Streszczenie
Although Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall: A Domestic Tale of the Present Time originally was a widely
popular book in the nineteenth century, Fern and Ruth Hall were criticized after readers
learned about the similarities among Fern’s life and book. Contemporary critics have
recovered Ruth Hall from the literary margins and situated Ruth’s story in the context of the
popular American dream story while emphasizing the book’s satirical elements. Reexamining
the novel’s originally popular sentimental elements alongside the novel’s more recently
popular satirical elements expands the literary critical focus from Ruth’s sentimental
struggles and Fern’s satirical accomplishments to Ruth Hall’s equally important critique of
American greed, especially among wealthy and socially-conscious Christians.