The Life One Does Not Lead Double Life Narratives and Queer Criminal Codes

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Wallace, Miriam

Keywords

Homosexuality, Criminality, Oscar Wilde

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

This thesis begins with a history of the legal and linguistic use of �homosexuality� and explores its impact on three double life narratives from the 1890s: The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Sherlock Holmes series. These stories share common Gothic elements of crime, secrecy, and blackmail that become metaphorically linked with homosexuality in the public imagination after the conviction of Oscar Wilde for gross indecency. Each chapter will demonstrate how these themes remain conflated with homosexuality over the next one hundred years by comparing each Victorian text to works of twentieth and twenty-first century fiction, as well as film adaptations. The conclusion will address the homophobic ramifications of these links, but also point to optimistic breaks in the pattern which indicate progress in how the gay community views itself.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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