Why Did Elizabeth Gaskell's Novel "Ruth"� Shock Some Readers?

"Ruth," published in 1853, tells the story of the seduction and betrayal of a young apprentice dressmaker, Ruth Hilton. Her wealthy lover, Henry Bellingham, deserts her, and she is about to commit suicide when she is rescued by Thurston Benson, a Dissenting preacher. With the help of his sister and servant, Benson helps Ruth, who has now borne a son, to start a new life as a "widow." Later, working as a governess, she meets Bellingham again. He offers to marry her, but she refuses; as a result of this encounter, she loses her job. Finally cholera breaks out in the district; Ruth nurses the victims, including Bellingham. He recovers but she dies.
The novel shocked some Victorians because of its sympathetic portrayal of a "fallen woman" and its insistence that Ruth is less to blame than her seducer. Its vivid depiction of the poverty and misery of much of Ruth's life was also unusual at the time.