What is ‘queer drama’? Since when have there been representations of queerness in British drama? Can we speak of queerness avant la lettre, and if so, what did it look like? How did queer representations in British theatre change throughout the twentieth century? What influence did stage censorship have on representations of queerness? What happened before the sudden eruption of queer drama after the abolition of stage censorship, and by which means could the legal taboo on queerness be circumvented? How did queer representations in the theatre influence notions of queerness in society and vice versa? These are some of the leading questions this book addresses.
Does this book have anything to offer you? Are you gay, lesbian, or heterosexual? Are you a trans-, a-, bi-, non-sexual being? Or are you insecure of who you are? Really, it does not matter very much. You are the potential reader of this book, and if you decide to go on reading you will read things that may prove of significance to you. Because you’re human. You are a human being who can, potentially, fall in love, aren’t you? If you are, this book concerns you.
Taking the beginning of the twentieth century as the starting point for discussion, this book aims at exploring representations of queerness in British drama before the abolition of theatre censorship in 1968 and at demonstrating that queerness did not merely appear in the margins of pre-1960s British theatre, but that it can be detected in its very centre, namely in many of the most popular and most successful plays of their time. To achieve this aim, a selection of plays by three eminent male playwrights writing within the British cultural and socio-political context of the first half of the twentieth century will be analysed.
The focus will predominantly be on plays by William S. Maugham (1874-1965), Noël Coward (1899-1973), and Terence Rattigan (1911-1977), all of whom were extremely popular and commercially highly successful at their time. Finally, this book aims at developing and testing a cognitive model of queer reading and writing strategies which is intended to enable us to account for this seeming paradox concerning queerness in British drama before 1968, namely the paradox that British drama is full of ‘queer plays’ in spite of the taboo on representing queerness: the model of the ‘default reader’ as it is outlined in the theory part of this book and applied in the (queer) readings of plays.
Now, let’s get queer.
Contents
Invitation
Introduction, or: Let me queer you.
Part I
Getting Started – Getting Queer(ed)
1. (Queer) Theories and Propositions
1.1. Some Heuristic Definitions, or: Queer Propositions
1.2. A Short Introduction to Queer Theories
1.3. Introducing the Default Reader, Queer Textual Structures, and a Cognitive Model of Queer Reading and Writing Strategies
1.4. A Very Short Introduction to (Queer) Script Theory
2. Antecedents of Queer British Drama before the Twentieth Century and Preconditions for Play Productions
2.1. Queerness and Censorship
2.2. Queerness and Comedy
Part II
Queering the Stage – Staging Queerness
3. Queer Codes, Symbols and Metaphors: Queering The Sacred Flame (1927)
3.1. Exploiting Subcultural Knowledge: Queer Codes
3.2. Of Closets, Masks, and Cigarette Cases: Queer Symbols
3.3. Queer Metaphors
3.3.1. Queerness as Medical ‘Condition’: Invalidity and Impotence in The Sacred Flame
3.3.2. The Queerness of Impotence
3.3.2.1. Queering Moral Standards by Querying Standard Morality, or: The Queer Views of the (M)other
3.3.2.2. On the Bleakness of Queerness in The Sacred Flame
3.3.3. Queerness as Moral Depravity, Crime, or Nameless Offence
3.4. Interim Findings
4. Queer(ing) Clichés: Swirling in Coward’s Queer The Vortex (1923/24)
4.1. On the Deployment of (Queer) Clichés and Stereotypes
4.2. Sex, Drugs, and Piano Playing, or: Clichés and Stereotypes in The Vortex
4.2.1. Camping it up: The Play’s Number One Queer and the Use of Campness
4.2.2. The (Occluded) ‘Queer Couple’: Nicky Lancaster and Bunty Mainwaring
4.3. Interim Findings
5. Allusions to Queer Culture: Proudly Presenting a Queer Adventure Story (1949)
5.1. Queer References
5.1.1. Queer References to History
5.1.2. It’s Getting Personal: Queer References to People
5.1.3. “In whatever queer bar … in London or Paris or New York”: Queer References to Places”
5.1.4. Queer References to Texts
5.2. Queer Signals: Queer Signal Words, Discourses, and Themes
5.2.1. Queer Signal Words and Discourses
5.2.2. ‘Feelings can’t be helped …’: Queer Themes
5.3. “You’ve been a homosexual all your life, and you know it!”: Straight References to Queerness
5.4. Interim Findings
6. Queer Ambiguity, Obfuscation, and Oscillation: Playing with a Queer Variation on a Theme (1958)
6.1. From Queer Clichés to Scripts
6.2. Queer Oscillation
6.3. Queer Obfuscation
6.4. The Queer Rhetoric of Reticence: Queer Gaps, Indeterminacies and Ambiguity, Puns, Double Entendre and Innuendo
6.5. Of Bendable Genders: Gender Ambiguity
6.6. Queerness in the Eye of the Beholder: Queer Images
6.7. Interim Findings
7. Extending the Homosocial Continuum: From Hero-Worship in Post-Mortem (1930/31) to Homo-Eroticism and Same-Sex Coupling in Home and Beauty (1919)
7.1. Hero-Worship and Love between Men (in War) in Post-Mortem
7.2. From Homosociality to Homoeroticism and Same-Sex Coupling in Home and Beauty
7.3. Interim Findings
8. The Heteronormative Matrix Suspended: Sexually Predatory Fallen Angels, an Astonishingly Queer Design for Living and the Queer Half-World of Semi-Monde
8.1. Representing Illegitimate Desire, Staging Queer Ménages à trois and Disrupting Heteronormative Institutions
8.2. Queering Norms and Naturalness
8.3. Reversing Marginality and Dominance: Suspension of the Heteronormative Matrix
8.4. Interim Findings
9. Queerness Goes Mainstream: A Very Brief Outlook on Queer Drama after 1968
(In lieu of a) Conclusion
Research Objectives & Themes
This book explores the presence and representations of queerness in British drama during the first half of the twentieth century, specifically examining works produced before the abolition of stage censorship in 1968. It challenges the common scholarly assumption that queerness was absent from British theatre until the mid-1960s by demonstrating that queer representations were pervasive and vital. Through a cognitive model of "queer reading and writing strategies," the book uncovers how playwrights circumvented censorship to infuse popular mainstream plays with queer themes, symbols, and codes.
- Representations of queerness and sexual otherness in twentieth-century British drama.
- The impact of stage censorship on the codification of queer identities and themes.
- The role of the "default reader" in shaping and subverting interpretations of dramatic texts.
- The emergence of a "queer continuum" and the oscillatory nature of queer representations in theatre.
- The integration of queer theory, script theory, and reader-response criticism in literary analysis.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2. Of Closets, Masks, and Cigarette Cases: Queer Symbols
Queer symbols are symbols that are easily associable with queerness. An example of a queer symbol would be the staging of the ‘queer closet’. This is the case, for example, in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter in which the queer closet is represented on stage in the form of an actual closet (in this case a ‘spare bedroom’) in which the protagonist Garry Essendine hides his various potential sex partners – at different points in the play comprising members of both sexes (cf. Present Laughter, I, 137; 142; III, 247). Another example of a queer symbol is the use of obscure or compromising objects. One such object is the ‘cigarette case’ in the aftermath of The Importance of Being Earnest and the scandals surrounding the Wilde trials. This queer textual structure of using a queer symbol, in this case actually a cigarette case, can be seen, for example, in John Osborne’s play A Patriot for Me (1965), which, as I have briefly outlined in Chapter 2, itself was considered so scandalous by the censor that it was refused a licence; the Royal Court Theatre had to be transformed into a ‘Private Club’ for a night so that the play could be performed without a licence.
Summary of Chapters
1. (Queer) Theories and Propositions: This chapter establishes the theoretical groundwork by defining heuristic terms like "queerness" and introducing the "default reader" and queer reading strategies.
2. Antecedents of Queer British Drama before the Twentieth Century and Preconditions for Play Productions: This section investigates the historical context of British theatre, focusing on how stage censorship influenced the representation of queerness.
3. Queer Codes, Symbols and Metaphors: Queering The Sacred Flame (1927): This chapter analyzes how queer codes and metaphors, such as invalidity and impotence, function as devices to represent queerness in Maugham’s play.
4. Queer(ing) Clichés: Swirling in Coward’s Queer The Vortex (1923/24): This chapter explores the use of stereotypes and clichés in Noël Coward’s work as a strategy for both signaling and subverting queer identity.
5. Allusions to Queer Culture: Proudly Presenting a Queer Adventure Story (1949): This chapter discusses how references to queer history, icons, and subcultures are utilized to evoke a sense of shared history and identity.
6. Queer Ambiguity, Obfuscation, and Oscillation: Playing with a Queer Variation on a Theme (1958): This chapter examines the rhetorical strategies of ambiguity and oscillation as tools for maintaining queer visibility while evading censorship.
7. Extending the Homosocial Continuum: From Hero-Worship in Post-Mortem (1930/31) to Homo-Eroticism and Same-Sex Coupling in Home and Beauty (1919): This chapter analyzes the blurring lines between homosocial bonds and homoerotic desire in plays by Coward and Maugham.
8. The Heteronormative Matrix Suspended: Sexually Predatory Fallen Angels, an Astonishingly Queer Design for Living and the Queer Half-World of Semi-Monde: This chapter explores the subversion of heteronormative structures through "polyamorous" ménages à trois in several of Coward's plays.
9. Queerness Goes Mainstream: A Very Brief Outlook on Queer Drama after 1968: This chapter provides a brief outlook on how the representation of queerness shifted after the abolition of stage censorship.
Keywords
Queer Theory, British Drama, Twentieth Century, Stage Censorship, Default Reader, Script Theory, Homosociality, Homoeroticism, Sexual Otherness, Queer Reading Strategies, Heteronormativity, Noël Coward, William Somerset Maugham, Terence Rattigan, Gender Performativity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this book?
The book focuses on exploring the pervasive representations of queerness and sexual otherness in British drama between 1900 and 1968, challenging the traditional view that such representations were absent until the late 1960s.
What are the key thematic areas explored in the analysis?
The work focuses on themes of censorship, the construction of the "default reader," queer textual strategies (such as codes, symbols, and clichés), and the extension of the homosocial continuum.
What is the primary research goal?
The main goal is to demonstrate that British drama was "replete with queer representations" throughout the first half of the twentieth century and to provide a cognitive model that explains how these meanings were communicated and interpreted.
What scientific methodology is utilized?
The book applies a multi-layered methodology that integrates queer theory, script theory, reader-response criticism, and discourse theory, largely following the analytical framework provided by Manfred Pfister.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main part of the book analyzes specific plays by William Somerset Maugham, Noël Coward, and Terence Rattigan to illustrate strategies of "queering the stage" through codes, clichés, ambiguity, and the suspension of heteronormative norms.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
The most important keywords include Queer Theory, British Drama, Stage Censorship, Default Reader, and Script Theory, among others.
How does the author define the "default reader"?
The "default reader" is a mental construct representing an implied reader who adheres to societal "default settings" (such as heterosexuality and traditional gender roles), which texts typically assume for mainstream consumption.
How does this book view the "sudden eruption" of queer drama in 1968?
The author argues that the "sudden eruption" of queer drama after 1968 is a myth, asserting instead that there was a rich, pre-existing history of queer drama that utilized coded strategies to exist under censorship.
- Quote paper
- Hanna Kubowitz (Author), 2018, Stages of Queerness, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/426208
