Essay Questions

What are the differing views of Stephen's parents about their daughter's sexual orientation? How does each contribute to her view of herself?

Sir Phillip dotes on his daughter, and so his main view of her homosexuality is that he wants to understand it. He does not even really know that she is a homosexual until he begins to read up on it; he knows that his daughter is different from the other daughters that he sees and wants to know why. His search for answers comes from a place of love; he wants a scientific explanation for her feelings so that he can prove, in a way, that they are perfectly normal.

By contrast, Stephen's mother is a bigot. She has spent Stephen's life being distant towards her because she does not like the fact that she is not the cookie cutter daughter she anticipated. She feels that her homosexuality somehow dirties the lineage and that Stephen is an insult to her husband's ancestry. She also feels that Stephen is going against nature and that she is wrong to call what she feels for another woman love, because it cannot be compared to the love that a man and a woman feel for each other. Her mother is worried about appearances and so what others think is far more important to her than her daughter's happiness.

Stephen feels close to, and loved by her father. This enables her to accept love from others and to see herself as worthy of love. It enables her to give love, and to understand the nature of it. From her mother's attitude she also begins to see herself as different even though she knows that she is the same as other women, even though she is a homosexual. She learns that society is largely hypocritical and so this makes her rather jaded and cynical. It does not really change the way in which she sees herself but it does make her wonder if she can ever love Mary enough to make her truly happy.

Why do some critics feel that Hall's portrait of lesbianism is not an accurate or a positive one?

Some critics feel that the book stereotypes lesbian women and assumes that they are all mannish, dress in a masculine way, and generally have a larger physique than the average woman. There are no characters in the book who are very feminine, or who are delicately built; in short, if the book is to be believed, lesbian women look different from straight women.

Following on from this issue there is also a question about whether the book is really about homosexuality or gender identity, in that Stephen, the protagonist of the novel, wants to be a boy from a very early age. She wants to cut her hair short, dress like a man and highlight her own masculine shape and features. She also takes on a more male role in her relationship with Mary. Critics believe that the book is as much about gender identity as it is sexual identity, but that this is not addressed by name, but dealt with under the umbrella of homosexuality.