horsewhipping Ruskin

There’s not a strict correlation between the presence of a figure in my writing and his or her presence in my mind. Among the thinkers thus underrepresented in my writing are Mikhail Bakhtin, Ivan Illich, Iris Murdoch, Lesslie Newbigin, and, above all, John Ruskin. But Ruskin is the only one of those figures who, in my considered opinion, ought to have been horsewhipped — at least once and possibly twice. In Trollope’s Doctor Thorne, a certain Mr Moffat gains the love of one Miss Augusta Gresham and the promise of her hand in marriage … but then ends the engagement when he thinks he has the chance to marry a much richer woman, leaving Augusta hurt and humiliated. Consequently, Miss Gresham’s brother Frank acquires a whip, goes to London, finds Mr Moffat on Pall Mall, and gives him a thorough thrashing. It is my contention that a member of the family of Euphemia Gray Ruskin should have done the same to John Ruskin. He deserved it, and in the long run it might have been good for him.…