Do Gay Parents raise Gay Children?

There is a topic that I would like to portray in this entry, for I believe I could establish a point regarding the several pieces of work that we’ve read along this semester. Considering the information that we’ve been exposed to during this term, it’s inevitable not to pay attention to this particular topic or subject—whatever—which is present, intrinsically, in Literature: homosexuality.

It is not relevant to expose my opinion concerning this aspect of sexuality because nobody cares—I think—and it is not my intention either to generate a discussion about homosexuality itself—I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, right?  For I must say that it does call my attention that homosexuality is present, intrinsically, in so many literature works.   

To make myself clear, I would like to start portraying this general idea of modernism, which, basically, could be understood like this rebellion of mankind against God. “Thank God” this rebellion was expressed through many pieces of Art, so now we can witness their majesty and beauty. I believe that as part of the result of this rebellion many people, especially artist, were willing to explore and exhibit what was considered to be prohibited and unusual regarding the period of time we are alluding to. From this point, many writers allowed themselves to express their inner thoughts, feelings, convictions and why not say, sexual desires without fear, ignoring any kind of prejudice. The result? The creation of characters and storylines that we’ve been reading in classes.

Ironically enough is that writers who were well-known for having other sexual orientation wrote stories and created characters, portraying homosexuality—maybe not all of them were open towards sharing this private side of their lives but “rumors always has it”; always. Personally, I can understand this fact, considering that Art is a form of expression, and consequently, they were expressing something by doing this, as I mentioned before.  

For instance, let’s start with the author of Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf.  Even though she was a married woman and a person who suffered from nervous breakdowns, it is believed that she had a liberal life—during the 30’s it was speculated that she had an affair with Vita Sackville-West, her eternal lover. Her masterpiece, Orlando, published in 1928, is said to be a biographical novel based on Vita’s life. In addition, for those who may not know, Woolf belonged to the Bloomsbury Group, circle of writers, artists and intellectuals from the Bloomsbury district of London that supported gay rights, women in Arts, open marriages, and other unconventional ideas. 

In connection with the same idea, The Hours, in which Virginia Woolf is also part, but this time as a character, also exhibits the topic of homosexuality through these three characters portrayed by the writer, Clarissa Vaughan, and Laura Brown. Although there are many themes that we could expand on regarding this literature work, the topic I’m mentioning is connected in the way how every character deals with it. Laura Brown is supposed to be a married and unhappy woman, who chooses to accept her reality and face life by abandoning her family. Clarissa is an independent woman with an established life and who doesn’t have anything to hide, given that she has this aspect of her life resolved.  In your opinion, which would be the case for Virginia? Oh! I almost forgot, needless to say, Cunningham has openly talked about his sexual orientation.

Last but not least, there has been speculations concerning Fitzgerald and Hemingway's friendship, pointing out that they were something else than friends. Regarding Fitzgerald, it is believed that Nick, the leading character of his play The Great Gatsby, would be homosexual as well, only if we analyze his personality and consider certain passages of the play that could be read between lines—it’s not my intention though to expand more on this idea, but, would you like to share something?   

I would like to finish my entry by providing an extract of a beautiful letter that Hemingway wrote to Fitzgerald on July 1^st 1925:

(…)I am feeling better than I’ve ever felt—havent drunk any thing but wine since I left Paris. God it has been wonderful country. But you hate country. All right omit description of country. I wonder what your idea of heaven would be—A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families all drinking themselves to death. And hell would probably [be] an ugly vacuum full of poor polygamists unable to obtain booze or with chronic stomach disorders that they called secret sorrows.

Thank you for reading my entry, I’m looking forward to exchanging more ideas with you!

  

The Symbolism of Water in "The Hours"

     One of the themes in Cunningham's The Hours is water. Water, in many forms, is presented by the main characters in the novel. Fears or visions of submersion, overpowering tears and body fluids, visions of deep-sea creatures, aquatic death, and moistened qualities all seep into the pages of this sublime novel. At the same time, it carries a negative meaning. For instance, water creates a shuddering sensation as something clearly to be avoided such as Laura Brown's reluctance to stop reading and rejoin the real world. 

     In the case of Clarissa, when we first meet her she is stepping out of her home in the morning. We watch as she "pauses at the threshold as she would at the edge of a pool, watching the turquoise water lapping at the tiles, the liqued nets of sun wavering in the blue depths" (p. 9). And, as she surveys the streets of Greenwich Village, the metaphor continues: "As if standing at the edge of a pool she delays for a moment the plunge, the quick membrane of chill, the plain shock of immersion" (p. 9). Although this may be reminiscent of a time that the reader may have hesitated to jump into a pool or river on a chilled day, Clarissa is nowhere near an actual body of water. She is simply stepping onto the streets of Manhattan. It is the very world itself which causes this chillly, wet feeling. The water metaphor here symbolizes a lack of warmth and security, an exiting of the place where one belongs. 

      For Virginia Woolf, in the prologue, water is an exit too - even an escape. She walks to a river, fills a pocket of her large coat with a heavy stone, and takes her life by walking into the river to drown. In her final moment "the current wrpas itself around her and takes her with such sudden, muscular force it feels as if a strong man has risen up from the bottom, grabbed her legs and held them to his chest. It feels personal" (p. 5). The water is personified; the water takes life, and despite the fact that she is using it as an escape from the headaches, the voices in her head, the guilt of having failed and becoming a burden to her family; despite all of these things, the water's does not symbolize escape. It symbolizes a loss of presence from the place where she belongs. 

    Cunningham majestically uses these symbolism and meanings in the novel to finally tell us that there was much less water in the life of Clarissa than there was in Virginia's.

Classmates, what do you think of this symbolism? Can you give more examples of water inside the novel? How are the meanings of these other examples? I'm looking forward to read your comments!

Source: http://www.oocities.org/writingryan/cunningham2.html