Epistemology of the Closet

Although he is now considered a canonical author, Melville (1819-1891) was not well received as a writer during his lifetime. His prose primarily focuses on man versus nature and man versus self—in fact, female characters are few and far between in his novels and tend to receive short shrift in characterization. His works—including Moby Dick and the posthumously published Billy Bud—are therefore ripe for analyzing through the lens of male sexual identity.

An Irish poet, playwright, and novelist, Wilde (1854-1900) was well-known for eschewing traditionally masculine tropes in favor of gender-bending aestheticism. In dress, decoration, and literary style he exemplified the decadent movement, in which he explored beauty and excess as ends in themselves. In 1895, he was sentenced to two years of hard labor for violating anti-homosexuality laws. After his release from prison, he moved to France where he died of meningitis.

Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philosopher whose work influenced much social and political dogma from the time of its publication to today. He main tenet, that what employs individual identity and social station is one’s comparative competitive will, or “will to power,” echoes Hobbesian ideals. At the same time, he eschewed mass culture, believing it to be a generator of mediocrity. 

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) explicitly explored romantic and sexual relationships in his novels. He didn’t shy away from investigating how a man’s relationship with his mother affects his masculinity throughout his life (as in Sons and Lovers), nor did he ignore homosexuality (most explicitly in Women in Love). During his lifetime he was lauded for his literary expertise but also denigrated as a pornographer. 

A Scottish author who created Peter Pan as a character in his 1902 novel The Little White Bird, Barrie (1860-1937) later adapted the character into a play and a novel. Peter Pan became a cultural icon representing slippage in male identity. 

An American who later became a naturalized English citizen, James (1843-1916) was a widely admired fiction writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Often exploring the clash between European and American sensibilities, his most famous works include The Ambassadors, The Turn of the Screw, The Portrait of a Lady, and The Wings of the Dove.