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Late Victorian Sexuality and Spiritualism: the Place of the Paranormal in Queer Erotic Partnerships Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2018 Late Victorian Sexuality and Spiritualism: The Place of the Paranormal in Queer Erotic Partnerships Sharon E. Kelly Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Kelly, Sharon E., "Late Victorian Sexuality and Spiritualism: The Place of the Paranormal in Queer Erotic Partnerships" (2018). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5960. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5960 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Late Victorian Sexuality and Spiritualism: The Place of the Paranormal in Queer Erotic Partnerships Sharon E. Kelly Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Literature Dennis Allen, Ph.D., Chair John Lamb, Ph.D. Lisa Weihman, Ph.D. Ryan Claycomb, Ph.D. Lisa DiBartolomeo, Ph.D. Department of English Morgantown, West Virginia 2018 Keywords: Victorian, fin de siècle, Queer Theory, Sexuality Studies, Identity, Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Possession Copyright 2018 Sharon E. Kelly ABSTRACT Late Victorian Sexuality and Spiritualism: The Place of the Paranormal in Queer Erotic Partnerships Sharon E. Kelly This dissertation argues that fin de siècle navigations of emerging categories of sexual identity were partially expressed in literary representations of supernatural connections, transformations, events, and practices. I build on Sexuality Studies and Queer Theory foundations by such scholars as Foucault, Halberstam, and Warner along with New Historicist scholarship about spiritualism in the nineteenth century to examine the connections between aberrant erotic desires and alternative forms of spirituality. Through readings of the anonymous Teleny (1893), Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Richard Marsh’s The Beetle, and the poetry of Michael Field, I assert that queer sexual identities and acts, unspeakable, unfixed, and nebulous in the late Victorian years, were supported, represented, and navigated in these works through the use of spiritualism of various kinds. I conclude my project by examining how the Neo-Victorian Showtime series Penny Dreadful (2014-2016) reshapes Victorian practices into a new resource for the modern LGBTQ+ community, demonstrating the continuing importance of spiritualism and sexual desire in non-traditional identity and relationship building. iii Acknowledgements To Dennis Allen, whose humor, frankness, and guidance have helped me through the PhD process both intellectually and emotionally. I am so grateful to have had such a down-to- earth mentor whose levity made this whole process as enjoyable as it could have been. Thanks, D, for helping me realize I can do theory, and that scholarship can be fun. To my committee: John Lamb, Lisa Weihman, Ryan Claycomb, and Lisa DiBartolomeo. Your varied expertise helped push me beyond the center of the Venn diagram of our interests, and this project is the stronger for it. You encouraged me to think of new things and in new ways, polished my prose, and helped me identify patterns and habits in my writing. Thanks for celebrating my strengths and helping me improve my weaknesses. To WVU’s English Department, whose Graduate Teaching Assistant positions and Ludlum Doctoral Fellowship award financed my professional development and my research. To Danielle Petrak, whose chance call for applications from the English department led me to five summers with the Watts Museum and a wonderful friendship. I’m so thankful for how flexible you were as a boss and how enthusiastic you’ve always been about my work. I hope I can be as supportive of your PhD program as you were of mine. To Dr. Valerie Ann Surrett, who constantly inspires me with her composure and professionalism, her fun research interests, and ability to juggle life and scholarship. Our crafternoons have kept me sane, and I’m so glad we were put in G23 together all those years ago. To Maria Barron, whose other Victorian interests made for some wild conversations about sex, magic, trauma, and country houses. Your contemporary popular lit recommendations are always stellar, and helped me stay balanced while I worked on this dissertation. From the beginning of our program and coursework, when we were roommates, lifting buddies, and cackling banshees in the classroom, through the dissertation process and planning a wedding, you’ve been my rock. Thanks. To Rebecca Norton, who was always curious about my research and willing to listen to me ramble about the most recent cool thing I read. RAN, our love inspired Chapter 4. To my sister Susan, whose perspectives on LGBTQ issues and language has been invaluable, and whose insightful and probing questions about Queer Theory have helped me understand it and her and myself a little better. Thanks, Sus, for helping me be a better person, and for encouraging me to bring my academic interests more directly into conversation with daily life. iv To my parents, Donna and Phil, without whose support I would not have been able to complete this project. Thank you for the emotional, intellectual, and sometimes financial boost—you have always been there for me, no matter which I needed. Thank you for understanding when work didn’t allow me to come home for a visit, and thank you for always welcoming me home when it was possible. Thank you for your confidence, and for sharing in my joy. Read this at your own risk. To my husband, John. We met while I was in coursework, moved in together when I was preparing for book list exams, and planned a wedding in the middle of my dissertation—I’m so excited to see where life takes us now. Thank you for your eternal patience when I had intense writing days and was completely anti-social. Thank you for listening to me talk about gay sex and mesmerism and all sorts of things. Thank you for good-naturedly promising to read The Beetle and everything else I told you you just absolutely must read. Thank you for feeding me, and for supporting us financially. Thank you for your unconditional love and for always being “impressed, but not surprised” by my accomplishments—thanks for your confidence in me. v Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Sex and Magic Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................30 Teleny, Telepathy, and the Gay Counterpublic Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................................75 Possession and The Picture of Dorian Gray: “The Terrible Pleasure of a Double Life” Chapter 3 ....................................................................................................................................112 The Beetle’s Mesmeric Language of Queer Desire Chapter 4 ....................................................................................................................................146 The Aesthetic Marriage of Michael Field Chapter 5 ....................................................................................................................................186 Identity in Penny Dreadful: “Without Limits” Epilogue ......................................................................................................................................223 Have a Cigarette Works Cited ................................................................................................................................235 1 INTRODUCTION: SEX AND MAGIC “Then—in the very midst of my vision—the pianist turned his head and cast one long, lingering, slumberous look at me, and our glances met again. But was he the pianist, was it Antinoüs, or rather, was he not one of those two angels which God sent to Lot? Anyhow, the irresistible charm of his beauty was such that I was quite overcome by it” (Teleny 7). Thus says Des Grieux, in describing his first encounter with the musician Teleny, shortly before he and the piano’s tune climax together in mystical union. Teleny’s inspired playing is “entrancing,” “enthralling,” and has a “sensual element” that causes the vision Des Grieux describes above (5). Because “a latent spell […] pervades every song,” Des Grieux can experience an erotic crescendo along with Teleny’s musical one, but he is unsure what, exactly, holds power over him. Des Grieux narrates, “I was spell-bound; yet I could hardly tell whether it was with the composition, the execution, or the player himself” (6). Teleny, the anonymously-published gay erotic novel of 1893, explores the question of being “spell-bound” by same-sex desire as Des Grieux
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