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Gender And Sexuality In Victorian England: An Analysis Of The Autobiography Of Christopher Kirkland, Pauline Phipps

History Publications

This paper examines Eliza Lynn Linton's experience as a result of her conflicting sentiments about English Victorian gendered norms. Linton's “male” ambition facilitated her entrance into the male work sphere, yet her writing preached the values of domesticity while denigrating women such as herself, who sought careers. Eliza's gender dilemma was best projected in her autobiographical novel, The Autobiography of Christopher Kirkland (1885). This text, which evokes the ambivalence between her acclamation of femininity and her “mannish” behaviour, indicates the tenuous structure of gender and emotional norms. The “role” Eliza assumes as a male suitor, while suggesting interesting meanings about …