(no subject)
Hear that? That's the sound of my Sociology midterm being OWNED. Damn I rock.
Also, I did a kick-ass essay this morning about The Picture of Dorian Gray, and now I have to do another short paper for that class. Then I have to mail my letters, finish my application tonight (or possibly finish it up tomorrow), write an essay for another class for Wednesday, AND I'M THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE.
W00T.
EDIT: hey guys, ch-ch-check it out.
Gus Weinstein
English 79.6
Criticism Paper
Due 3/14/2005
Discussing the views of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s Epistemology of the Closet in relation to Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray
As I read and re-read my way through Sedgwick’s piece, I was relieved to find that I agreed with practically all of it; I’ll say that upfront. It is far easier to agree with someone than to disagree with them, and I am grateful that Ms. Sedgwick has provided me with viewpoints that have not left me fuming and on the verge of tears as I angrily pound my computer keys into submission. Though her piece is entitled Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Sedgwick’s work bravely tackles many of the different issues surrounding homosexuality, and subsequently, heterosexism. She even draws valid comparisons between the queer struggle to escape the closet of secret homosexuality, to the biblical story of Esther, in which she “comes out” to her husband, the King Assuérus, as a Jew. But most importantly (for the purpose of this essay, at least), Sedgwick dares to mention Oscar Wilde and his manner of dealing (or not dealing) with the topic of homosexuality in his work. Along with her views on homosexuality and society’s “heterosexual capitalist patriarchy” heterosexist culture, I found that I agreed with Sedgwick’s statement that “in such texts as … Dorian Gray and through their influence, the subject - the thematics - of knowledge and ignorance themselves, of innocence and initiation, of secrecy and disclosure, became not contingently but integrally infused with one particular object of cognition: no longer sexuality as a whole but even more specifically, now, the homosexual topic” (pg. 49).
If you’re anything like me, you read The Picture of Dorian Gray under the “obvious” assumption that the book was in a constant dance around the elephant that is the topic of homosexuality. And if you’re anything like me, I certainly wouldn’t disagree with you. The story told its tale of young Dorian, and the men that “admired” him, but always to me seemed to be written by someone with a perpetually denied inner child frantically waving his hand, dying to exclaim “I have something to say!” The first two chapters were written (among other things) to enthusiastically extol the beauty of Mr. Gray; both the author and the extollers are male. With this so firmly planted in mind, it is then hard to interpret the lines “I [Lord Henry] believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, reality to every dream - I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediævalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal … But the bravest man among us is afraid of himself. The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives. We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us … The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful …” (pg. 19); “The few words that Basil’s friend [Lord Henry] had said to him [Dorian Gray] - words spoken by chance, no doubt, and with willful paradox in them - had touched some secret chord that had never been touched before, but that he felt was now vibrating and throbbing to curious pulses … Yes, there had been things in his boyhood that he had not understood. He understood them now … Why had he not known it? With a subtle smile, Lord Henry watched him … He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced, and, remembering a book that he had read when he was sixteen, a book which had revealed to him much that he had not known before, he wondered whether Dorian Gray was passing through a similar experience. He had merely shot an arrow into the air. Had it hit the mark? How fascinating the lad was!” (pg. 20), Lord Henry’s subsequent invitation of Dorian Gray to the theatre (and Basil Hallward’s resultant flinging of his pained-faced person onto the nearest sofa) … as being anything but blatantly and extravagantly homoerotic. However, Wilde states nothing of the sort directly, leaving it all up to interpretation. But, having interpreted Wilde’s book as I have, I would say that the subjects that come up so often in his book (Lord Henry’s talk of society’s ignorance and knowledge; the innocence and then mental initiation into sinful temptation of Dorian; the comparisons and contrasts drawn between what the characters are thinking and what they speak out loud) are certainly framed within “the homosexual topic” that Eve Sedgwick discusses.
Eve Sedgwick’s piece brought up many times the unfairness and heterosexist oppressiveness of the existence of “the closet,” within which many people of all genders, occupations and cultures have had to silently endure the systemic oppression of their very being. This silence can be heard quite clearly in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde framed various dichotomies (knowledge/ignorance; innocence/initiation; secrecy/disclosure) within the framework of the (unspoken) topic of homosexuality. Wilde had no choice, living in the culture that he did, but to express his homoerotic thoughts and fantasies under a thick veil of ambiguity and guesswork. Though it had one foot out of the door, The Picture of Dorian Gray was most certainly in the closet.
Works Cited
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Epistemology of the Closet. 1990. 45-59.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Bantam Books, 1982. Originally
Published: 1891.
Sorry there aren't any indentations. There's a conclusion paragraph down there somewhere.
Also, I did a kick-ass essay this morning about The Picture of Dorian Gray, and now I have to do another short paper for that class. Then I have to mail my letters, finish my application tonight (or possibly finish it up tomorrow), write an essay for another class for Wednesday, AND I'M THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE.
W00T.
EDIT: hey guys, ch-ch-check it out.
Gus Weinstein
English 79.6
Criticism Paper
Due 3/14/2005
Discussing the views of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s Epistemology of the Closet in relation to Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray
As I read and re-read my way through Sedgwick’s piece, I was relieved to find that I agreed with practically all of it; I’ll say that upfront. It is far easier to agree with someone than to disagree with them, and I am grateful that Ms. Sedgwick has provided me with viewpoints that have not left me fuming and on the verge of tears as I angrily pound my computer keys into submission. Though her piece is entitled Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Sedgwick’s work bravely tackles many of the different issues surrounding homosexuality, and subsequently, heterosexism. She even draws valid comparisons between the queer struggle to escape the closet of secret homosexuality, to the biblical story of Esther, in which she “comes out” to her husband, the King Assuérus, as a Jew. But most importantly (for the purpose of this essay, at least), Sedgwick dares to mention Oscar Wilde and his manner of dealing (or not dealing) with the topic of homosexuality in his work. Along with her views on homosexuality and society’s “heterosexual capitalist patriarchy” heterosexist culture, I found that I agreed with Sedgwick’s statement that “in such texts as … Dorian Gray and through their influence, the subject - the thematics - of knowledge and ignorance themselves, of innocence and initiation, of secrecy and disclosure, became not contingently but integrally infused with one particular object of cognition: no longer sexuality as a whole but even more specifically, now, the homosexual topic” (pg. 49).
If you’re anything like me, you read The Picture of Dorian Gray under the “obvious” assumption that the book was in a constant dance around the elephant that is the topic of homosexuality. And if you’re anything like me, I certainly wouldn’t disagree with you. The story told its tale of young Dorian, and the men that “admired” him, but always to me seemed to be written by someone with a perpetually denied inner child frantically waving his hand, dying to exclaim “I have something to say!” The first two chapters were written (among other things) to enthusiastically extol the beauty of Mr. Gray; both the author and the extollers are male. With this so firmly planted in mind, it is then hard to interpret the lines “I [Lord Henry] believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, reality to every dream - I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of mediævalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal … But the bravest man among us is afraid of himself. The mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the self-denial that mars our lives. We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind, and poisons us … The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful …” (pg. 19); “The few words that Basil’s friend [Lord Henry] had said to him [Dorian Gray] - words spoken by chance, no doubt, and with willful paradox in them - had touched some secret chord that had never been touched before, but that he felt was now vibrating and throbbing to curious pulses … Yes, there had been things in his boyhood that he had not understood. He understood them now … Why had he not known it? With a subtle smile, Lord Henry watched him … He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced, and, remembering a book that he had read when he was sixteen, a book which had revealed to him much that he had not known before, he wondered whether Dorian Gray was passing through a similar experience. He had merely shot an arrow into the air. Had it hit the mark? How fascinating the lad was!” (pg. 20), Lord Henry’s subsequent invitation of Dorian Gray to the theatre (and Basil Hallward’s resultant flinging of his pained-faced person onto the nearest sofa) … as being anything but blatantly and extravagantly homoerotic. However, Wilde states nothing of the sort directly, leaving it all up to interpretation. But, having interpreted Wilde’s book as I have, I would say that the subjects that come up so often in his book (Lord Henry’s talk of society’s ignorance and knowledge; the innocence and then mental initiation into sinful temptation of Dorian; the comparisons and contrasts drawn between what the characters are thinking and what they speak out loud) are certainly framed within “the homosexual topic” that Eve Sedgwick discusses.
Eve Sedgwick’s piece brought up many times the unfairness and heterosexist oppressiveness of the existence of “the closet,” within which many people of all genders, occupations and cultures have had to silently endure the systemic oppression of their very being. This silence can be heard quite clearly in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde framed various dichotomies (knowledge/ignorance; innocence/initiation; secrecy/disclosure) within the framework of the (unspoken) topic of homosexuality. Wilde had no choice, living in the culture that he did, but to express his homoerotic thoughts and fantasies under a thick veil of ambiguity and guesswork. Though it had one foot out of the door, The Picture of Dorian Gray was most certainly in the closet.
Works Cited
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. Epistemology of the Closet. 1990. 45-59.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Bantam Books, 1982. Originally
Published: 1891.
Sorry there aren't any indentations. There's a conclusion paragraph down there somewhere.