Many people, I am sure, have come away from reading certain Victorian novels, thinking that parts of it seemed, compared to our standards, a little gay. Here are some thoughts and historical contexts that can likely explain why…
Queer people and queer relationships were a taboo subject during Victorian Britain, with male homosexuality classed as a criminal act throughout the period. So why is it that so many same-sex friendships in these novels appear surprisingly queer-coded? The simple answer is that many social practices of the 19th century not only allowed for, but actively prompted, a large amount of physical and emotional closeness between people of the same sex, yet more so for women than for men. We can observe this through prominent literature of the time, which commonly displays this closeness in overt ways that appear quite romantic by our modern-day societal norms.
For many male friendships, such as the bond between Robert Audley and George Talboys in Braddonâs Lady Audleyâs Secret, a strong desire for closeness and companionship can be observed, in a way that would likely be considered queer in todayâs social sphere. This is largely cited as being a result of homosocial bonds developed in settings such as boarding schools, which were largely exclusive to younger boys and men, and nurtured much more caring and familial connections, so much so that it was quite covertly known throughout boysâ schools in England that homosexual behaviour took place frequently. Whilst overt homosexual acts were harshly criminalised, homosocial friendships between men and boys were extremely common due to common schooling practices in upper-class society. This manifests itself in the literature of the time, where it is not uncommon to see men praising one anotherâs company and relishing in each otherâs friendship with language hardly distinguishable from romance.Â
For female friendships, the situation was slightly different. Sexual acts between two women were never officially criminalised during the Victorian period, which many historians cite as being because the idea of such things taking place between women was too scandalous to validate by conceptualising lesbianism through legislation – a fear of putting such notions into the minds of respectable mothers, wives, and daughters. However, friendships between women that were quite overly romantic, emotional, and involved a lot of physical closeness were actually quite widely tolerated during this period. For example, Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra in Stokerâs Dracula displayed an extremely romantic friendship, characterised by intense physical and emotional closeness, at times imitating a married couple. This nature of female relationships was accepted as the norm, and was encouraged.
This is an important topic to shed light upon today, due to a multitude of widespread right-wing ideology that attempts to condemn queer identities through suggesting that there are many more queer people today than ever before, and that being LGBTQ+ is something that can be pushed onto people through âharmfulâ social conditioning. In examining the history behind queer behaviour in literature of the past, we can dispute such ideologies, and recognise the truth, that queer identities have existed on their own throughout time.