Representation of Queer Identities in the 18th Century Gothic Novel

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand the queer gothic in the novels of 18th century. The paper extends towards the concept of sexuality and repressed desires and how they impacted the social needs. The aim of this paper is to understand if the eighteenth century really encouraged homosexuality through establishing a repressed society and how the repression can become an obsession. Such analysis is compared with the description if the queer identities in the gothic novels and how sex has been homosexuality has been portrayed in the novels of 18th century. It is found that the queer identities became an important topic of discussion among the literary society as it was one of the most controversial issues of the 18th century. The emphasis is given on the theoretical account to understand this phenomenon and many authors from Freud to Foucault have been discussed with respect to sexuality and social behaviour. On the other hand, the role of religion is also important to understand as it forms a significant aspect of society.

Many theorists like Freud and Jung came up with the background of sexual behaviour and categorized them as the result of unmet sexual needs. Victorian formulations of commodities and femininities, it is apparent why all of this should have been so electric in its provocations.

The commitment of Queer's theory to the deconstruction of society male sit impossible to speak of a lesbian or gay since all the special aspects are denaturalized and reduce to discourse. Therefore, the aim of the dissertation was to determine if the queer theory can form a framework for analysing the subjectiveness including those that occur but class and race but rather must emphasise the analytic focus to the discourse, sociology and queer theory are regarded as methodological frameworks that are important aspects of this paper.

Representation of Queer Identities in the 18th Century Gothic Novel

Introduction

Meaning of Queer and Queer Gothic

English word Queer means strange (eccentric) and for many years was used to define as derogatory to the LGBT community and anyone whose sexuality not fit within the definition heterosexual. So at first the word was basically an insult. In the early nineties, a certain sector of the LGBT population felt that the direction taken by the movement did not include gays and sought to be "normal" and only gave visibility to a certain type of gay people. As if the move was trying to back models heterosexual families and people that you were some kind of stereotypes do not fit in the movement (Graham,1990). Then they decided to appropriate the word queer and turn it into one that would identify a new stream of motion in which sex and gender are a construction (McGuire,2008).

Queer Gothic, impressive in its scope, aims, and method, provides an incontrovertible case for the centrality of the gothic as a rich repository for understanding historical periods' formulations of no normative desire, sexuality, and identity. Haggerty's readings are insightful and ...