Nowadays, any type of close same-sex friendship causes speculation about the sexual orientation of said pair. Many members of the media, general public, and especially the academic world enjoy interpreting old literature in ways that frame characters as possessing “taboo” sexual identities. While some interpretations do have their merit, most are too quick to sexualize emotional attachment or enforce rigid gender norms. Many assume that the absence of one kind of sexuality implies the existence of another. Characters who appear to break traditional gender stereotypes, such as the emotionally sensitive male and the emotionally strong female, may be labeled as homosexual. Listed below are some examples of homoerotic subtext in famous literature classics across the ages.
The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous (2700 B.C.E.-600 B.C.E.): In a prophecy, the mother of King Gilgamesh claims her son is destined to befriend a great hero, one that he will “embrace and caress…the way a man caresses his wife.” Enkidu, the man described in her vision, indeed becomes a loyal and beloved companion to Gilgamesh. Bisexuality was perhaps more socially acceptable during this time period, but their relationship may not have extended to a physical level. Whether platonic brothers or romantic lovers, the awkwardness of his own mom predicting the queer relationship is undeniable.
The Bible: Unsurprisingly, the relationship between David and Jonathan has fueled one of the most contentious arguments concerning possible homosexuality or bisexuality. The two men were without a doubt strongly attached to one another, as “the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” In mourning Jonathan’s death (sorry for the spoilers), David laments, “your love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” It seems unlikely that authors of a text famous for condemning same-sex relations would write a love story about two men, but you should read and decide for yourself.
Proponent of the “just friends” version. Proponent of the “totally gay” version.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719): Although shipwrecked alone on an island for twenty-eight years, Crusoe is unconcerned about the lack of physical intimacy he must endure. In fact, he appreciates his separation from the sins of mankind, stating that he had neither “the lust of the flesh” nor “the lust of the eye.” His wife is seldom mentioned, whereas his male companions, such as the ship captain and his manservant Friday, receive the bulk of his compassion. Perhaps Crusoe’s sexual apathy contributes to the metaphor about British colonialism; perhaps Friday had other “duties” as a manservant; or perhaps Crusoe was just a misogynistic jerk who treated women as commodities.
Maria; or, The Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1798 – posthumously): As a novel written by one of the most notable feminists of the time, Maria elucidates the sexual double standard and the corrupt nature of marriage as an institution during the eighteenth century. A possible ending to the novel entails the main character Maria and her friend Jemima raising Maria’s young daughter together. Older literature is generally devoid of lesbian subtext, although some readers will classify any independent, man-hating woman as gay. Wollstonecraft herself was accused of being a lesbian because of her feminist viewpoints, but whether or not these assertions were true remains unclear to this day.
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1887 onward): Hollywood may have turned Sherlock Holmes into a flirt, but the canon Holmes of Doyle’s novels considered most women to be too emotional and illogical, the only exception being the clever Irene Adler. His close friendship with flat mate John Watson has ignited a number of jokes about the pair’s chemistry that would make Doyle roll in his grave, most notably in BBC’s 2010 television show Sherlock. Doyle himself denied the homosexual theory in his autobiography, even going as far as to say he considered Oscar Wilde’s homosexuality a “mental illness.” If he had depicted Holmes as gay, Doyle would have surely faced legal action in the same way Oscar Wilde did for the homosexual undertones of The Picture of Dorian Gray. An alternate, and perhaps more plausible, theory suggests that Sherlock is asexual.
The Great Gatsby (1925): The elevator scene between narrator Nick Carraway and the “feminine” Mr. McKee has led some readers to believe that Nick is bisexual. The two men spend the night together, and not much elaboration is given to what happened between the scene in the elevator and when Nick awakens. He states, “I was standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear.” Despite his many affairs with women, Nick’s attentive and flirtatious behavior toward other men creates seemingly intentional homoerotic undertones.
Whether homoerotic undertones are a reflection of the author’s private life or projections of the readers’ own desires remains difficult to discern, but these character interpretations are entertaining nonetheless. Ultimately, these interpretations help blur the line between the binaries of straight and gay, as well as the feminine and the masculine, urging individuals to embrace a complex, fluid spectrum of sexual and gender identity.