2025 Events Season: Exploring the impact of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth
Posted
13th November 2024
in blogsNnews, news
‘Nay, Ruth, you are not going to have secrets from me, are you?’
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is delighted to be celebrating a new 10-year anniversary season of events dedicated to the most controversial of all Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels, Ruth.
This infamous book was ‘banned, burned and denounced from the pulpit’ when it was published in 1853. A ground-breaking work, it is now recognised as the first mainstream novel to tell the story of a ‘fallen woman’ sympathetically.
The story centres on the beautiful young Ruth, who loses her home and her job as a seamstress after being seduced by the gentleman Henry Bellingham. She seeks redemption through love for her illegitimate child as she hides from social judgement. Elizabeth Gaskell brought this story to shocked Victorian readers and it still challenges us to consider our attitudes to sex and sin today.
You can join online events exploring this incredible novel throughout the 2025 anniversary year.
Take a look at the social and personal context in which Elizabeth wrote, before delving into talks on everything from motherhood to eroticism, religion, slavery, reform, disease – and even Florence Nightingale.
All talks take place online and tickets cost £6 per person unless otherwise stated. All previous event recordings are available for purchase and if you book, you will receive the recording whether you watch live or not – please see our FAQ. You can also support the house by buying Ruth from our online shop via this link .
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is run by an independent trust and all income from events and our online shop helps us to support the House and share Elizabeth Gaskell’s literary legacy.
Here’s what our audiences say:
‘The speaker was fantastic, warm, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and full of infectious love for her subject.’
‘Very interesting talks. Excellent speakers. These talks make reading Gaskell and others a much richer experience.’
‘It was absolutely superb – very informative and delivered with authority.’
So, read on and see what awaits you…
Online Talk: Ruth – An Introduction
Wednesday 15 January, 7-8pm
Our new season of Ruth events begins with a special introduction to Elizabeth Gaskell’s most shocking novel. Her story about a single mother was ‘banned, burned and denounced from the pulpit’ for its controversial storyline.
So as the respectable wife of a Unitarian minister, why was Elizabeth Gaskell the first to tell the story of a ‘fallen woman’? How did her writing challenge contemporary stereotypes? What about Elizabeth’s real-life plea to Charles Dickens for help with a seduced teenager?
Now you can find out more about the context in which this controversial book was written with popular speaker Elizabeth Williams.
‘Elizabeth conveyed her intimate knowledge of Gaskell’s life and works lightly and easily. I learnt a lot, quickly and effortlessly.’ Visitor to previous event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: The Real Ruth – Mapping Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth
Wednesday 29 January, 7-8pm
Enjoy a literary journey of discovery as you go on a virtual visit to the places, buildings and landmarks featured in Elizabeth Gaskell’s shocking novel Ruth. Extracts from the book map the way to locations around Wales, Cheshire and the English countryside with speaker Dr Diane Duffy.
Join us for a fascinating new insight into Elizabeth’s novel about Ruth, a ‘fallen woman’ in Victorian society. You can delight in some beautiful 19th century writing and vivid descriptions along the way. This intriguing talk will interest anyone who wants to find out more about the historic reality of Elizabeth’s writing and Victorian life.
‘I was impressed at the knowledge of Dr Duffy. She is an interesting speaker.’ Visitor to previous event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Motherhood – The Good, The Bad and The Tolerable
Wednesday 26 March, 7-8pm
‘No one loves me, -no one cares for me, but you, mother’
Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels are often pre-occupied with mothers and motherhood. The role of mother was regarded as the peak of Victorian womanhood. Women were thought to be domestic angels, designed for the sacred role. As the real life mother to four daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell was once dismissed as a cosy writer of domesticity, wrongly regarded as being ‘unintellectual… and easily shocked’. So, what did she actually have to say about motherhood in her writing?
Sherry Ashworth delves into Elizabeth Gaskell’s literary mothers and depictions of motherhood in other 19th century novels. Starting with the fallen woman in Ruth, she shines a light on a range of mums including iconic Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Wilfer from Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend, Marmee in Little Women, the tragic mother in Lizzie Leigh and ghastly Mrs Gibson in Wives and Daughters. Join us to mark Mother’s Day as Sherry asks the question, what makes a good, or bad, mother?
Mark UK Mother’s Day with this special talk.
‘Sherry is excellent.’ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: The Fallen Woman – Sex and Sin in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth
Wednesday 7 May, 7-8pm
Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Ruth was banned and burned for its portrayal of a young woman who had sex before marriage. The story instantly became a ‘prohibited book’, even within her own home.
For modern readers, there is no explicit sex in the book so it may be hard to understand the outraged response. What made Ruth such a dangerous book?
Join Elizabeth Williams as she reveals the truth about Victorian attitudes to female sexuality and their impact on real women’s lives. Perfect for finding out more about the ‘fallen woman’ within Victorian life and literature.
‘Elizabeth conveyed her intimate knowledge of Gaskell’s life and works lightly and easily. I learnt a lot, quickly and effortlessly.’ Visitor to previous event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Laughter and Literature – Comedy in Elizabeth Gaskell
Wednesday 21 May, 7-8pm
“Out of the way! We are in the throes of an exceptional emergency! This is no occasion for sport- there is lace at stake!” Cranford, 1853
The hard-hitting novels of a Victorian minister’s wife may not be the most likely place to look for comedy, but Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing is packed full of mirth. Even in her social novel Ruth about an unmarried mother, there is room for a little laughter. Humour and grief can be regular bedfellows in both real life and literature.
Elizabeth Gaskell often brings the reader joy through her comic depictions of her characters as they aspire to meet social expectations, like the infamous cat eating the lace incident or the cow in her flannel pyjamas in Cranford.
Now you can join us to celebrate the humour and joy in Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing across so many genres. In this online talk we meet a host of comedic characters from the community of Amazons in rural Cheshire’s Cranford, to dreadful Mrs Gibson and her wry husband in Wives and Daughters and even the industrial classics Mary Barton and North and South. And maybe enjoy a little chuckle along the way.
‘These talks are always really good: they feel friendly, relaxed and intimate, whilst being intellectually stimulating.’ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Redemption through Divine Motherhood in Ruth – Religion in Victorian Literature
Wednesday 4 June, 7-8pm
In a world that wasn’t built for women, we take a radical new look at religion and redemption in Victorian literature. Starting with Elizabeth Gaskell’s groundbreaking novel Ruth, this online talk reveals the revisionary use of Christian imagery and themes found in the scandalous story of a teenage mother. Then we take a look at similar ideas of ‘God as a mother’ in a range of authors from popular favourites like Charlotte Brontë and Harriet Beecher Stowe to lesser-known writers like Anna Jameson and Frances Power Cobbe.
How did they turn Christian imagery to their own uses? How do their works fit into Victorian debates around religion and gender roles?
Dr Rebecca Styler explores how literature was used by women to rewrite Victorian religion, giving a new perspective on some of your favourite authors.
‘These talks are always really good: they feel friendly, relaxed and intimate, whilst being intellectually stimulating.’ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Sewing, Slavery and Social Change: Ruth and its Political Moment
Wednesday 25 June, 7-8pm
In 1853 when Elizabeth Gaskell brought out her novel Ruth about a teenage seamstress, her city of Manchester was at the centre of the global cotton trade and her country was on the brink of the Crimean War. Public opinion was divided over class conflict and international events.
Concerns about the working and living conditions, and fears about the morality of seamstresses were reflected in art and literature. Black Abolitionists on tour from America laid bare the links between Manchester’s cotton mills and the horrors of plantation slavery to British audiences.
So, what were Elizabeth Gaskell’s links to these African-American campaigners? How were Unitarians involved in supporting their public appearances? How did Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel emerge from this heady mix of international conflict and calls for justice and social change? Dr Ingrid Hanson looks at the figure of the seamstress, abolitionist campaigns and the global connections of Manchester on the edge of war.
‘Ingrid Hanson’s knowledge of the material was amazing; wonderful grasp of material; compelling presentation, interesting insights.’ Visitor to previous event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Sex and Scandal – Writing the Erotic in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Novels
Wednesday 3 September 2025, 7-8pm
Sex. Sensuality. Eroticism. Such words are not usually associated with Elizabeth Gaskell, the respectable Victorian wife of a Unitarian minister. Yet novels like North and South reveal a woman willing to write about secret desires and intimate feelings. How were such matters to be publicly discussed in an age famous for sexual repression?
Take a look at the art of love in literature from great romance to unrequited affection in works including North and South, Ruth, Sylvia’s Lovers, Cousin Phyllis, Mary Barton, Wives and Daughters and Cranford. Popular speaker Libby Tempest, Vice-Chair of The Gaskell Society, reveals a thrilling new side to Elizabeth Gaskell’s timeless writing.
‘The presenter was excellent and it really gave an insight into the novels, characters and authors. Amazing how much one can learn in just over an hour!‘ Visitor to previous event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: Writing to Change Hearts and Minds – Ruth and Other Reforming Novels
Wednesday 1 October 2025, 7-8pm
Elizabeth Gaskell is recognised as a giant of Victorian literature, but stories such as Ruth (1853) were also reforming novels aimed at changing public opinion. Her complex female characters and tales of industrial strife show she had plenty to say about contemporary class and sexual politics in tales like Mary Barton and North and South too.
But Elizabeth Gaskell was not the only reform writer. How and why did authors like Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Kingsley, Frances Trollope and Harriet Martineau seek to challenge and shape public opinion?
Popular speaker Prof Mike Sanders is back to reveal the historical truth behind favourites like Shirley, Hard Times and even Illustrations of Political Economy! How did these classic writers hope to change hearts and minds? And just how successful were they?
Perfect for anyone who wants to explore the context of the Victorian novel and the reality of life for many working-class people in the 19th century.
‘It was absolutely superb – very informative and delivered with authority’ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: ‘A Flattering Malady’ – Disease and Dying in Victorian Fiction
Wednesday 15 October 2025, 7-8pm
“Consumption, I am aware, is a flattering malady” Charlotte Brontë, 1849
Death and dying were common hazards for characters in Victorian novels. For the modern reader, 19th century novels can sometimes seem packed full of sentimental deathbeds like Jo’s death in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House.
The reality was that in 1800 approximately one in every three children died before their 5th birthday. Fatal diseases such as consumption were common for all ages and literature often reflected real life.
In this new talk, Sherry Ashworth takes us on the Grim Reaper’s final journey starting with the heroine’s redemptive death from Typhus in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth. Get your hankies ready for a range of deathbeds through Victorian fiction including Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Join like-minded literary fans as we ask, what is the meaning of it all?
‘Sherry is excellent.’ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Online Talk: The Lady of the Lamp – Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Gaskell
Wednesday 19 November 2025, 7-8pm
Florence Nightingale is an icon. A pioneer for women and a campaigner for improved healthcare, she was the founder of modern nursing. Yet while the ‘Lady of the Lamp’ is rightly recognised for her caring career in the Crimean War, her work as an eminent mathematician is less well-known. Florence Nightingale was also the first woman to be accepted into the Royal Statistical Society.
Now you can find out about the connections between this exceptional woman and the author of classic novels such as North and South and Ruth. Uncover family friendships and female networks as speaker Gail Fosbrook shares the story of two iconic Victorian women, Florence Nightingale and Elizabeth Gaskell.
‘I found it incredibly interesting and inspiring‘ Visitor to previous online event
Tickets £6
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House is run by Manchester Historic Buildings Trust (charity no. 1080606) and your support of the events programme, alongside private tours, talks, room hire and weddings, goes towards the ongoing maintenance and running costs of the House. To commemorate the House’s milestone anniversary, we are asking visitors and supporters to donate £10 to celebrate 10 years. Click here If you would like to donate £10 (or more).
