Ruth is one of the 19th-century novels that the force of the plot can be in conflict with the force of counternarratives. The force of the plot in Ruth supports the single standard of sexual morality for both sexes which results in emphasis on female passionlessness and attack against male sexuality. The implication of the female passionlessness also leads Ruth to real penitence and redemption with the help of Bensons and her son, Leonard. The conception of female passionlessness entails the middle-class belief that the fallen women can be controlled, regulated and redeemed. Fallen women`s redeemability signifies the middle-class and evangelical conviction that immorality and sexual deviation is amenable to intervention and cure. Ruth`s penitence and redemption is a representation of the middle-class conviction of the female passionlessness. The counteractive force of counternarratives contradicts the female passionlessness. Ruth sometimes recognizes her desire unmitigated by her penitence and redemption. The counteractive force reaches the meaning that respected women including Jemmima have the same passion, desire and yearning as Ruth. Ruth`s passion and desire is not abnormal, unnatural, but inherent and spontaneous. These two forces have confronted each other all through the novel, have made the whole meaning of the novel through the conflict and clash between the two forces. The whole meaning is yearning for the change of Victorian women`s status and the rise of women`s self-esteem.