Sharon Aronofsky Weltman is an Assistant Professor of English at Lousiana State University. She lives in Baton Rouge with her family.
Listed in: Victorian Studies · British Literature · Literary Criticism · Women’s Studies · Literature
Ruskin’s Mythic Queen
Gender Subversion in Victorian Culture
By Sharon Aronofsky Weltman
John Ruskin’s prominence as the author of “Of Queen’s Gardens,” his principal statement of Victorian gender opposition, makes him an ideal example for analyzing the power of mythic discourse to undermine gender division. Here, Ruskin creates a vision of feminine authority that draws simultaneously upon several sources (including the goddess Athena and Queen Victoria herself) to empower women in a worldwide arena redefined as a broader version of their domestic realm.
