Comparing Sexuality In Nightwood And Miss Furr
An analysis of the novel Nightwood, by Djuna Barnes, and Gertrude Stein’s Miss Furr and Miss Skeene, provides us with a method of understanding the representation of sexuality in these examples of ‘lesbian literature’. Rather than engage with these two texts through simple literary appreciation, it is important to interrogate the ways that sexuality can be used as a means for expression, both cultural and personal. An even deeper analysis will reveal the ways in which terms such as ‘lesbian literature’ can lead to oversimplification of literary texts such as Nightwood and Miss Furr and Miss Skeene. These texts fundamentally offer readers insight through the depictions of characters and cultures filled with tension surrounding sexuality. First,
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In a 1919 rejection letter to Gertrude Stein, the editor of the Atlantic, Ellery Sedgwick, revealed his opinion of her work. “Your poems, I am sorry to say, would be a puzzle picture to our readers. All who have not the key must find them baffling, and - alack! That key is known to very, very few” (Conrad 1995, p.217). Sedgwick holds an opinion shared by many, Stein’s work is seemingly incomprehensible. Her use of idiosyncrasies and repetition, often results in the wit and humour of her work being lost on the reader (Blackmer 1995, p.30). Stein’s short story Miss Furr and Miss Skeene is a primary example of her wit, humour, and her representation of sexuality. Published by Vanity Fair in 1923, the short story was accompanied by a succinct plot summary in the form of a subtitle: "The Tale of Two Young Ladies Who Were Gay Together and of How One Left the Other Behind" (Behling 1997, p.152). The text’s introduction comments that the short story “is written in one of Miss Gertrude Stein's simpler manners," allowing otherwise “baffled” readers to enjoy her work (Behling 1997, p.152). Vanity Fair’s attempt to have more readers engage with Miss Furr and Miss Skeene is not unfounded, its style and cadence is one of Stein’s most engaging works. The repetition suits the short story well, as Stein documents the very regular occurrences of gayness between Furr and
In a 1919 rejection letter to Gertrude Stein, the editor of the Atlantic, Ellery Sedgwick, revealed his opinion of her work. “Your poems, I am sorry to say, would be a puzzle picture to our readers. All who have not the key must find them baffling, and - alack! That key is known to very, very few” (Conrad 1995, p.217). Sedgwick holds an opinion shared by many, Stein’s work is seemingly incomprehensible. Her use of idiosyncrasies and repetition, often results in the wit and humour of her work being lost on the reader (Blackmer 1995, p.30). Stein’s short story Miss Furr and Miss Skeene is a primary example of her wit, humour, and her representation of sexuality. Published by Vanity Fair in 1923, the short story was accompanied by a succinct plot summary in the form of a subtitle: "The Tale of Two Young Ladies Who Were Gay Together and of How One Left the Other Behind" (Behling 1997, p.152). The text’s introduction comments that the short story “is written in one of Miss Gertrude Stein's simpler manners," allowing otherwise “baffled” readers to enjoy her work (Behling 1997, p.152). Vanity Fair’s attempt to have more readers engage with Miss Furr and Miss Skeene is not unfounded, its style and cadence is one of Stein’s most engaging works. The repetition suits the short story well, as Stein documents the very regular occurrences of gayness between Furr and