Ruth

Introduction

(1835)

Gaskell's second novel.

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Sally discusses inflation

In chapter 18, Sally the servant talks about money. She says when she was a girl, eggs were thirty for a shilling and butter was sixpence a pound. Apparently there had been some inflation in the intervening 45 years or so, since about 1800. That was a surprise I thought there was basically no inflation in the C19th. She says she was paid £3 a year when a young woman, but that the going rate was now £8 a year. I assume meals and lodgings are on top of this.Sally is another one of the very devoted servants that appear all through Victorian literature. Her employers decided to increase her wages to £6 a year against her wishes. Out of that she has managed to save £30, which she intends to leave in her will to her master and mistress. Sally also says that when she was young, people used to eat their pudding before their meat. If only I had known about that when I was a boy. I could have told my parents it was traditional to eat your dessert before your main meal.

Posted By kev67 at Wed 11 Oct 2017, 2:13 PM in Ruth || 4 Replies

Gaskells Ruth

I read this book a couple of years ago and it has haunted me since. It is the book that made me truely appriciate the writer that Elizabeth Gaskell is. It was an amazing book to read and heartbreaking. Has anyone else here read it and what did you think of it?

Posted By Niamh at Fri 11 Jun 2010, 6:38 PM in Ruth || 8 Replies

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