The Glass As Half Full

The exquisite society to emerge will be governed by an elite comprised of gay poets. One of the major requirements for a position of power in the new society of homoeroticism will be indulgence in the Greek passion. Any man contaminated with heterosexual lust will be automatically barred from a position of influence. All males who insist on remaining

Many scholars in the past, looking at Sappho through the eyes of male experience, have heaped lukewarm praise on Sappho’s "chaste" poems, have translated them with an unyielding heterosexual bent. However, when read through a woman's experience, when read through people who do not wish to hide Sappho's desire for other women or hetero-sexualize it, Sappho's writing takes on a new light, and we can begin to piece together her desire and its contexts.

Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles re-tells the classic tale of The Iliad through the romantic relationship highly speculated between Achilles and Patroclus. In a diachronic approach to historical queer narratives, I will analyze queer identities and representation within literature with an emphasis on contemporary queer narratives. Queer narratives are especially important stories to perpetuate and recognize both historically and contemporarily, as they impose, perpetuate, or upset notions of normalcy. The Song of Achilles solidifies historical queer identities and experiences that have otherwise been absent, overlooked, or erased in the Iliad (and other historical texts). Accurate queer representation is important for understanding the historical past, giving voice, visibility, and validation to queer identities, and recreating identity in the present.

In Sophocles’ Antigone, the title character’s gender creates the capacity for liminality. Not fully demonstrating masculine or feminine normative action, Antigone perplexes those around her and even loses her own logic. Caught between her duty to the realms of the personal and the political, Antigone exhibits liminality of gender through her emasculating interaction with Kreon in juxtaposition with the feminine necessity of her actions.

Anne Carson’s presentation of Sappho’s surviving poetry, Fragments of Sappho heightens the eroticism and same sex-desirability that Sappho is well known for. In the text, Sappho never explicitly engages in any sort of sexual activity or intercourse, whether with a male or female. Therefore, it is unknown as to whether she ever acted on her clear sexual yearnings. Carson’s editorial choices and translation of the text, however, intensifies the already stimulating and controversial thoughts of Sappho, making them not only more sensual but more profound.

Moreover, women considered to be wicked in the perspective of Roman men are demonized and their flaws are exaggerated within literature. With these limitations in mind, we may now begin to examine the depiction of feminine sexuality in literature and its reflection of Roman

Gender roles within society have changed continuously over time, and with the use of primary sources, it can be seen first-hand what it was like during the time in which it was written. In the source, “Parallel Qualities of the Sexes,” the opinion of one writer is seen through the poem. Because this is just one person’s opinion, it is important to determine whether or not the statements made are truthful to the time period in which it was written. There are a number of questions to be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not a source is or is not credible, such as the gender of the writer, who the audience is, and what can be presumed about the author through the work itself. The credibility of the source then relies on the

The literary works of Edgar Allan Poe are exuding with struggles between the genders. These struggles are especially prevalent in Poe’s short story, “Ligeia” (644-653).

In the scholarship of nineteenth century American literature, the focal point is most often the rise of romanticism and transcendentalism. While both movements are well deserving of the scholarly attention they have received, one of their most definitive effects is often sidelined: the popularization of queer literature. The uncertainty and openness of nineteenth century literary movements allowed for LGBTQ+ themes to be entwined in various works with little to no suspicion or negative response from the general populace. One of the most recognizable representatives of the rise of queer American literature is Emily Dickinson, who has long been believed to be lesbian or bisexual. What little is known about her appears to support this conclusion; the poet was never married, and composed frequent amorous letters to Susan Gilbert Dickinson, her sister-in-law (Norton 1661). While the sexuality of Dickinson is indeterminate, her poems contain definitively queer content. An excellent example of this can be found in Poem 194, or “Title divine, is mine,” in which Emily Dickinson utilizes parallelistic imagery and tonal confusion to subtly portray feminine homoeroticism.

In the earliest of time in Greece, homosexuality became common within the civilization; which with this socially accepted involvement, some could say, provided the groundwork for the child molestation act of pederasty. Conversely, it appears the Greek’s institutionalized sodomy to a new level for children that involved predominantly upper-class men in the 7th century B.C.; shamefully, boosted with pride concerning this ‘training system as their civil duty.’ They professed to be giving needed guidance to young boys (eromenos); who became effectively courted by older men (the erastes or ‘lover’). The Greeks became flamboyant with their exploitation of adolescents and cunningly gave personal attention to young boys to produce sexual cooperation. Distinctly, there existed a real challenge between Greek homosexuals, involving who would become the ‘dominating partner;’ (which transpires as an extreme shame if you were the lesser); therefore, an infinite number of repugnant circumstances arose, while using children’s passiveness to conceal the men’s perverted actions.

Its the year 1990, you’re at the University of California, Santa Cruz standing within the thick blend of hazy mist, and the pungent aroma of the local ganja stand on the corner. You’re about to attend another usual seminar by, Teresa de Lauretis, an Italian-born author and doctor. During this seminar she’ll be focusing on one of her numerous capacities of concentration, queer studies and the phrase “Queer theory”. Yet, little do you know that the seminar you’re attending will be the unintended catalyst that will be re-open the questions relating between sexuality and gender, and the phrase “Queer Theory”.

Although the conclusion for this particular case study is opting to praise students privately, it does not imply that praising students privately is always more preferable to conducting it publicly. In reality, it depends primarily on the appropriateness of the approach applied, the personality trait and emotional intelligence of the people concerned, and the situation and/or circumstance surrounding the specific incidence. In respect to the complexity of human psychology, an identical set of information could be interpreted by the diverse groups of audience as having very different connotations, depending on their beliefs, attitudes, and values. To put it simply, the notorious phase “Is the glass half empty or half full?” analogy could be

The treatment of homoeroticism is explored through the influential writings of both John Donne and Shakespeare in the Renaissance Era. Similarly, the voice of both present a scornful dismissal of the opposite sex in order to defy the typical conventions of heterosexuality. Whilst Donne explores lesbianism in his poem ‘Sappho to Philaenis’, Shakespeare reveals a hidden homosexuality in his sonnet sequence, exposed through the analysis of both his literature, and the changes made to the 1609

The interchangeability of the sexes is a prevalent implication throughout William Shakespeare’ Twelfth Night. In fact, the concluding romantic pairings are only introduced, as well as established, at the very end of the play. In addition, gender, either assumed by one character or inferred by one character of another character, proves to be irrelevant when initial attractions develop between characters. This suggests that Shakespeare believed, “homoerotic and heterosexual love [were] not […] mutually exclusive in a person’s makeup” (Lindheim 692). His arbitrary portrayal of gender throughout the play thus creates a work of literature that strays from the conventions of the romance genre of the time. The romance genre has generally been characterized as:

D.H. Lawrence’s novel, Women in Love, presents a complex model of female-male and male-male relationships. Lawrence’s model relies heavily on a similar model presented in Plato’s Symposium. The difference between the two works lies in the mode of realization; that is, how one goes about achieving a ‘perfect’ love relationship with either sex. Lawrence concentrates on corporal fulfillment, characterized in his recurring reference to obtaining a “blood oath,” while Plato concentrates on a mental, or “divine” bond. Lawrence’s concentration on corporal fulfillment of love only superficially differs from Plato’s concentration on the mind: both come to the