The Fragility of Christian Hegemonic Masculinity: Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth as Radical Neoliberal Critique

This article focuses on Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell's controversial piece, Ruth, and how the novel provides a critique of masculine norms through the neoliberal paradigm of the domestic sphere upheld by Christian standards. We see this phenomenon through her male characters, Henry Bellingham, Richard Bradshaw, and Thurstan Benson. Ruth's reception and criticism has been mixed since its publication, but in recent decades has been more prominent in Gaskell studies circles, particularly as it relates to gender issues. However, little work has been done on the connection among masculinity, neoliberalism, and domestic labor in the novel up to this point. Through this analysis, I argue that Gaskell unveils the intentional surveillance that women face as "invisible" laborers in a privatized domestic economy couched in Christian standards, which contributes to ongoing scholarship in Victorian masculinity studies.