Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth as a Victim of Circumstance When her parents die while she is still very young, innocent Ruth Hilton is sent to town by the guardian whom she does not know. In town, she will learn the very common profession for young girls at that time, that of seamstress (Ugoretz), but events take a radical turn when she becomes the mistress of the noble Mr. Bellingham. At just 16 years old, Ruth is thrown into the unknown adult world and in this world she cannot separate good from evil and is therefore considered a sinner. However, life is never simple and straightforward and in this essay I discuss the moral aspects of the novel to decide whether Ruth is truly 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, perhaps due to the fact that she was left orphaned so young. As in most writings of this era, descriptions of sexuality are left out and the only way we find out that Ruth and Bellingham are having a sexual relationship (although of course we guess that they are) is when we are told that Ruth is pregnant. , but we are never told if she knows how this baby was conceived. I guess no one had ever talked to her about sex and knew little about marriage, otherwise a pious, pitiful girl like her would never have been so blind to what she was doing. She knows that her relationship with Bellingham is getting others talking, but she doesn't seem to understand why. She could not have known how wrong it was and Ruth herself confirms this: “I was very young; I did not know how contrary such a life was to the pure and holy will of God - at least not to my knowledge. now” (p 246). When she learns that she is expecting a child, her only wish is to ensure that this child becomes good and religious. She promises God that she will only try to do good deeds to atone for her sins, a promise she will keep for the rest of her life. The real hero of this novel is the dissident minister, Mr. Benson, who feels for Ruth and wants to protect her.