Although a work of fiction, The Well of Loneliness was almost like a memoir for its author, Marguerite Radclyffe Hall, who was herself a lesbian who spent a large part of her dating years chasing women who were married at the time. Like the book's protagonist, Stephen Gordon, Hall was born into an affluent upper class family in the home counties of England, and she had a tempestuous relationship with her mother. Hall read a great deal of the work of Havelock Ellis, a progressive intellectual who published works on transgender psychology and who co-authored the first medical text book about homosexuality. Hall wove these works into the narrative of the novel, introducing them through the character of Stephen's doting father, who reads as much as he can about homosexuality in an effort to try to understand his daughter.
The novel, considered a ground-breaking work of lesbian fiction, centers around the life of Stephen Gordon, a female given a male name by parents who were expecting a boy and therefore named their daughter as if she had been one. From an early age it is obvious that she is an "invert" - the term for a homosexual in Victorian times. She meets and falls in love with Mary Llewellyn with whom she drives an ambulance in World War One but their relationship falters when the couple are ostracized by polite society for their sexual orientation. The novel presents homosexuality as a God-given state and the novel ends with the plea, "Give us also the right to our existence."
The prurient British immediately declared the book obscene and a court ruled that it should be banned because it defended "unnatural practices between women." America was less judgmental and the book survived similar legal challenges, leaving it available for the public to read without any censorship at all. Ironically, the fuss that was made over the book had the opposite effect from that which had been intended; as usual, banning something makes it all the more appealing to the public who want to know exactly what it is that they are missing, and the novel also gave publicity to lesbian women in both England and America who had previously been paid little mind within popular culture.
The book has also caused controversy among its supporters; for example, the novel depicts all lesbian women as mannish and almost all of the characters dress like men, suggesting that female homosexuality and cross-dressing are synonymous. Other critics observe that none of the characters in the book are confident or proud lesbian women; all seem bowed by their sexuality. At times, Stephen is downright hateful about herself and the way that she feels.
Although there are differing opinions about the quality of the writing in the novel, is is widely agreed that it is one of the most influential lesbian fiction novels ever written. Hall wanted to bring about a greater understanding of homosexuality as well as attempt to drag it out from behind the closed doors where society in general tended to lock it. She also wanted to make a stand politically to give equal rights to homosexuals in having their relationships and partnerships recognized.
Radclyffe Hall passed away in 1943, at the age of sixty three, at her home in London.
