Queer Bodies: A (Re)Orientation to Henry James, Oscar Wilde and the Genealogy of Same-Sex Desire

Abstract

This PhD thesis aims to explore the concept of the “queer body” as a historiographical tool through which to understand the literary and cultural genealogy of same-sex desire between men. To achieve this aim, the thesis focuses on theories by eminent scholars of Queer Studies and of Victorian Studies. The work of Sara Ahmed Queer Phenomenology (2006) is especially relevant since it provides the theoretical framework through which the author manages to represent the “queer body” as a representational tool employed by certain Victorian authors in order to re-orientate their readers towards a queer reality that was, for the most part, hidden during the nineteenth-century. The thesis also considers how these authors used past representation of the body in literary and cultural texts from Ancient Greece and the Renaissance to create an idea of the “queer body” that was both disruptive and a key element to represent their own dissident desires. Some works by Henry James – Roderick Hudson (1875) and The Princess Casamassima (1886) – and Oscar Wilde – “Charmides” (1881) and The Portrait of Mr. W.H. (1889-1921) – are specifically considered to demonstrate how the “queer body” effectively becomes a re-orientating device. Furthermore, the thesis positions these authors’ texts as the cornerstone of twentieth-century and contemporary male queer representation through a Coda in which the evolution of the “queer body” is briefly explored, thus opening a new venue of enquiry for future researchers interested in the topic.