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- Title
RUTH: AN UNUSUAL PROSTITUTE. ELIZABETH GASKELL'S SPECULATIVE GAZE VS. VICTORIAN MASCULINE VISION OF WOMAN.
- Authors
FUSCO, CARLA
- Abstract
In a society based on prudery and repression of female sexuality, a prostitute reinforced the masculine dichotomised image of woman: Madonna/harlot. Prostitutes were liminal characters of subplots, until Gaskell's Ruth. The unlucky destiny of an unwed mother, compelled to work as a dressmaker in slavery condition, was supposed to be disturbing enough to shake Victorian hypocrisy. The aim of my study is to analyze the novel as a contrasting counterpart of Victorian social beliefs and show the hermeneutic complexity of the protagonist who reacts by creating her own position in society without becoming a rebel.
- Subjects
RUTH (Book); GASKELL, Elizabeth Cleghorn, 1810-1865; SEX work in literature; WOMEN'S sexual behavior; MASCULINITY; 19TH century English literature
- Publication
BAS - British & American Studies, 2015, Vol 21, p55
- ISSN
1224-3086
- Publication type
Literary Criticism