Date Thesis Awarded

5-2020

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Art and Art History

Advisor

Catherine Levesque

Committee Members

Christina Stancioiu

Simon Joyce

Abstract

This thesis explores the cultural context from which John Everett Millais’s painting, The North-West Passage, emerged, situating the painting in the larger visual culture of Arctic narratives. The painting is distinct due to Millais’s indirect approach to the Arctic subject matter and relies heavily upon the cultural literacy of the viewer. The North-West Passage is a continuation of Millais’s early predilection for constructed heroic narratives dependent upon interpersonal relationships. The painting indicates that Millais’s oeuvre is more united than scholars usually give it credit. Furthermore, The North-West Passage perpetuates normative Victorian attitudes towards gender, empire, and exploration. This study establishes the cultural and visual background of The North-West Passage, in order to reconstruct the knowledge that the Victorian viewer would have brought to the work.

Recommended Citation

Pschirrer-West, Eleanor, "Constructing History: John Everett Millais and The North-West Passage" (2020). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1554.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1554