Havelock Ellis’ Sexual Inversion was written long after, and obviously makes reference to, The Picture of Dorian Gray, but the imagery that Wilde uses is reflected in Ellis’ description of the sexually inverted boy. There are moments when the resonance in ideas and language is practically uncanny. The third paragraph in Chapter IX of Dorian Gray describes Dorian’s rising infamy in London as well as how that infamy is undermined by his beauty. In the excerpt from Ellis, he is interviewing H.C., a young male sex worker who goes by the name Dorian Gray. Ellis’ description of H.C. is eerily similar to how we read Dorian described early in the novel. The more encompassing connection however, is that for both of them, their outward beauty is a tool and a mask that allows them to commit many sins with seemingly little reproach. Despite his profession in the sex work industry, which even to this day is considered “sinful” and morally corrupt, H.C. is described by Ellis as having the “beauty of an angel” and his voice the “purity of a clarinet.” These kinds of descriptions are commonly reserved for people — particularly women, which connects this to some of the other readings about Urnings having a feminine spirit — who are considered morally and spiritually pure. Similarly, on page 91, Dorian is described as having “the look of one who kept himself unspotted from the world.” His beauty is so pure in fact, that “his mere presence seemed to recall to them the innocence they had tarnished.” These two young men are able to operate, somewhat, successfully as “sinners” because their outward “purity” makes their critics doubt themselves rather than doubt the beauty of the boys.
Victorian Literature
The sexuality of Basil
While in class we talked mostly about how the descriptions of Dorian and Lord Henry point to their homosexual desires, we did not speak as much about the descriptions of Basil who, is the mostly clearly homosexual character out of all the others. He openly reveals his romantic desire when he tells Dorian in chapter 7: “I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling that a man usually gives to a friend. Somehow I have never loved a woman. I suppose I never had time” (70). Dorian’s physical features as a boyish, his musical talent, characterize him as an invert, what men with same-sex attraction were called by sexologists, as well as his relationship to Lord Henry. The relationship between Lord Henry and Dorian, older man as mentor and younger man as mentee, reflect the homosexual relationships of the Greek Dorians. Lord Henry Wotton’s voice is described as musical as well. They never reveal outright their feelings towards each other or towards other men, Basil is the only one that does so. Subtle hints are not needed to inform the reader of his sexuality. It is in this passage on page 70 that Basil’s innermost thoughts and feelings are revealed to the reader and by John Addington Symonds standards he would be considered an “urning,” not just a man with same-sex desire, but a very feminine individual. Symonds writes,
The body of a male is visible to the eyes, is mensurable and ponderable, is clearly marked in its specific organs. But what we call his soul–his passions, inclinations, sensibilities, emotional characteristics, sexual desires–eludes the observation of the senses. . . . And when I find that the soul, this element of instinct and emotion and desire existing in a male, had been directed in its sexual appetite from earliest boyhood towards persons of the male sex, I have the right to qualify it with the attribute of femininity.”
The fact that Basil has such feelings for Dorian is enough to qualify him as a feminine man, or as having a feminine soul.
Bibliography
Symonds, John Addington. A Problem in Modern Ethics. 1896
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 1890. Ed. Michael Wilson. Watersgreen House Classics. 2015.
Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and the Victorian Position of Governess
The position of governess in Victorian society is an awkward one. The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” views the governess system as problematic for both governesses and the families they serve. The author writes:
Whether it be right or wrong, as a general rule, for mothers to delegate their most sacred trust to hired strangers, we are not here to discuss. The fact exists. Is the system carried out fairly for all parties? Is there any question astir as to its abuse? Philanthropic eyes are scanning many social evils. (570)
The author is particularly concerned with the plight of the governess. They are concerned that governesses are not paid enough, that they are not viewed as an equal to the mother of the children they govern, that they must deal with rambunctious and insolent children, and that they are going insane and living in asylums–a fact that is misleading, since, as the editor notes, many governesses without families and between positions would stay in asylums because it was a cheap and somewhat respectable place to stay (“Hints on the Modern Governess System” 571).
However good the author’s intentions may be, they come off as slightly patronizing when this article is juxtaposed with the text of Jane Eyre. While the author believes that being a governess is mentally exhausting for a governess must deal with child intellect all day:
Hour after hour she has bent down her mind, and raised the children’s to given points, which, however interesting, are exhausting. A young thing, perhaps, still herself, ready to spring up again at one kindly touch. Do not even fond mothers, who teach their own children, feel that after the labors of the day they need some interchange of mind? (573)
this opinion is never expressed in Jane Eyre by Jane or any other character. On the contrary, Jane is very fond of teaching and caring for Adele. After Mr. Rochester speaks of Adele’s unfortunate and disgraceful family situation, Jane defends the orphan, “I have a regard for her, and now that I know she is, in a sense, parentless — forsaken by her mother and disowned by you, sir, — I shall cling closer to her than before” (Brontë 218). Jane’s affection for Adele isn’t based solely on the orphan connection. Jane is fond of Adele’s character: “Still she [Adele] had her merits; and I was disposed to appreciate all that was good in her to the utmost” (218).
The author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” takes issue with the lower class distinction that a governess holds. The author believes that there is no “greater anomaly than that which makes a woman responsible for children, and their exemplar in all things, whose mother treats her as if she were unfit to associate herself and her guests” (571). Brontë portrays this negative and classist view of governesses in Victorian society in the scenes where Mr. Rochester’s guests mock Jane right in front of her face. In one instance, Blanche Ingram says:
You should hear mama on the chapter of governesses: Mary and I have had, I should think, a dozen at least in our day; half of them detestable and the rest ridiculous, and all incubi – were they not mama? (254)
However, Brontë is making the case for governesses as being equals to their employers, as Mr. Rochester insists that Jane continue to be present when his guests are over (259). In this regard, the author of “Hints on the Modern Governess System” and the author of Jane Eyre are in agreement.
Works Cited
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. Print
“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. 1844. Jane Eyre. Ed. Richard Nemesvari. Toronto: Broadview Press. 1999. 567-577. Print.
Jane Eyre and Fraser’s Sympathy for Governesses
This article, “Hints on the Modern Governess System” from Fraser’s Magazine presents the conflict of isolation in the role of the governess. While it does not outright combat the morality of whether a mother should teach lessons to her own children (as opposed to trusting them in the hands of a “stranger”), there are instances in the article that certainly seem to object to the idea of governesses, not because of any inadequacies, but because of the conditions of which they work under. The author writes, “Day by day the governess is worn by the disappointments the most promising child must inflict upon its teacher; but to whom can she, in her weariness, turn for sympathy?” (573) The writer indicates that the parents of the children do not want to hear of their child’s shortcomings, especially by a “third person,” so it leaves the governess in a complicated position. The indication of the governess as a “third person” also establishes her sense of inferiority to the rest of the household. This is just one aspect of the governess’s loneliness. She is also condemned to mere isolation when she is not with the children, “It is only the governess, and a certain class of private tutors, who must hear the echoes from the drawing-room and the offices, feeling that, in a house full of people, they dwell alone” (574).
Perhaps this idea of loneliness of the governess expands further than just her job at an estate. In Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, when Jane becomes a governess at the Thornfield estate, she is initially insulted and demeaned by Mr. Rochester (“No wonder you have rather the look of another world” (192)), even though Jane nonetheless, returns his insults with clever wit, this still confirms Jane as an inferior, given her position in the household. However, Jane has a more clever insight: “It is in vain to say that human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility…Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel: they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts just as much as their brothers do” (178). I feel that this quote responds to the condition of women in general of course, but in terms of governesses specifically, it connects with the claims made in Fraser’s article, as these women who are deemed “odd” by Victorian society are subject to even greater loneliness even more when they support themselves.
Works Cited
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre Ed. Richard Nemevari.Peterborough, Ont: Broadview, 1999. Print.
“Hints on the Modern Governess System.” Fraser’s Magazine. November 1844: 567-577 Print.
Fordyce: Proud and Mostly Prejudice
Hi, I’m Joe Curra. I’m an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. My favorite author has always been a never ending mystery, even to myself. Hemingway and Vonnegut are easily two of my favorites, but ever since reading Nathaniel West’s Miss Lonelyhearts, I’m usually compelled to mention him. West isn’t nearly as prolific as Hemingway or Vonnegut, but Miss Lonelyhearts felt like something truly special when I read it and it’s stuck with me ever since.
James Fordyce might stick with me for worse, though. In fact, his Sermons to Young Women leaves as uncomfortably distasteful of a resonance with me as Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Both develop an inexcusable, shockingly innate pro-male sexism that’s equally disturbing. This sentiment is perhaps worse for Dreiser, considering his novel came significantly later.
The first most revolting statement from Fordyce’s “sermon,” coincidentally, appears within the first sentence of our assigned reading. He states, “When a daughter…dishonours her sex…” (394). There’s a lot of extra nonsense going on in this sentence, but the contingent absurdities are best summarized through this focus, I think. Who has allowed Fordyce to decide, as a male, how a woman “dishonours” her own, non-male, sex? It’s paradoxical, especially if a woman couldn’t decide the same parameters for men. Out of what’s an assumed common desire of Victorian men to regulate, and have regulated, women’s’ behavior, stems Fordyce’s need to preach etiquette and behavior. By immediately putting down the potential for women to behavior within their own decided regulations, beliefs, or wants, Fordyce ignores the capacity for men to act “unruly” or “foolish,” insinuating repeatedly that women ought to be shamed for acting out, while men may be excused (or lack the capacity to be equally foolish altogether).
Because of Fordyce’s narrow perspective of women, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice offers clear juxtaposition between the novel’s thematic values and those of Fordyce. In other words, I don’t think Austen’s text agrees with Fordyce’s. One of my favorite examples so far of Pride and Prejudice’s anti-Fordyce practices occurs on page 123 of the text. Elizabeth states, “It is your turn to say something now, Mr. Darcy…” Elizabeth is being fairly forward, certainly sarcastic, and outstandingly witty here, as she walks Darcy through proper ballroom behavior. Fordyce would consider the reversal in superiority during this moment an attempt on Elizabeth’s part to insult Darcy, being a critic of his (which is specifically described as poor behavior on a woman’s part in Sermons to Young Women, page 398).
I think Austen is working against, fairly subversively, generally opposing male oriented dispositions and regulations within her time. The development of Elizabeth’s character, and her independence, makes Elizabeth exciting to read. Having no prior experience or knowledge of Pride and Prejudice before this class, I’m pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the novel is.