In his article "The Gay Artist as Tragic Hero The Picture of Dorian Gray" Henry M. Alley discs the central artistic figure Osr Wil's novel, Basil Hallward. As the novel's tragic protagonist, he mands the most py and fear and serv as the most dynamic member of the dramatis personae. Alley ntextualiz his discsn wh Aristotle's Poetics, ntemporary cricism, as well as Wil's own ments. In addn, Alley looks at Hallward's attempt to hi or censor his gay feelgs as parallel to Wil's stggle wh the var versns of the novel. Neverthels, the characterizatn of Hallward celebrat the possible harmony between moral and athetic bety, and, further, to affirm gay love, such as Wil also saw the liv of Shakpeare and Michelangelo. As other crics have poted out, The Picture of Dorian Gray anticipat the tragic end of Osr Wil's own life. Neverthels not enough strs has been placed on the sympathy eliced by the two dramas. Yet, both the artistic tale and the bgraphy, a gay man to a tragic end bee of an admirable attachment to a beg who neverthels would or uld not return the sacred "love that dare not speak s name."
Contents:
- SEX SYMBOL: HOW ANTO BEME A GAY CO WORD THE VICTORIAN ERA
- KG HARALD V OF NORWAY GAY RUMORS?ONLE POLL SHOWS 93 PERCENT DON’T BELIEVE HE’S GAY
SEX SYMBOL: HOW ANTO BEME A GAY CO WORD THE VICTORIAN ERA
* is basil hallward gay *
A new edn of The Picture of Dorian Gray, featurg handwrten notatn om Osr Wil, reveals the extent to which the wrer grappled wh how much homoerotic ntent he should clu his is the first time the origal mancript Wil’s own wrg has been published and monstrat how he self-censored some of the most romantic paragraphs.
KG HARALD V OF NORWAY GAY RUMORS?ONLE POLL SHOWS 93 PERCENT DON’T BELIEVE HE’S GAY
Basil Hallward's character reprents Osr Wil's own gay alter ego. the part of their personaly that admir and is attracted to handsome men. Basil * is basil hallward gay *
He ton down the more overt referenc to the homoerotic nature of Basil Hallward’s relatnship wh Dorian, crossg out his nfsn that “the world be young to me when I hold his hand” the mancript also clus passag – later removed om the novel we know today – that show how Wil wanted to shock his Victorian rears by openly wrg about homosexual feelgs. Even before Wil sent the mancript of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” to the typist, he was hatg over s homoerotic ntent.
”The furor was unsurprisg: no work of mastream English-language fictn had e so close to spellg out homosexual sire.
Many of the gay mors surroundg Kg Harald V of Norway seem to be tied to his obssive attentn to his body, like most monarchs. However the poll suggts that a big majory (93%) of rponnts don't believe that he’s gay. * is basil hallward gay *
Almost overnight, a legend was born: Wil the homosexual martyr, Wil the moral rebel. A nascent gay-rights movement embraced him as a hero of fiance.
When, 1967, Craig Rodwell opened a gay-and-lbian bookstore New York, he named the Osr Wil Memorial Bookshop, and after the Stonewall rts of 1969 Rodwell ed the bookstore’s mailg list to help anize the first gay-pri para. In many major ci, at least, gays and lbians no longer seem to need a safe place the form of a store. And they no longer seem to need the tragiic Osr; the young gays of today n revel the w and wisdom of Neil Patrick Harris.
What will he mean a perhaps not too distant time when homosexualy has ceased to be a nversatn stopper?