The Beginning of Queer Literature: The Representation of Homosexuality in Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness and Forster's Maurice

Abstract

The focus of this study is the representation of homosexuality in the English literature of the first decades of the twentieth century. After an overview of the social and scientific background, the works of E. M. Forster and Radclyffe Hall are considered. The choice falls on Maurice and The Well of Loneliness since they can be classified as the first gay and lesbian modern novel respectively. The analysis will firstly focus on how much of the authors’ own biographies can be recognized in the texts. Secondly, the differences and congruencies between the characters in the novels and the official representation of homosexuality are highlighted. Finally, the authors’ attitudes and ideas about the situation of the homosexual community are compared in an attempt to better understand the climate they experienced and the aim of the novels.