English Language and Literature Commons^™

Repressing Deviance: The Discourse Of Sexuality In The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde And The Portrait Of Dorian Gray, Olivia Blake Mendlinger

English Honors Theses

Michael Foucault postulates that Victorians of the late nineteenth century were experts at repressing their sexuality. This repression is especially evident in the passing of the Criminal Amendment Act of 1885, also known as the Labouchere Amendment, which outlawed homosexuality in Victorian England. However, as with any subjugated topic, there will be those that fight against the ruling power. The genre of the Victorian Gothic provides an outlet of deviance for the sexually “Othered,” as a place of protest against Victorian repression. Gothic writers showcase war within man’s soul when repression forces those labeled as “Other” to become dark monsters …

Hiding Behind The Closet Door: Representations Of The Homosexual Experience In A Streetcar Named Desire, Antonia Piccirillo

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

Themes related to homosexuality and the homosexual experience are interwoven in many layers throughout Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. This research paper analyzes contemporary commentary on homosexuality from the 1940s and ‘50s, Blanche’s experiences with light and perception, and moments of homosociality between the male poker players, to interpret how the homosexual experience is represented and exposed on stage through the two main characters in the play, Blanche and Stanley. Williams uses a heteronormative context to portray the homosexual experience, thus mirroring the way gay men had to navigate life in the closet while presenting to the public …

Incomplete Utopianism: Homosexuality In The Dispossessed, Beck O. Adelante

Access*: Interdisciplinary Journal of Student Research and Scholarship

This paper draws on research about queer theory and history to analyze, through a literary utopian lens, Ursula K. Le Guin’s treatment of homosexuality in her novel The Dispossessed. The novel itself is said to be “an ambiguous utopia,” a description that holds up in an analysis of the other various parts of the novel. When it comes to sexuality, however, Le Guin’s discussion and writing on the topic is notably lacking. It is paid lip service through a brief showing of neutral attitude on the “anarchist” planet in the novel, but never given further analysis or a more …

The Unkindness Of Strangers: Exploring Success And Isolation In The Dramatic Works Of Tennessee Williams, Chelsea Nicole Gilbert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to explore the theme of isolation in the dramatic works of Tennessee Williams using his essay “The Catastrophe of Success” as the base theory text. The essay attacks the American idea of success though an in-depth examination of the “Cinderella myth” that Williams claims is so prevalent in both Hollywood and American Democracy. Williams’ deconstruction of this myth reveals that America’s love for stories like it results the isolation of three groups: homosexuals, women and the physically disabled and terminally ill. Williams passes no judgment on his characters, instead showing their lives as they truly are. Through …

Maurice's Love, Peggy Wood

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

“By linking their love to the past he linked it to the present” (Forster 745).

E. M. Forster’s Maurice is a widely read and taught text that features homosexuality in Edwardian England. The focus of this thesis is an in-depth analysis of Maurice’s character, with a specific emphasis on the character’s coming out process. The coming out process is still a significant issue in today’s world. Hate crimes, ostracism, and many other negatives can be associated with the coming out process that is not entirely different from what Maurice Hall faced. This statement is easily supported by historical accounts and …

A Queer Poet In A Queer Time: John Milton And Homosexuality, Adam J. Wagner

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Scholar David Hawkes refers to John Milton as a “Hero of Our Time.” Milton’s written works, including his poetry and political treatises, contain cultural and theological insight applicable not only to his 17th Century English culture, but 21st Century American culture as well. As homosexuality continues to enter the public sphere in Western society, many scholars are uncovering past insights about how sexuality has evolved. Milton’s literary texts provide insight into his own sexual orientation and how people viewed human sexuality post-English Renaissance. Homosexuality is a broad topic, but Milton’s works give insight into three main areas—homosexual sex, sexual orientation, …

The Dangers Of Playing House: Celia's Subversive Role In As You Like It, Allison Grant

Selected Papers of the Ohio Valley Shakespeare Conference

No abstract provided.

Picture This: Stephen King’S Queer Gothic, Steven Bruhm

Steven Bruhm

No abstract provided.

Joseph Conrad And The Ghost Of Oscar Wilde, Richard Ruppel

English Faculty Articles and Research

"Conrad walks a similar tight- rope in his exploration of the homosocial continuum--pushing out the boundaries a little and then pulling back to accommodate a conventional audience that would have been hostile to a more overt exploration. In other words, Conrad could only press his artistic investigations of the potential relationships between men so far because those investigations were threatened by the ghost of Oscar Wilde."

Queer, Queer Vladimir, Steven Bruhm

Steven Bruhm

No abstract provided.