Eve Sedgwick and Judith Butler Summary: “The Best in the Closet” (note – page numbers differ from extract in the Lodge) “In her article "The Beast in the Closet," Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick identifies the condition of male homosexual panic, a mental state, socio-­‐historical development and literary tradition, the product of the paradox created by "intense male homosocial desire as at once the most compulsory and the most prohibited of social bonds" (187). Sedgwick begins with a brief historical background, identifying the emergence of "the beginnings of a crystallized male homosexual role and male homosexual culture" (184) as occurring in England before the end of the eighteenth century. As homosexuality became less a theological matter, and more a cultural presence or theme, male homosexual panic developed in response to the new imperative of sexual definition. This panic affects not the homosexual (Sedgwick considers self-­‐identified homosexuals as exempt from male homosexual panic) but the heterosexual or closeted homosexual male, who must negotiate "the treacherous middle stretch of the modern homosocial continuum" (188) ever wary of the "threat" of potential homosexuality. Thus, according to Sedgwick, the development of male homosexual panic and persecution in Euro-­‐American culture colors the entire range of male homosocial bonds that subtend the patriarchal political, social and economic power structures”. Hogg, Chloe, “Chloe Hogg on Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s ‘The Beast in the Closet’.” UPenn. n.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan 2014 <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jenglish/Courses/hogg2.html>. Butler and Performativity: “Butler extends her emphasis on how gender might be the site of ‘performance’, both in the sense of acting the part and also how through ‘performative acts’ we actually become the gender we impersonate” (Introduction, 607) What do these images suggest about gender and its construction? The Magic Toyshop (Notes) Uncle Philip’s control over Aunt Margaret: The dress: “an annihilation of any possibility of prettiness…” (111) ‘for the sake of something to cover herself…chosen for her by Uncle Philip’ (112) Food/Sundays: ‘…helped himself to the lion’s share of the cake while gazing at her with expressionless satisfaction, apparently deriving a certain pleasure from her discomfort, or even finding that the sight of it improved his appetite’ (113) Performativity: “Well, I wish I could see myself. It’s a long time since I dressed up” (142) “‘You overacted,’ he said to Melanie and cuffed her with the back of his hand. ‘You were melodramatic. Puppets don’t overact. You spoiled the poetry’.” (167) Melanie’s dream “She dreamed she was Jonathon. She had been so uncertain of herself all day that she was relieved to find that she was Jonathon. She saw the world the same but different through bottle glasses… He began to flicker; as in a faulty projected film, Melanie found herself superimposed on him… but Jonathon did not care and soon the image of Melanie disappeared… The stage had gone but he did not look back to see where or how” (174-­‐6). Uncle Philip’s secret world – The bedroom: ‘aggressively bare’ (187) / ‘without a mirror’ (188) Bath: ”Melanie never found out to whom the plastic toy she discovered in the bath on her first morning belonged. The evidence pointed to Uncle Philip, but this seemed improbable’ (117) Questions: 1.
Sedgwick talks about "the beast in the closet" – the ‘beast’ represents a homosexual secret that is being hidden/concealed in this ‘closet’, and through this a kind of homosexual panic is created. Do you think there are hidden ‘beasts’ for characters in The Magic Toyshop (not necessarily hidden homosexual thoughts but ‘beasts’/secrets that they don’t wish discovered)? 2.
Judith Butler suggests that “to identify as a woman is not necessarily to desire a man”. In light of this view, consider the relationship between Melanie and Finn. 3.
Sedgwick’s arguments deal with the fact that both "overt discriminations and legal acts of repression" as well as “silences and gaps in representation” (introductory notes) lead to a restricted vision of sexuality. Think of some examples of such repressions and discriminations from The Magic Toyshop. 4.
In relation to the theory of ‘gender performativity’, Butler claims, “gender is an assignment… which is never quite carried out according to expectation, whose addressee never quite inhabits the ideal s/he is compelled to approximate”. How far does this statement apply to Melanie’s situation? Why can’t she meet this ‘ideal’ she had aimed to inhabit?