Moby gay romance
Tied By Cords Woven of Heart-Strings: A Study of Manhood in Herman Melville&#;s Moby Dick
Veronica Faller
(WR , Paper 3)
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“All the individualities of the crew, this man’s valor, that man’s fear; guilt and guiltlessness, all varieties were welded into oneness, and were all directed to that fatal goal which Ahab their one lord and keel did point to.” — Melville
Critics have extended concerned themselves with the theme of male bonding, or at least manhood, in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Some have called whaling “an avatar for the most base, vicious, and stringent version of masculinity available in the mid-nineteenth century” (Dillard 20), while others attribute Melville’s plot and setting to a contradictory response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (Paglia), in which a woman is the main character and the story happens on area. Undeniably, Moby Dick is peppered with passages that comprise ambiguous homoeroticism, revenge for emasculation, and male unity, which suggests that fraternal bonds are an integral part of not only the plot of Moby Dick, but also the meaning of the novel as a whole. Melville specifically chooses to create an entirely
Homoeroticsm in Moby Dick?
Rubystreak1
I’m about pages into Moby Dick, right at the point where Queequeg and Ishmael are about to board the Pequod. What is intriguing me is the apparent homoeroticism of the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeg. A sample from Chapter A Bosom Friend:
“How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our heart’s honeymoon, lay Queequeg and I–a cosy, loving pair.”
This, which is only the most egregious of many examples, has made me wonder if Melville intended a homosexual subtext here. Now, of course, I haven’t finished the book, but I’m wondering if I’m just reading too much into this chapter (and the following chapter as well), or if other people have noticed this. Does this undercurrent act a role in the later development of the novel? Thoughts/interpretations/comments?
Mr_Salads2
Yeah, when they were sleeping in the bed for the first night, that was indicative of possible homoeroticism. However, I think
Pages
&#;There&#;s hogsheads of sperm ahead, Mr. Stubb, and that&#;s what ye came for. (Pull my boys!) Sperm, sperm&#;s the play!&#; -Moby Dick
In high school and college, I was never assigned to read Moby Dick. I&#;ve always wondered about that. How could it be that I was never forced to read such a renowned book? Well, I contain a theory now: it&#;s possible that the manual was deemed to be &#;too gay&#; for us suburban students. I just finished reading it, and here are some quotes.
At the beginning of the book, before the Pequod sets sail, the main character, Ishmael, is looking for a hotel. But all the hotels are full, and his only option is to distribute a room with Queequeg, the savage harpooner. The room has one huge bed and no heat, so they have to snuggle together for warmth. There is no explicit sex, but there is a lot narrative prefer this:
&#;We had lain thus in bed, chatting and napping at brief intervals, and Queequeg now and then affectionately throwing his brown tattooed legs over mine, and then drawing them back; so entirely sociable and free and easy were we&#;&#; (Kindle )
And this:
&#;As we were going along the people stared; not at Queequeg so much &#; for th
i probably shouldn&#;t be writing right now, cos it&#;s late and i&#;m very sleepy. but who can resist the lure of a sexy laptop&#;
you recognize, the issue of queer vs. straight is fascinating to me. it&#;s compassionate of like the issue of catholic vs. protestant. or apples vs. oranges.
personally, i would favor to live in a world where there was no distinction between creature gay or straight. what i mean is that i would like to live in a society where it wasn&#;t an issue. where people liked people regardless of their gender. and where no one was ashamed of their sexual orientation. to answer your question, i&#;m pretty straight. i complete find myself much more sexually attracted to women than to men. but i wish that it wasn&#;t an issue.one of the things i admire about new york metropolis is that it&#;s a place where gay couples can walk down the street holding hands and/or kissing and no one bothers them. i animosity the fact that there are parts of the world where people are persecuted or made to feel bad for their sexual orientation.
romance and sex and love are really nice things, and when two people (or more, whatever) are attracted to each other, then i believe that&#;s something to be celebrated. hom
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