Ruth Hall is far from the ordinary female character we are used to seeing. She received a lot of flack for creating such an individual character. How is Ruth Hall different from other characters, like Dorothea? How are they similar?
What is Fanny Fern saying about the society she lives in with this novel? She penned it knowing the attention she would get for it.
I think I asked a similar question about Ruth Hall and Dorthea in terms of their social status as a propertied woman and a wage-working woman, respectively. I think they both succeed in making the "right" decisions while knowing how and when to compromise. Ruth Hall has less time to worry about choosing between romantic love and personal fulfillment, because of her status as a mother and a provider. Perhaps that, rather than class, is the real distinction between the two. Dorothea was in a way never really married, as Elliot suggests, because she didn't have children to confirm it, or to transform her? What do other people think?
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