Secreted desires : the major Uranians - Hopkins, Pater and Wilde

2006·19.6 MB·English

by  Kaylor, Michael Matthew

Secreted(Desires
^heMajorVranians:
^fop^ins, (PaterancCWiCcCe
MichaelMatthew %ayCor
Copyrightedmaterial
SecretedDesires
TheMajorUranians:
Hopkins,Paterand Wilde
Copyrightedmaterial
Copyrightedmaterial
SecretedDesires
TheMajorUranians:
Hopkins,Paterand Wilde
MichaelMatthewKaylor
Brno,CzechRepublic:
MasarykUniversity,2006
Copyrightedmaterial
PrintVersion—Copyright©2006—
MichaelMatthewKaylor
Firstpublishedin2006byMasarykUniversity
ISBN:80-210-4126-9
ElectronicVersion—Copyright©2006—
MichaelMatthewKaylor
Firstpublishedin2006bytheAuthor
NotesRegardingtheElectronicVersion
Availability: —
Theele—ctronicversionofthisvolumeisavailableforfreedownload courtesyofthe
author athttp://www.mmkaylor.com.
OpenAccess:
Theelectronic versionisprovidedasopenaccess,—henceisfreetoread,download,
redistribute,includeindatabases,andotherwiseuse subjectonlytotheconditionthat
theoriginalauthorshipbeproperlyattributed. Theauthorretainscopyrightfortheprint
andelectronicversions:MasarykUniversityretainsacontractfortheprintversion.
CitingThisVolume:
Sincetheelectronicversionwaspreparedforthepurposesoftheprintingpress,itis
identicaltotheprintedversionineverytextualaspect(exceptforthispage). Forthis
reason,pleaseprovideallcitationsasifquotingfromtheprintedversion:
• APACitationStyle:
Kaylor,M.M.(2006).Secreteddesires:ThemajorUranians:Hopkins,Paterand
Wilde.Brno,CZ:MasarykUniversityPress.
• ChicagoandTurabianCitationStyles:
Kaylor,MichaelM.2006.Secreteddesires:ThemajorUranians:Hopkins,Pater
andWilde.Brno,CZ:MasarykUniversityPress.
• MLACitationStyle:
Kaylor,MichaelM.SecretedDesires:TheMajorUranians:Hopkins,Paterand
Wilde.Brno,CZ:MasarykUniversityPress,2006.
Copyrightedmaterial
DieKnabenliebeseisoaltwiedieMenschheit,undmankonnedahersagen,sie
liegeinderNatur,obsiegleichgegendieNatursei. WasdieKulturderNatur
abgewonnenhabe, werdemannichwiederfahrenlassen;esumkeinenPreis
aufgeben.
Paederastyisasoldashumanityitself,andonecanthereforesaythatitisnatural,
thatitresidesinnature,evenifitproceedsagainstnature. Whatculturehaswon
fromnaturewillnotbesurrenderedorgivenupatanyprice.
—AcommentbyJohannWolfgangvonGoethe,7April1830
Copyrightedmaterial
YoungSpartansExercising
Hilaire-Germain-EdgarDegas(1834-1917)
Oiloncanvas,ca.1860
NationalGallery,London,UK
.
— —
Preface
Few modern writers, when they speak with
admirationorcontemptofPlatoniclove,reflect
that in its origin this phrase denoted an
absorbingpassionforyoungmen.
(J.A.Symonds,AProbleminGreekEthics)'
ThetitleIhave—chosen—SecretedDesires: TheMajorUranians:Hopkins,
Paterand Wilde is intentionallyprovocative,promptedbymybeliefthat
literarycriticismhasshiedawayfromordistortedanydirectengagementofthe
paederasticelementswithinthelivesandworksoftheseVictorians,eveninthose
instances where literary criticism has been bold enough to consider the
homoeroticelements. Inwhatfollows,Iwillattemptacorrectiveinterpretation,
hopingtodemarcatethedistinctlypaederasticelementsoftenhiddenbeneaththe
complex surfaces oftheirtexts, texts that are highly nuanced and intended
primarilyforaselectgroupofreaders(perhapsasubculture),fittinglylabelled
'Uranian'byTimothyd'ArchSmithinLoveinEarnest:SomeNotesontheLives
andWritingsofEnglish'Uranian'Poetsfrom1889to1930.
Toforestallcriticisminthisregard,letmestressfromtheoutsetthatthis
volumeisunapologeticallymonothematic: itssingularaimistodemarcatethe
distinctlypaederasticelementsinthelivesandworksofafewwriterswhomI
havechosentodubthe'MajorUranians'. Innoregardisitanattempttosuggest
that Gerard Manley Hopkins, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, or the aesthetic
creationstheyproducedcanbereducedtoasinglemotiveormotif,however
laudatoryoranathematicalthatmotiveormotif. Sincewritersofthiscalibremay
rightlybesaidto'containmultitudes',anencompassingperspectiveontheirlives
andworksrequiresalegionofconsiderationsandapproachesdistinctfrom,as
well as complementary to the monothematic engagement to follow. I fully
recognisethat,inordertoaccentuatethepaederasticelementswithinthelives
andworksoftheseindividuals,Ihavebeenforcedtodiminishotheraspectsthat
areequallyorperhapsmorevital,andIhopethatmyreaderswillpardonthose
occasionswhen,inwhatamountstoaveritabletug-of-waragainstalmostall
previous scholarship, Ihave pulled too forcefully in myown argumentative
direction. Whetherwhatfollowsisultimatelydeemedanoverduecorrectiveto
previousscholarshipormerelyanexplorationofaminorelementwithinthelives
— —
The'Inspiration' acommentbyJohannWolfgangvonGoethe,7April 1830 is
quotedinthe'ThirdDialogue'ofAndreGide'sdefenceofpaederasty,Corydon,trans,by
RichardHoward(Champaign:UniversityofIllinoisPress,2001[1924]),p.91
1 JohnAddington Symonds,AProblemin GreekEthics:BeinganInquiryintothe
PhenomenonofSexualInversion(London:Privatelyprinted,[1901]),p.54.
vi
andwritingsofthosebeingconsidered,Ifeelthattheprojectisanoveloneand
worthyofmyowninvestmentaswellasthatofmyreaders,fortheUraniansand
theculturetheystrovetoactualiseoffersinsightsintoararelyconsideredaspect
ofthehumancondition.
However,Ireadilyconcedethattodemarcatethedistinctlypaederastic
elementsinthelivesandworksofthe 'MajorUranians' istoopenmyselfto
attackas amere apologist,especiallygiventhechangeofenvironmentsince
Timothyd'ArchSmith'sLoveinEarnestappeared,asDonaldH.Maderexplains:
Thirtyyearshavepassed[...][andnow]alleroticrelationshipsbetweenadults
andminorsare'abuse';relationswhichcrossclassorraciallinesareregardedas
deeplysuspectorrejected,sociallyifnotbylaw,notbecauseoftheinequalities
oftheindividualsinvolved,butbecausetheyareprisonersofsocialstructures.
Anewparadigm,essentiallypoliticalandnotpsychological,isinplace,anideal
standardofequality,mutualityandreciprocity,whichlooksnottothedynamics
oftherelationship,buttothecircumstancessurroundingit.[....]Oncethisidea
thatsexualand socialrelations mustbebetweenequalswaswidelyenough
accepted,itbecameatoolfortheacceptanceofsocially'reciprocal'homosexual
relationshipstoo,andatthesametimeforthereclassificationofage-structured
sexualoreroticrelationsfrommerelybeing'immorality'tobeingexploitation
and'abuse'.'
Nevertheless,letmeassertfromtheoutsetthatIamneithermountinganapologia
noraspiringtosuggestthatsuchpaederasticdesiresarelaudatory,necessarily
unique,orrepresentalegitimatefieldforphysicalexpression. Inthepagesto
follow, Iaspire merelytomarkandelucidatethe salientfeatures, dynamics,
disparities,considerations,avoidances,andsilencesthatsurroundanaspectof
humanexistence,theaesthetic,emotional,anderoticexpressionofwhich,even
today,properlywarrantsthetitleLordAlfredDouglasbestoweduponitovera
century ago: 'TheLoveThatDareNotSpeakIts Name'.2 Ihopethatthis
1DonaldH.Mader,'TheGreekMirror:TheUraniansandTheirUseofGreece',Journal
ofHomosexuality,49.3-4(2005),pp.377-420(p.411). Onanumberofpoints,Mader's
articleservesasacorrectivetoTimothyd'ArchSmith'sLoveinEarnest:SomeNoteson
the Lives and Writings ofEnglish 'Uranian' Poetsfrom 1889 to 1930 (London:
RoutledgeandKeganPaul,1970).
2HisphrasingadjustsWilliamBlackstone'sexpressionofabhorrencefor'theinfamous
crimeagainstnature',whichis'acrimenotfittobenamed;"peccatumMudhorribile,
inter christi—anos non nominandum" [that horrible crime not to be named among
Christians]' CommentariesontheLawsofEngland:AFacsimileoftheFirstEditionof
1765-1769,4vols(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1979),IV,pp.215-16. That
suchaphrasewasaculturalaswellasalegalandreligiousbludgeon,considert—he
concludingparagraphofoneofthefirstreviewsofWaltWhitman'sLeavesofGrass
[RufusW.Griswold],Criterion,1(10November1855),p.24:
Inourallusionstothisbook,wehavefounditimpossibletoconveyany,even
themostfaintideaofitsstyleandcontents,andofourdisgustanddetestationof
them,withoutemployinglanguagethatcannotbepleasingtoearspolite;butit
Copyrightedmaterial