Homoeroticism

called Whitman in a letter a potential ‘father… to his soul’”. He had modeled Dracula after Whitman with his stature and white beard; even Dracula is seen as a father much like Whitman was, which validates the Oedipus complex in Stoker and the homoeroticism in the book. While his wife Florence is an un-ideal Victorian woman still having correspondence with her past suitor Oscar Wilde, much like Lucy. Wilde had written many letters to Florence and had even given letters to her friends to give to her

interaction between members of the same sex (16). Lipman-Blumen’s definition introduces this “explicitly erotic sexual interaction” to signify homoeroticism. Homoeroticism is “erotic emotions centred on a person of the same sex” (Flood, 307). Flood omits any reference to homosexuality in his term (unlike Lipman-Blumen’s definition) but implies that homoeroticism may act as a secret desire “centred on a person”. This reinforces Thomas Gale’s term

perhaps even surpasses, that of heterosexual associations (Garnets and Kimmel 450). Moreover, homosexual male individuals exhibit greater arousal, characterized as “homoeroticism,” by male sexual stimuli than heterosexual males by female coital stimuli. In 1869, Hungarian physician Karoly Marie Benkert initially coined the label homoeroticism as “a scientifically neutral, nonjudgemental, descriptive term for same-sex intimacy,” despite its later connotation as “a crime against nature” (Levant and Pollack

sort of relationship. Looking back to his description in “The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales,” the pardoner is referred to as “his freend and his compeer” (670). This is the where readers get their first glimpse at the possibility of homoeroticism within male friendship. We then see homosexuality displayed in his Prologue to “The Summoner’s Tale.” “Shewe forth thyn ers, and lat the frere se” (1690). The summoner continuously takes about other men’s “ers” throughout his prologue. He also

inversion within Stoker’s vampire; questioning conventional Victorian “gender codes” as the novel unravels. Focusing primarily on the gender paradigm, Craft surfaces arguments that would shatter beliefs of homophobic readers, introducing the implicit homoeroticism within the story. Stepping back,

John Graves Professor Connie Caskey English 251: American Literature I 8 February 2016 The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the puritan’s strict lifestyles to relate to the universal issues among

Ellmann, R. (1988) Oscar Wilde. United States: Distributed by Random House. This biography of Oscar Wilde is thorough and gives a good understanding of how his life influenced his work, especially his only novel, A Picture of Dorian Gray. This biography details Wilde's philosophical nature, especially in relation to aestheticism. The combination of this philosophical view as well as Wilde's view of society and his homosexuality makes it easier to appreciate the underlying themes of the novel. This

are gothic narrations that incorporate the themes of sensuality and hedonism. Although the texts do not contain any explicit statements of homoeroticism, the suggestive narration, allusions and imagery, camera angles and music highlight the homoerotic feelings between men. While Wilde does not mention any homosexual acts explicitly, the element of homoeroticism is described within the competition for Dorian’s attention. Dorian is described through allusions to be likened to Adonis; a creature who

Dominant groups in society often set up normative ideas about bodies, genders and sexualities in order to preserve the societal hierarchy that greatly benefits them. White, cisgender, heterosexual males are often at the top of this hierarchy and are the active perpetrators of their imposed rigid standards. Categories are created by these dominant groups to exercise their control and those who do not fit or refuse to categorize themselves are punished, either metaphorically or literally. In the sports

The machinery in Dracula becomes important to the plot as a whole, but also important to Victorian society too. For the sake of the Empire, factories were increasing the size of Britain’s economy and cities were growing, the military was gaining strength, Britain was at the forefront of modern technology during the time. In fact, the way technology is described and used in the novel, it can be viewed as a subliminal compliment from Stoker about the lengths in which society has developed in that regard