The traditional view was that Ruby had no chance in life because she was born on 'the wrong side of the tracks'. In other words it is a class issue. Yet despite clearly feeling more comfortable in jeans and a shirt and a gun in her hand, hunting in the bayou, Ruby can certainly dress the part and exudes plenty of class when called upon after her marriage to Jim Gentry.
What I see in this film, having watched it again recently, is something more sinister that harks back to older times when the church dominated western life and the population was controlled by threats of damnation. This is that men of all ages project their lusts onto a sexy figure like Ruby and then feel ashamed and guilty. That in turn makes them angry and they project that anger onto the person who made them feel that way. It is sinister because it doesn't matter how a person behaves if they can be condemned simply by what goes on in the minds of others.
Ruby took her revenge on Boake because he thought he could marry the rich girl who would restore his family's former status yet keep Ruby on the side to satisfy his lust.
But she avenged herself on the other townspeople because the bad way they treated her had nothing to do with what she'd done, but with what was going on in their own minds. It was easy to suspect her of foul play in Jim's death, not because of her origins (despite being poor, with simple values, her parents were respected member of the community), but because they had all lusted after her themselves (or were the wives of those who had) and found it convenient to label her a shameless hussy.
Review of Ruby Gentry
