Emily Ryan

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Wallace, Miriam

Keywords

Gender, Sexuality, Literature

Area of Concentration

Literature, Gender Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines representations of non-normative gender and sexuality in three fin-de-siecle novels: The Well of Loneliness, Orlando, and Monsieur Venus. The first chapter deals with gender melancholia, gendered belonging, and the problematization of identity categories in The Well of Loneliness. The second chapter looks at performative gender, gendered displays of desire, and the subversiveness of relationships between women in Orlando. The third chapter focuses on the construction of gender roles in Monsieur Venus within a relationship of dominance and submission. Gender means something different to each of the protagonists—in The Well of Loneliness, gender is an elusive identity that does not correspond to its protagonist's physical body or the way society reads her; in Orlando, gender is not innate but a disguise that can be adopted for a variety of purposes; in Monsieur Venus, gender is a performance that allows its protagonist to dominate and control others. These three books all deal with these problems of (mis)representation and the challenge of accurately describing the complexity of an individual's gender and sexual identity.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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