were the hallmarks of Victorian hypocrisy.
<http://www.innominatesociety.com/Articles/Sexuality%20In%20The%20 Victorian%20Era.htm>
Hypocrisy is not the only thing which was found in Victorian society. Religion is found to be another topic of Victorian society. Religion can be said as an example of social standard in Victorian society. It was an important part of people in Victorian society. Tregidgo, states that Victorian society is a society which is very religious. He said that the family virtues were a part of religion, for the Victorians were extremely religious. Every family had its Bible and went to church on Sundays (1971:105). The statement of Tregidgo means that people in Victorian society were so religious and the religion that they believe in is Christianity. Being religious then was also a standard which should be fulfilled by all members of Victorian society.
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society, the place of women was at home. It is stated by Helen Nickson in her article entitled “Life of Women in the Victorian Era”.
The only role of women in the Victorian era was to get married and look after the homely chores. The young ladies were groomed thoroughly to get married and had to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, and dutiful. The young women were mainly educated in accomplishments like French, drawing, painting, singing, dancing - everything which helped them to get a perfect suitor! <http://ezinearticles.com/?Life-of-Women-in-the-Victorian-Era&id=2359711> (22 September 2010)
Young women in the Victorian Era grew up just to get married. They were educated to be able in many things to attract men in the hope to get a perfect suitor as their future husband. The examples of educations stated in the quotation above are; some foreign language such as French, drawing, painting, singing, and dancing. As a matter of fact, it was actually unfortunate because not all women in Victorian society were lucky to get all of those educations. Most educations could be obtained by those who were rich.
It is also known from the quotation above that Victorian young women were also taught to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, and dutiful. After they become a mother, their job was at home to look after the homely chores. From all standards, all were given for a certain purpose, which was to educate those Victorian women so that they could behave according to the standard of Victorian society.
There were some phenomenons related to women found in Victorian society. The first phenomenon is governess. The fact about governess in Victorian society is stated in an essay entitled The Victorian Governess, Status Incongruence in Family and Society, written by M. Jeanne Peterson, which is put
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together with several other essays in a book entitledSuffer and be still: Women in the Victorian Age, edited by Martha Vinicus.
In the mid-nineteenth century usage, the term “governess” could refer to a woman who taught in a school, a woman who lived at home and travelled to her employer’s house to teach (called a daily “governess”), or a woman who lived in her employer’s home and who taught the children and served as a companion to them. (1972: 4)
In Victorian society, there were some requirements that should be fulfilled so that a woman is qualified to be a governess in family.
The Victorian stereotype of the governess, which explained why a lady sought employment, was of a woman who was born and bred in comfort and gentility and who, through the death of her father or his subjection to financial ruin, was robbed of the support of her family and was driven to earn her own living. (p. 6)
It is actually not common for a woman who is gentility to earn living in Victorian society. As a matter of fact, under certain circumstance as stated previously in the quotation, a gentlewoman in Victorian society might have an employment. The function of a governess hired by parents in Victorian society is actually to teach their daughters the genteel accomplishments which were the aims of female education (p. 5). That was why governess was actually an employment that not all women in Victorian society were able to get.
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activity before they get married and they would be considered as sinner if they committed adultery.
Based on the previous quotation, unmarried mother, who was also part of Victorian society, was considered to be improper according to Victorian standard since unmarried mother is a woman who has had sexual conduct before married. Thus, it then violates the standard of Victorian society. Being an unmarried woman was an offense to the value of sexual purity held highly by the society. In the same book, Tregidgo states about unmarried mother in Victorian society.
…the shame attached to becoming a mother before being married. If this does occur, a quick marriage is often arranged with the man responsible. If this is impossible, the officer may bring considerable shame to the girl’s parents as well as to herself, and they sometimes arrange to have the child legally adopted elsewhere’ (1971: 38)
From the quotation above, it is known that when a woman is pregnant before she is married, a marriage should be arranged as soon as possible before the shame is attached to her and her parents. One thing which was very unfortunate is that the child from any pregnancy out of wedlock was often sent to other place far from the mother just because they did not want to be ashamed by the existence of the child.
Still related to the standard of woman in Victorian society, another phenomenon in Victorian society was the existence of a mistress. Since sexual purity was a very important thing for Victorian women, becoming a mistress was also unacceptable in Victorian society. Pauline Weston Thomas states that:
Even in high places Victorian men kept mistresses, but they still expected their wives or mistresses to be faithful whatever their own misdemeanours. If a women took a lover it was not made public. If it did
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become public knowledge she would be cut by society. But men could amble along to one of their gentleman's clubs and always find a warm welcome <http://www.fashion-era.com/a_womans_place.htm> (22 September 2010).
The different society’s attitude toward men and women is stated clearly in the quotation above. The quotation means that it was fine for men to have mistress or lover, but it was not for the women. If the fact that women had a lover was known by the society, they would not be accepted by the society anymore.
D. Theoretical Framework
In this part of the study, the writer explains the contribution of reviews and theories in solving the problems in the study. The first are the theory of character and theory of literature and society. The theory of character was used to identify the character of Ruth presented by Elizabeth Gaskell in Ruth. The theory of literature and society was beneficiary as knowledge to relate the literature and society in the novel.
Second is the review on History about Victorian society and woman in Victorian society. This review contains some theories that were applied to observe the character of Ruth and to give the writer description of unmarried mother in Victorian society. The writer made use this concept in doing the analysis in this study.
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criticism toward the Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother. Finally, the theory of character and review on History about Victorian society and woman Victorian society associated together to the fulfillment of this analysis.
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METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel entitled Ruth. Ruth was written by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell or usually called Elizabeth Gaskell in 1852.Ruthwas firstly published by Chapman and Hall in January 1853 in three volumes. Among
its many publishers, the writer of this study uses the one which is published by Everyman Paperbacks in London, 2001. This edition is edited by Nancy Henry, who is Assistant Professor of English at the State University of New York,
Binghamton. She is also the editor of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lover. This edition consists of 417 pages and 36 chapters plus 34 pages of notes. This edition
also provides introduction notes, selected criticism, further reading, text summary, and a chronology of Elizabeth Gaskell’s life and times.
Ruthtells a story about a young orphan named Ruth. After the death of her parents, she was sent by her guardian to a dress makes named Mrs. Mason to be an apprentice. In the age of sixteen she became a mistress of a respectable man
named Mr. Bellingham, who brought her to North Wales. In the next part of the story, by the request of his mother, Mrs. Bellingham, Mr. Bellingham left her alone and pregnant. Later on, she was rescued by Mr. Benson and his sister, Miss
Faith. They were people she never knew before. They took her to Eccleston, a place with Victorian society neighborhood. There, Ruth changed her identity to
22
innocently changed her identity to avoid people’s harsh judgment and comment
about unmarried mother. Elizabeth Gaskell created the story which tells about
Victorian Society and their point of view toward unmarried mother.
B. Approach of the Study
Ruthis a novel about social condition in England which can be included as the part of Victorian society. This can be seen through the setting of place named
Eccleston, a place in United Kingdom, and the setting of time, 1830 to 1843.
Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs in their book entitled Fiction, an Introduction to Reading and Writing say that one value of literature is that it
enables us, both in our everyday activities and in the decisions we are responsible
as citizens, to develop a perspective on the events that are occurring in the world
(1987: 3). It means that a literary work is actually a representation of judgment or
perspective toward things which occur in a society. Concerning those reasons, the
writer believes that the most suitable approach to do this study is socio-historical
approach.
Socio-historical approach sees a literary work as the reflection of its
author's times and social condition or the times and the social condition of the
characters in the work. This approach is applied here because it is the most
appropriate one to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. By
using this approach, the writer wanted to compare the situation in the novel with
the actual condition in Victorian society at that time.
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C. Method of the Study
The writer used library research as the method of this study. The writer
collected data from books of literature, criticisms on the work, and some other
books that might complete the analysis. Other information was taken from online
sources.
In analyzing this study, the writer used the novel entitled Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell as the primary source. The secondary sources were taken to
support the analysis. Since this study focuses on the character of Ruth, the writer
used the theory of character by M. H. Abrams in his book,A Glossary of Literary Terms. A theory to reveal a character by M. J. Murphy in his bookUnderstanding
Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Student, was also used to help the writer understand the character easily. The
review on History about Victorian society and woman in Victorian society was
taken from Tregidgo’sA Background to Englishand some other internet sources. To answer the problems stated in the problem formulation, the writer used
some steps. The first step was reading the novel for several times for a clear
understanding about what the novel is about. With this understanding, the writer
found the social issue regarding Victorian society in the novel. The writer then
formulated it into the details.
The second step was data collecting to support the analysis. Here, the
writer tried to gather the reliable source to understand a character and the theory
of character as well. By doing this, the writer could describe the main character of
24
After that, the writer then used the socio-historical background of
Victorian society to reveal the unmarried mother in Victorian society through the
main character in the novel. In this step, the writer found out that the main
character in the novel was created to be an unmarried mother who was different
with any unmarried mother in the real world Victorian society. The writer also
found out the society’s attitude toward unmarried mother in Victorian society
through the main character.
The writer then used Ruth as the main character of the novel to reveal the
social criticism toward Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother by
observing the character of Ruth and comparing it with the reality at that time. This
step answered the last problem formulation. After all problem formulations
answered, the last part was drawing a conclusion from the analysis.
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25 ANALYSIS
This chapter answers the questions stated as the problem formulations in
the first chapter. This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on
the description of the character of Ruth, which is the main character on the object
of the study and also the main focus of this study. The second is the revelation of
social criticism toward Victorian Society’s perspective on unmarried mother as
seen in the character of Ruth.
A. The Description of the Character of Ruth
This part of the analysis explains the description of the main character of
the story based on the theory of character by M. J. Murphy. Since Ruth is the main
focus of this study, the only character discussed in this part of analysis is her only.
Here, the writer used some quotations from the novel and the ways to understand
character by Murphy to show the description of the character of Ruth Hilton.
Personal description is the first point stated by Murphy as one of the ways
to understand character as stated in the review on related theories. In the story,
physically, Ruth Hilton is described as a young woman in the age of sixteen. She
has a beautiful face, brown hair, dark eyebrows, and dark lashes. She is an orphan
who comes from a respectable farmer family. After the death of her parents, she
becomes an apprentice for a dress maker named Mrs. Mason. Here are the
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1. Religious
In the story, Ruth Hilton is described as a religious person. It is a thing
shown since the beginning of the story. She is described to believe deeply in
Christianity and is practicing it in her life. She goes to church regularly every
Sunday which is her day off as an apprentice of a dress maker named Mrs. Mason.
The proof of it can be seen from what she says to Mr. Bellingham when she
makes an appointment to meet him. Based on Murphy’s theory, what the character
says can be used as a way to understand a character in a novel.
‘Well,’ said he, ‘you go to church, I suppose? Mrs Mason does not keep you at work in Sundays, I trust?’
‘Oh, no, sir. I go to church regularly.’ (p. 23)
Not only does she go to church regularly, Ruth can be said as a religious
person because there are some Christian practices that she does in her daily life.
One example of it is reading bible as seen in the quotation below. It is a kind of
daily habit for Ruth, that is no other but the habit introduced by her mother, Mrs.
Hilton as found in the past life that she remembers. In Murphy’s theory, past life
is another way used to understand the character of Ruth.
She sat on, hungry and cold, trying to read her Bible, and to think the old holy thoughts which had been her childish meditations at her mother’s knee, (p. 31)
Another thing about Ruth found in the story that proves whether she is a
religious person can be seen from her other habit, praying. Praying is a part of her
life. Whenever she thinks that she is in a situation that she cannot handle, God is
the one she asked help from in her difficult situation.
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She watched, and waited, and prayed: prayed with an utter forgetfulness of self, only with a consciousness that God was all-powerful, and that he, whom she loved so much, needed the aid of the Mighty One. (p. 68)
From the quotation above, it can be seen that Ruth really believes in God. She
also believes that God has the power to do anything; including curing Mr.
Bellingham who is at that time suffers a disease named brain fever. His condition
is just so bad that Ruth prays all the time, hoping that God will cure him soon. In
other words, it can be said that this quotation is actually Ruth’s thought about
God. As personal description and past life which are used to understand the
character of Ruth, Ruth’s thought about God is also a way to do it.
As a human being, Ruth is not always perfect in her religiosity. It is proven
by her doing mistakes when she lives with Mr. Bellingham in North Wales. At
this time, she forgets that as a Christian, she may not live under the same roof
with a man who is not her husband. It is a thing that makes her a topic of the talk
of many people in that place.
…I do think it’s a shame such people should be allowed to come here. To think of such wickedness under the same roof! (p. 61)
In the same place, she also forgets that committing adultery is a forbidden
thing in Christianity as well as in the society where she is staying with Mr.
Bellingham. Unfortunately, it seems that the society blames Ruth more rather than
Mr. Bellingham. That is why some people in the society say bad things which are
pointed to Ruth only.
The religiosity of Ruth is not static. It means that she experiences a kind of
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Ruth becomes more religious than before. She also knows that what she has done
in the past is something which makes her a sinner. It becomes the reason why
Ruth finally says “Father! I have sinned against Heaven and before Thee, and am
no more worthy to be called Thy child!” when she goes to the church in Eccleston
with the Bensons as a form of her confession.
Ruth also learns from the Bensons that every person is worthy in the eyes
of God. That is why Mr. Benson says that Ruth must ‘look to God rather than
man’s opinion’ (p.103). It is a thing that makes her get strength to continue her
life. She believes in God in every single thing happens to her life. It also makes
her more ready to face the worst thing that might happen to her life, as said by
Miss Benson to her brother, Mr. Benson that ‘Ruth has had some years of peace,
in which to grow stronger and wiser, so that she can bear her shame now in way
she never could have done at first.’ (p. 302)
After her true identity, which is as an unmarried mother, is found out by
people in the society where she lives and she is driven from the Bradshaws, there
is an idea in Ruth’s mind to leave Leonard, her son, because she does not want
him to receive the disgrace caused by her sin in the past. Mr. Benson then told her
that she has ‘no new fault to repent of’ (p. 298) that is why she must face the
reality and should not make another mistake or sin by leaving Leonard.
Ruth then becomes a person who is more religious than before. It is
actually the time when she is tested as a Christian because there will be many
things that might lead her to wrong way. She then, by the help of the Bensons,
chooses to stay in God’s way, rather than just listening to people’s comment about
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her because her responsibility now is more to God rather than men. It is also
including not paying back for the anger of the society after they know who Ruth
actually is, as told by Mr. Benson in the quotation below.
…Can you accept all this treatment meekly, as but reasonable and just penance of God has laid upon you – feeling no anger against those who slight you no impatience for the time to come (and come it sure will – I speak as having the word of God for what I say) when He, having purified you, even as by fire, will make a straight path for your feet? (p. 298)
Mr. Benson tells Ruth that she may not be angry with what people might say and
do to her. He knows that she will be rejected because she is an unmarried mother.
That is why he tells her to be patience for the time to come and consider all of the
anger of the society as one thing that she has to pass in her penance. The time
which is meant here is actually the time when God will save Ruth when she is
purified from the sin she had. Feeling no anger about what the society might say
or do to Ruth can also be said as a learning of forgiving. The society is the one
which is forgiven by Ruth here.
In doing her penance, Ruth becomes a person who cares for others. It is
proven by her becoming a nurse when there is a disease spread in the area where
she lives. She does it as a favor to a doctor. No one else wants to help the doctor
because they are afraid that they would be infected by the same disease. Ruth does
not think so because she considers it as a way to atone for her sin. Becoming a
nurse makes her finally accepted by some people in the society as stated in what
other character say about Ruth below. This is the second way used by Murphy in
understanding a character.
30
She will be in the light of God’s countenance when you and I will be standing afar off. I tell you, man, when my poor wench died, as no one would come near, her head lay at that hour on this woman’s sweet breast. I could fell you,’ the old man went on, lifting his shaking arm, ‘for calling that woman a great sinner. The blessing of them who were ready to perish is upon her.’(p. 359)
The quotation above is the part when in one evening Leonard walks near
the hospital where Ruth is working. He hears from some people there a truth
about his mother. Although Ruth is not accepted by Mr. Bradshaw and all people
who are just like him, she is actually accepted by others, who can see her as a
lovely and caring being. By sharing her care for people who are suffering, she is
actually fixing the situation though what she knows is that she is working in the
will of God. Ruth being a sick nurse has strengthened Leonard who is very weak
because people’s comments about him and his mother.
Ruth’s death is also a result of her care for others. It is proven by her
nursing Mr. Bellingham when he is infected by the typhus virus. In the end, Ruth
is dead because of the same virus infecting Mr. Bellingham when she is nursing
him. It is also another proof that Ruth, based on the learning of Christianity she
gets from Mr. Benson, wants to forgive Mr. Bellingham who make her receive all
of her suffering as an unmarried mother.
2. Well-Mannered
In the story, Ruth is also described as a well-mannered person. What is
meant by well-mannered here is that she is able to behave according to the society
where she lives. In other words, it can be said as the standard according to the
society’s point of view. Here are some explanations about how Ruth can be said
as a well-mannered person.
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The first thing which makes Ruth as a well- mannered person according to
the society where she lives is of course because, as Mrs. Denbigh, she is known as
a person who is religious, as explained in the previous characteristic of Ruth. It
means that she behaves everyday based on the value of Christianity which is
highly held by all people in the society. It is a point which makes her accepted by
people in the society, including the respectable ones as Mr. Bradshaw.
Another proof that Ruth is a well-mannered person can be seen in the
opinion of Mr. Farquhar in the quotation below. Mr. Farquhar is actually a
gentleman who is also the secret admirer of Ruth. He admires her because she has
some qualities which are not possessed by Jemima, the one paired to him.
… he saw Ruth, to all appearance, heavenly calm as the angels… He saw the unusual beauty of her face and form, which he had never noticed before;… He watched Ruth, speaking low and soft to the little girls, who seems to come to her in every difficulty, and he remarked her gentle firmness when their bed- time came,… He liked Ruth’ soft, distinct, unwavering ‘No! you must go. You must keep to what is right,’ far better than the good-natured yielding to entreaty he had formerly admired in Jemima. (p. 196)
From the thought of Mr. Farquhar, it is clearly seen that he compares Ruth to
Jemima, a girl who is actually in love with him. Here, Ruth is more prominent in
the eyes of Mr. Farquhar because she has some qualities that Jemima does not
have. For example, she is calm, speaking low and soft, and she has gentle
firmness. The calmness and gentleness shown by Ruth are well manners seen to
be good by the society, which is here represented by Mr. Farquhar.
The other thing which makes Ruth well-mannered is that she has the
ability to teach her child. After living with the Bensons and after she gives a birth
32
reason why she wants to learn many things is because she realizes that there will
be no father who will teach and guide the child. That is why when her child is
born; she is the one who is responsible as the parent of the child, who will care
about everything for the child, including the education. In the next part of the
novel, it is known that Leonard, Ruth’s son, is more intelligent than any of his
friends because of the teaching given by Ruth. How Ruth learns many lesson is
stated in the narration given by the author ofRuthbelow.
Her mind was uncultivated, her reading scant; beyond the mere mechanical arts of education she knew nothing; but she had a refined taste; and excellent sense and judgment to separate the true from the false. With these qualities, she set to work under Mr Benson directions. She read in the early morning the books that he marked out; she trained herself with strict perseverance to do all thoroughly; she did not attempt to acquire any foreign language, although her ambition was to learn Latin, in order to teach it to her boy. (p. 149)
The quotation above shows Ruth's effort to gain knowledge as much as she can
with the help of Mr. Benson. She does it as a preparation to be a mother so that
she can teach her son when he is growing up. The ability of Ruth to take care all
things, including education, for her son is also considered as a good behavior
since it is the job of a mother to take care all things about her child, especially in
teaching him.
The knowledge she gains from the Bensons also makes her finally feels
confident when she is asked to be the governess in the Bradshaws, a respectable
family in Eccleston, a year after her son is born. After seeing the characteristics of
Ruth, which is known as Mrs. Denbigh, Mr. Bradshaw finally asks his wife to ask
Mrs. Denbigh by Miss Faith to accompany two of her daughters in their study.
She is trusted more than the sister of those two girls, Jemima, who is actually not
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much different in age with her but has different mannerism which is more to
childish. The quotation below is what Mr. Bradshaw thinks about Ruth.
…he wanted someone above a nursemaid to sit with them while their masters were there – someone who would see about their learning their lesson, and who would walk out with them; a sort of nursery governess, I think she meant, though she did not say so; and Mr Bradshaw (for, of course, I saw his thought and words constantly peeping out, though he had not told her to speak to me) believed that our Ruth would be the very person. (p.166)
Although at first she raises a question to Miss Benson, “Do you think I should be
good enough to teach little girls, Miss Benson?” (p. 168), she then gains her
confidence because she believes that God will help her in her duty as governess in
the Bradshaws. As a matter of fact, far away from the doubt that comes to her
mind at first, as a governess, Ruth actually has the ability to give satisfaction to
the Bradshaws as stated in the quotation below.
Ruth gave the Bradshaws the highest satisfaction, as Mr Bradshaw often said both to her and to the Bensons; indeed, she rather winced under his pompous approbation. But his favourite recreation was patronising; and when Ruth saw how quietly and meekly Mr Benson submitted to gifts and praise, when an honest word of affection, or a tacit, implied acknowledgement of equality, would have been worth everything said and done, she tried to be more meek in spirit, and to recognize the good that undoubtedly existed in Mr Bradshaw. (p. 177)
The mannerism of Ruth when she works as a governess in the Bradshaw makes
her gains praises from Mr. Bradshaw. According to the quotation above, the
meekness of Ruth is seen to be something good according to Mr. Bradshaw so
that she finally gains approbation from him. Mannerism is another thing used in
Murphy’s theory to understand a character.
Not only does she learn about some knowledge, she also learns other
34
is shown by the comment of other character, Mr. Benson, below about how Ruth
has changed into a person who is thoughtful and knows what is wrong and right.
That makes her so different from her previous manner who always thinks
instantly. In the very young age, she is also able to act thoughtfully so that she
will not do things wrongly. It is of course seen as good manner according to the
society.
…’I have watched Ruth, and I believe she is pure and truthful; and the very sorrow and penitence she has felt – the very suffering she had gone through – has given her a thoughtful conscientiousness beyond her age.’ (p. 167)
B. The Character of Ruth as Social Criticism toward Victorian Society’s Perspective on Unmarried Mother
After observing the character of Ruth in the previous part of the study,
here the writer tried to reveal the social criticism toward Victorian society’s
perspective on unmarried mother through the character of Ruth. This part of the
study is divided into two parts since there are two social criticism found by the
writer after the observation of the character of Ruth. The first part is about the
ignorance of the Christianity value of forgiving as the first criticism found in the
story and the second is about the hypocrisy found in the Victorian society’s
perspective on unmarried mother as the second criticism found in the story. These
two parts are related to the character of Ruth which is created as a media to
criticize Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother.
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1. The Ignorance of Christianity Value of Forgiving Found in the Victorian Society’s Perspective on Unmarried Mother
Christianity has some values that can be applied in the life of people who
believe in it. One example of the value is the value of forgiving as shown in many
parts of the bible of Christianity. As stated in the theoretical review, according to
Tregidgo, Victorian society is known as a very religious society that believes in
Christianity. It can be said that religious is a characteristic of Victorian society. It
is shown by each family having bible and also goes to church regularly every
Sunday. Although it was so, there is an ignorance of Christianity value of
forgiving done by people who believe in it. One example of it can be found in
Victorian society as they look down on unmarried mother, reject her, treat her
unfairly and never forgive her because according to their perspective, unmarried
mother is considered to be a sinner whose sin cannot be forgiven.
The ignorance of Christianity value of forgiving is a thing found in Ruth.
On one hand Victorian society seemed to be a society that is very religious based
on the practice of Christianity that they did in their daily life, but on the other
hand it ignored one value of something that they deeply believed. The description
about how Victorian society ignored the value of forgiving in Christianity can be
seen by the help of the character of Ruth as the media found in the story to
criticize the Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother. Here, Ruth,
who is considered to be failed in becoming a good woman in the society because
she is unmarried mother, described as a woman who practices Christianity better
36
Bradshaw, Mr. Bellingham, and some others. Ruth is considered to be so because
she does some things that represents the value of Christianity, especially the value
of forgiving as she forgives Mr. Bellingham, the person that leads her into her
total destruction, by nursing him when he is sick and as she forgives Mr.
Bradshaw, the person who driven her out from his house and fire her from her job
as a governess, by not avenging what he has done to her.
In the novel, there are actually two categories of people seen from the
In the story, Mr. Benson is known to be the one helping Ruth for the first
time until she finally decides to change her identity on his suggestion. For this,
Mr. Benson uses the values taught in Christianity. In other words, he does the help
because he considers it as the will of God. It makes him feel responsible to do it as
a Christian. Although at first it becomes a debate between him and his sister
because the idea seems to be a kind of risky idea to be applied while they are
living in a society that will never receive such idea no matter what, he then does
what he believes to be right to do.
encounter with evils of this particular kind. Oh, Faith! Once for all, do not accuse me of questionable morality, when I am trying more than ever I did in my life to act as my blessed Lord would have done.’ (p. 101)
It is known that Mr. Benson practicing the value of Christianity in his life by
doing as exemplified by God. What is meant here is actually the action done by
Mr. Benson to help Ruth, who is at that time pregnant and has no husband. Mr.
Benson likens Ruth as the Magdalen. The Magdalen itself is actually the
representation of prostitute as seen in bible. Here, the base of what Mr. Benson
does for Ruth is actually the imitation of what is done in the bible.
The second category of people in the novel is those who only do the
practice of Christianity without making it a part of their life. That is why these
people can be said to ignore some value of Christianity. It is so because, in
relation with the existence of unmarried mother at that time, these people just
uphold the standard, which is no other but the agreement of the society, that
unmarried mother cannot be accepted. That is why they look down on unmarried
mother and consider unmarried mother as a sinner, a person who does not deserve
to be in the society, including accepting respectable job. In the novel, an example
of the respectable job is pictured as a governess, a job that is given to Ruth by Mr.
Bradshaw before her true identity is revealed. As stated in the theoretical review,
being a governess, especially in a respectable family, is a thing that cannot be
done by all women in Victorian society because it has some requirements to be
fulfilled, as stated in chapter II.
The action done by these people is of course different with what Mr.
38
believes forgiving a sinner as done to the Magdalen. That is why he wants to give
a hand to Ruth and the child that she is carrying.
This second type of people is the ones found in Victorian society, who are
criticized in the novel through the character of Ruth, if the context of the criticism
related to the Christianity value of forgiving in daily life. The representation of
these people can be seen clearly from the character of Mr. Bradshaw. What he
does to Ruth is the representation of the harsh treatment of Victorian society to
unmarried mother.
The description about Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother
can also be seen from an utterance of Ruth, spoken when she tells Leonard about
the truth that she is an unmarried mother.
‘Leonard! When I was very young I did very wrong. I think God, who knows all, will judge me more tenderly than men – but I did wrong in a way which you cannot understand yet’ – (she saw the red flush come into his check, and it stung her as the first token of that shame which was to be in his portion through life) – ‘in a way people never forget, never forgive. You will hear me called the hardest names that ever can be thrown at women – (p. 287)
Ruth herself knows that people in her surrounding will judge her roughly while
she believes God who knows everything more than other people do, will judge her
more tenderly because of the mistake that she did in her young age. She knows
exactly how the society will treat her who is considered to be a shame in the
society. The treatment is also including the worse calling might be given to a
woman. It is of course the same as what Tregidgo said about what will happen to
unmarried mother in Victorian society. It is that the shame attached to becoming a
mother before being married (1971: 38).
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Not only does Ruth said about things might be happened to her because of
the revelation of her identity as an unmarried mother, but also things might be
happened to Leonard. It is that he will also get the same treatment from the
society. It is that Leonard will also receive the same shame because of her mother
no matter whether he is actually an innocent child.
The character of Ruth is found to tease people in Victorian society who
consider the standard created by the society, related to how they treat unmarried
mother, as something more important than applying the Christianity value of
forgiving in their daily life. The religiosity of Ruth is actually the representation
of the characteristic of Victorian society which is known to be religious as well.
The difference is that Ruth practices the Christianity value of forgiving, while
other character, as people in Victorian society, do not do the same thing.
The character or Ruth is used as a media to show that actually no matter
good standard that the unmarried mother has and no matter how she try to be
better, the Victorian society’s perspective on unmarried mother is really hard to
change. Even the Christianity that the Victorian people said to believe in seems to
have no power to change this perspective because the people ignored the
Christianity value of forgiving a sinner like Ruth so that she can live in the society
and becomes a better person, and chose to keep the standard of the society.
Although it seemed to be hard to change the society’s perspective on
unmarried mother, another possibility that might be copied by the Victorian
society can be seen in the novel, which is no other but the representation of many
