Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Where Do They Go: Christian Faith And Belonging In Gay Literature, Samuel D. J. Ernest

Honors Projects

This exploration of Christianity, family, homosexuality, and running away in twentieth-century literature is divided into two essays. In the first essay, G. K. Chesterton’s “twitch upon a thread” provides a way of understanding the flight of Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Jeanette in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson. After they escape their mothers and home communities, Sebastian’s and Jeanette’s searches for a vocation eventually bring them back to where they started, in one sense or another. Sebastian finds his place within the Church, at a monastery; Jeanette travels back to her parents’ house …