The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 414 pages and is available in Paperback format. He argued instead that the book was tasteful and possessed a high degree of literary merit. Everyone. [24] Exposure to these ideas leads Stephen to describe herself and other inverts as "hideously maimed and ugly". Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. [53], The understanding of sexuality represented in the novel is considered strictly in binary terms and exists within misogynistic stereotypes that were prevalent when the novel was published. Yet there has been little sustained analysis of the biblical language of the novel. [47] Lesbian journalist Evelyn Irons – who considered Hall's style of dress "rather effeminate" compared to her own – said that after the publication of The Well, truck drivers would call out on the street to any woman who wore a collar and tie: "Oh, you're Miss Radclyffe Hall". [60], In more recent criticism, critics have tended to focus on the novel's historical context,[61] but The Well's reputation as "the most depressing lesbian novel ever written"[62] persists and is still controversial. A detailed discussion of the US trials can be found in Taylor, "I Made Up My Mind". Radclyffe Hall, the pen name of Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall, was born in Bournemouth on August 12, 1880.She was educated at King's College, London, and later undertook further studies in Germany. [138] Ernst obtained statements from authors including Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sinclair Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, H. L. Mencken, Upton Sinclair, Ellen Glasgow and John Dos Passos. [118], E. M. Forster and Virginia Woolf, letter to The Nation and Athenaeum[119], Leonard Woolf and E. M. Forster drafted a letter of protest against the suppression of The Well, assembling a list of supporters that included Shaw, T. S. Eliot, Arnold Bennett, Vera Brittain and Ethel Smyth. Orlando: A Biography (Wordsworth Classics), Dictionary of the Strange, Curious & Lovely, Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution, 'The archetypal lesbian novel, the one whose title, at least, is familiar to everyone' --. Her mother, Lady Anna, is distant, seeing Stephen as a "blemished, unworthy, maimed reproduction" of Sir Phillip. [120] The Well's sentimental romanticism, traditional form, and lofty style – using words like withal, betoken and hath – did not appeal to Modernist aesthetics; not all those willing to defend it on grounds of literary freedom were equally willing to praise its artistry. There was praise for its sincerity and artistry, and some expressed sympathy with Hall's moral argument. Friede invited John Saxton Sumner of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice to buy a copy directly from him, to ensure that he, not a bookseller, would be the one prosecuted. A motor ambulance unit of British women drivers did very fineservice upon the Allied Front in France during the later months ofthe war, but although the unit mentioned in this book, of whichStephen Gordon becomes a member, operates in much the same area, ithas never had any existence save in the author's imagination. [40] It has often been mocked: Terry Castle says that "like many bookish lesbians I seem to have spent much of my adult life making jokes about it", and Mary Renault, who read it in 1938, remembered laughing at its "earnest humourlessness" and "impermissible allowance of self-pity". Stock photography. Through Stephen's final rejection of Mary, ostensibly so that Mary can participate in a heterosexual relationship with Martin and therefore have a more secure life, Prosser surmises that "Stephen affirms her identification with the heterosexual man". Radclyffe Hall's 1928 novel, The Well of Loneliness, is repeatedly described as a "bible" of lesbian literature. [107], James Douglas, "A Book That Must Be Suppressed", Sunday Express, 19 August 1928, Douglas's campaign against The Well of Loneliness began on 18 August, with poster and billboard advertising and a teaser in the Daily Express promising to expose "A Book That Should Be Suppressed". Written in English — 506 pages Stephen is an ideal child of aristocratic parentsa fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Unknown to Troubridge, he added a postscript saying "I am not really anxious to do The Well of Loneliness and am rather relieved than otherwise by any lack of enthusiasm I may encounter in official circles." [138], Cape sold the US rights to the recently formed publishing house of Pascal Covici and Donald Friede. In his decision condemning the book, Sir Chartres Biron called the references to God "singularly inappropriate and disgusting". --Jacket Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-09-18 17:03:05 The Well of Loneliness Questions and Answers. Banned on publication in 1928, it then went on to become a classic bestseller. To make sure these supporters did not go unheard, he incorporated their opinions into his brief. Their marriage is a rather typical one of the Victorian era, with affluent Phillip owning a vast estate called “Morton.” Upon their daughter’s birth, they decide to christen the child Stephen, a name the two had already chosen when Anna became pregnant. [95] Publication, originally scheduled for late 1928, was brought forward when he discovered that another novel with a lesbian theme, Compton Mackenzie's Extraordinary Women, was to be published in September. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection, which Hall depicts as typically suffered by "inverts", … Hall, who had converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1912, was devoutly religious. The narrative voice asks that their contributions not be forgotten and predicts that they will not go back into hiding: "a battalion was formed in those terrible years that would never again be completely disbanded". Although the language and style of writing is a little old-fashioned, it is an easy book to read. "The Mythic Mannish Lesbian: Radclyffe Hall and The New Woman". "Afterword: It Was Good, Good. "'A Writer of Misfits': 'John' Radclyffe Hall and the Discourse of Inversion". [48] Some welcomed their newfound visibility: when Hall spoke at a luncheon in 1932, the audience was full of women who had imitated her look. As Clare Hemmings argues, Mary is merely used as "a means for Stephen to reach her own understanding of the true nature of the deviant’s plight". The novel itself repeatedly alludes to biblical stories, especially the story of Christ. [82] She was also a believer in communication with the dead who had once hoped to become a medium[83] – a fact that brought her into conflict with the church, which condemned spiritualism. For an overview of critical responses and controversies, see the introduction to Doan & Prosser. Anxiety problem. [1], The novel became the target of a campaign by James Douglas, editor of the Sunday Express, who wrote, "I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel." The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity when Quotation from Hall, 388–389. For Douglas the sexological view of homosexuality was pseudoscience, incompatible with the Christian doctrine of free will; instead, he argued, homosexuals were damned by their own choice – which meant that others could be corrupted by "their propaganda". Teenage boy leaning against subway wall at night. Lady Anna denounces Stephen for "presum[ing] to use the word love in connection with...these unnatural cravings of your unbalanced mind and undisciplined body." After deliberating for only five minutes, they upheld Biron's decision.[134]. As she grows up amidst the stifling grandeur of Morton Hall, the locals begin to draw away from her, aware of some indefinable thing that sets her apart. A powerful novel of love between women, THE WELL OF LONELINESS brought about the most famous legal trial for obscenity in the history of British law. There she makes her first, brief contact with urban invert culture, meeting the lesbian salon hostess Valérie Seymour. [2] In the United States the book survived legal challenges in New York state and in Customs Court. Lowther, like Stephen, came from an aristocratic family, adopted a masculine style of dress, and was an accomplished fencer, tennis player, motorist and jujitsu enthusiast. [28], The term sexual inversion implied gender role reversal. It should be MANDATORY that everyone reads this book. None was banned. For accounts of the British trial and the events leading up to it, see Souhami, 192–241, and Cline, 225–267. Hall accepted a £100 advance, but when she and Troubridge saw Kershaw act, they found her too feminine for the role of Stephen. Hall was renowned for her open homosexuality, a subject dealt with in her best-known novel, THE WELL OF LONELINESS, describing the lesbian 'invert' Stephen, was banned on publication in 1928. [163], In 1985, the Mexican writer and social activist Nancy Cárdenas produced a play based on the novel. [138] Customs barred the book from entering the country, which might also have prevented it from being shipped from state to state. Approved third parties also use these tools in connection with our display of ads. [151] Despite advertising that tried to cash in on the controversy over The Well by announcing that Radclyffe Hall was the model for one of the characters,[152] it sold only 2,000 copies. [6] Although critics differ as to the value of The Well of Loneliness as a work of literature, its treatment of sexuality and gender continues to inspire study and debate. Despite the fact that other novels with a lesbian theme had been published in the same year (including Elizabeth Bowen’s The Hotel and Virginia Woolf’s Orlando) The Well of Loneliness was the only one to be put on trial. [106], James Douglas, editor of the Sunday Express, did not agree. No playwright was credited, implying that Hall had written the adaptation herself; it was actually written by one of Kershaw'… She also notes a "level of emotional seriousness and personal engagement one seldom sees" in criticism of. Banned on publication in 1928, it then went on to become a classic bestseller. But after Cape brought forward the publication date, Knopf found itself in the position of publishing a book that had been withdrawn in its home country. Hence, for Stephen's lesbianism to be recognised by the readers in that time, Hall had to deliberately show Stephen "enter(ing) the male world, [...] as a lesbian in male body drag",[58] which simultaneously enabled the feminine women in the novel to demonstrate their lesbianism through "association with their masculine partners". [128] James Melville, appearing for Leopold Hill, took a similar line: the book was "written in a reverend spirit", not to inspire libidinous thoughts but to examine a social question. [94], Three publishers praised The Well but turned it down. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. By 1901 Krafft-Ebing had adopted a similar view. Immediately after this meeting Stephen announces she has decided to settle in Paris at 35 Rue Jacob (purchased at Seymour's recommendation), with its temple in a corner of an overgrown garden. The public skirmish between Hall and Kershaw increased sales of the novel. Wilette Kershaw, an American actress who was staging banned plays in Paris, proposed a dramatization of The Well of Loneliness. On the contrary, they often point out that stylistically, the work is marred by inflated language and stilted dialogue" (125). "[136], It portrayed Hall as a humourless moralist who had a great deal in common with the opponents of her novel. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions. In publishing The Well of Loneliness in 1928, the novelist Radclyffe Hall has been credited with creating the archetypal lesbian novel. Her novel Adam's Breed, about the spiritual awakening of an Italian headwaiter, had become a best-seller; it would soon win the Prix Femina and the James Tait Black Prize. "A Book That Must Be Suppressed". “Do try to remember this: even the world's not so black as it is painted" -Valerie to Stephen (pg. Kent, Susan Kingsley (2001). Then the Chairman of the Board of Customs balked. [99] A review in T.P. Refreshing, too, for a book on the kindle, to find virtually no proofreading errors. At Alec's Bar – the worst in a series of depressing nightspots – they encounter "the battered remnants of men who...despised of the world, must despise themselves beyond all hope, it seemed, of salvation". Above all, children must be protected: "I would rather give a healthy boy or a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid than this novel. [85] When she discovers that Collins, object of her childhood crush, has housemaid's knee, she prays that the affliction be transferred to her: "I would like to wash Collins in my blood, Lord Jesus – I would like very much to be a Saviour to Collins – I love her, and I want to be hurt like You were". Natural and sacred! [8] She had long thought of writing a novel about sexual inversion; now, she believed, her literary reputation would allow such a work to be given a hearing. [34] The Well of Loneliness made sexual inversion a subject of household conversation for the first time. [58], The novel has had its defenders among feminists in the academy, such as Alison Hennegan, pointing out that the novel did raise awareness of homosexuality among the British public and cleared the way for later work that tackled gay and lesbian issues. Newton shows how sexologists of the time, like Ellis, echoes this sentiment, where his "antifeminism and reluctance to see active lust in women committed him to fusing inversion and masculinity". The Well of Loneliness was banned for obscenity when published in 1928. [124] None were allowed to offer their views of the novel. Interpretation from Medd, 241–245, and Kent, 223–224. Stephen moves to London and writes a well-received first novel. Fearing exposure, Angela shows a letter from Stephen to her husband, who sends a copy to Stephen's mother. Some critics see the book as reinforcing homophobic beliefs, while others argue that the book's tragedy and its depiction of shame are its most compelling aspects. When Stephen first travels to Paris, at the urging of her friend Jonathan Brockett – who may be based on Noël Coward[67] – she has not yet spoken about her inversion to anyone. Whoever we are, we tend to see ourselves in her." Biron, 48. He also travelled to Boston to give a copy to the Watch and Ward Society, hoping both to further challenge censorship of literature and to generate more publicity; he was disappointed when they told him they saw nothing wrong with the book. All the way through one just wants to tell Stephen to talk about how she feels, but of course, in those days this was neither possible or advisable. [110], Cape announced that he had stopped publication, but he secretly leased the rights to Pegasus Press, an English-language publisher in France. And when Stephen Gordon reaches maturity, she falls passionately in love - with another woman. Beach. All the characters in this book are purelyimaginary, and if the author has used names that may suggest areference to living persons, she has done so inadvertently. [64] Nevertheless, it continues to compel critical attention, to provoke strong identification and intense emotional reactions in some readers, and to elicit a high level of personal engagement from its critics. He held that the book's literary merit was irrelevant because a well-written obscene book was even more harmful than a poorly written one. 's & Cassell's Weekly foresaw no difficulties for The Well: "One cannot say what effect this book will have on the public attitude of silence or derision, but every reader will agree with Mr. Havelock Ellis in the preface, that 'the poignant situations are set forth with a complete absence of offence. 5.0% of people in Great Britain (2.6 million adults) reported that they felt lonely "often" or "always" between 3 April and 3 May 2020, about the same proportion as pre-lockdown. The topic in itself was not necessarily unacceptable; a book that depicted the "moral and physical degradation which indulgence in those vices must necessary involve" might be allowed, but no reasonable person could say that a plea for the recognition and toleration of inverts was not obscene. The Well Of Loneliness Stock Photos and Images (2,683) Narrow your search: Vectors | Black & white | Cut Outs. Douglas, James (1928). Souhami, 167–168; Munt, 213; Stimpson, 368. This, coupled with Mary's dependence on Stephen, seems to emphasise the supposed inferiority of the feminine to the masculine. Imagine growing up with people judging you and condemning you because you are some not-quite-definably The Well of Loneliness tells the story of tomboyish Stephen, who hunts, wears trousers and cuts her hair short - and who gradually comes to realise that she is attracted to women. He had read The Well and considered it a fine book, not at all obscene; he wanted no part of suppressing it. 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