Date of Award
2013
Degree Name
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
John Young
Second Advisor
Jill Treftz
Third Advisor
Alan Gravano
Abstract
This project analyzes three of Bryher's historical novels, while also providing background on the shadowy figure of Bryher herself. Looking at Gate to the Sea, Roman Wall, and Ruan, each serves to represent lesbianism in a variety of coded or metaphorical ways. Various geographical locations or landscapes serve to either represent or depict homosexual desire, and also construct queer spaces for characters to traverse. Limited scholarship exists on any of Bryher's works, particularly that which looks at lesbian sexuality. The genre Bryher writes in allows for a cross-writing of lesbian characters, or gendering lesbian characters as male, and displays awareness of masculinity as a social construct. Throughout each of her novels, Bryher manipulates form to encode homosexual desire and nonheteronormative relationships.
Subject(s)
Bryher, 1894-1983.
Lesbianism in literature.
Women in literature.
Homosexuality and literature.
Recommended Citation
Fedor, Haley M., "Historical Butches: Lesbian Experience and Masculinity in Bryher's Historical Fiction" (2013). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 726.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/726
Included in
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Women's Studies Commons
