Prison, social fall and execution for a passionate gay romance: which ace writers have experienced hell because of their orientation?
Some of the authors' names are familiar to us from school. But we rarely know what they had to face during their lives and what joys, but also many sufferings, which are often encoded in their greatest works, they managed to go through...
Were they or were they not?
While in antiquity gay and lesbian relationships were not greatly admired and were quite common, by the Middle Ages and early modern times they were already considered a sin by Christian society. It is therefore not surprising that even writers who worked then preferred not to publicly declare their orientation. Thus, we can only speculate about some authors and their affiliation with the LGBT community when we read their works.
Such figures include the playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who many believe was bisexual. Some of his sonnets are said to be proof of this. Many people also see hints of homosexuality in the work of the poet and Anglican priest John Donne, or in one of the most important works written in English, John Milton's massive poem Paradise Lost. But the name of the Romantic poet and probably anorexic George Gordon Byron must not be missing from the list. Apart from his weight fluctuations, his bisexuality was also a concern. Moreover, the main reason for Byron's flight from his homeland was accusations of sexual scandals of all kinds (including incest and same-sex intercourse), which could have resulted in the death penalty. But Tooth came for the poet anyway, at just 36 years old.
In later centuries, however, queer writers had it no easier, and so they kept as quiet about their private lives as their predecessors. In hindsight, however, even an analysis of the work of these authors cannot help but speculate. This is particularly the case with the works of the poet Walt Whitman or the writers Herman Melville and Henry James. Whitman lived most of his life with his mother, and neither he nor James ever married. Moreover, from contemporary accounts of the marriage, neither stood. The same was not true of the novelist Marcel Proust or the poet Emily Dickinson, who also remained unmarried and apparently maintained a long-term love affair with her sister-in-law, with whom she lived in the same household. The poet T. S. Eliot, on the other hand, married twice, but his first wife insisted that he was a closeted gay man.
One of Spain's most famous poets, Federico García Lorca, apparently struggled with his homosexuality and paid the ultimate price for it. A close friend of Salvador Dalí from his student days, he was imprisoned for three days and then shot by fascists at the start of the Spanish Civil War. The official report states that the poet, who was platonically in love with Dalí(confirmed by the painter himself), was executed in cold blood not only because of his politics but also because, among other things, he had engaged in "homosexual and abnormal practices". Since he was buried in a mass grave, his remains have never been found.
Less tragic, but still sad in its own way, is the story of the English writer and poet D. H. Lawrence. Among his best-known works is the socially tinged novel Women in Love. Its conclusion echoes Lawrence's own feelings. Although he probably only had gay sex once, he was extremely attracted to men throughout his life. But he tried to suppress his orientation - he tried at all costs to see himself mainly as a "married man". He was not particularly fond of women, but many believe that his hatred of the opposite sex stemmed from his fear of his own femininity. In contrast, openly gay men were supported and their rights attempted to be won by the progressive author of Pygmalion G. B. Shaw and the poet Edward Carpenter. Both were probably gay themselves and also vegetarians.
Proud Rebel
The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde made history not only with his prolific output but also with controversy. A dandy in his own right, he certainly didn't lack self-confidence - he repeatedly had himself immortalised in photographs, and the surviving images show that Wilde was a very eccentric man. In addition to his high intelligence and good oratorical skills, he stood out for his extravagant dress and lifestyle. Moreover, his marriage to the wealthy Constance Lloyd made him financially secure. They had two sons, to whom he was a loving father. But the family's idyll was turned upside down when Wilde met Lord Alfred Douglas, 16 years his junior. But Douglas's father had a problem with the gay romance and took the playwright to court. Wilde lost the case, and apart from the public scandal, his punishment was two years in prison and hard labour. All but a few of his most loyal friends turned away from him. After Wilde was released, he moved to Paris with his health failing and his name changed. There, not only his creativity, but ultimately his life, was extinguished. The former celebrity died destitute and in absolute poverty. But he was not forgotten by subsequent generations.
But there were many, many more queer authors. The tumultuous relationship between the two cursed poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud is well known, and homosexuality or bisexuality can certainly be discussed in the context of the important French poet, graphic artist, theatre director and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, the German writer Thomas Mann, the playwright Tennessee Williams, the novelist Truman Capote, and the representatives of the beatnik movement Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs or Jack Kerouac. And we must not leave out women. Although most of them had an unhappy life and suffered a very cruel fate (the writers and poets Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath both committed suicide), they chose to actively promote and pursue freedom of speech and sexuality - the writer, poet, playwright and translator Gertrude Stein is credited with one of the earliest coming out works, Q.E.D.
