Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Evolving gender roles in society
Evolving gender roles in society
Evolving gender roles in society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Walt Whitman: An Omnisexual Poet
2601 Words6 Pages
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
The earliest western documents depicting homosexuality came from ancient Greece and Rome where same sex relationships were a societal norm and very common. These relationships did not replace marriage between a man and a woman; rather, they occurred before and alongside marriage. They were based on emotional connections or physical attractions and valued as a means of population control (The Homosexual Theme, 2005). Shortly after, beautiful odes began to be written in Persia and Arab lands to wine boys who served men in taverns and shared their beds in the evening.
As the practice of homosexual love became more widespread, poetry became more erotic, celebrating beautiful boys. A similar erotic theme was then seen in the homoerotic “friendships” developed between mal...
... middle of paper ...
...spitals." American Studies at the University of Virginia, 1 September 2009. 1 December 2013.
Robertson, Michael. "Whitman Is Not a Gay Poet." The Quote of the Day. 15 May 2010. 22 November 2013.
Sarracino, Carmine. "Dyspeptic Amours, Petty Adhesiveness, and Whitman's Ideal of Personal Relations." Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 8.2 (1990): 76-91.
Streitmatter, Rodger. "Walt Whitman & Peter Doyle ~ A Gay Poet and His Muse." LGBT-Today. 2013. 22 November 2013.
"The Homosexual Theme in the World Literature (from the Ancient World up to the Renaissance)." The Homosexual Theme in Walt Whitman's Poetry. Gasia Productions, 2005. 24 Nov. 2013.
"Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy." UShistory.org. Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia, 2008. 30 November. 2013.
Wilper, James. "Sexology, Homosexual History, and Walt Whitman." Critical Survey 22.3 (2010): 52-68.
Related
The Comparisson Between Edna Pontellier Character and a Poem
982 Words | 2 PagesWhitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol. C. New York: Norton, 2012. 24-67. Print.
Frances E. W. Harper and James Whitfield
1482 Words | 3 PagesAmerican Bards: Walt Whitman and Other Unlikely Candidates for National Poet. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2010. Print.
A Comparison of Whitman’s Song of Myself with Ginsberg’s Howl
1225 Words | 3 PagesMonforton, Nicole. “Whitman and Ginsberg”. Weblog entry. Blog. 1 December 2010. 2 May 2012 .
Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps
995 Words | 2 PagesWalt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island. His early years included much contact with words and writing; he worked as an office boy as a pre-teen, then later as a printer, journalist, and, briefly, a teacher, returning eventually to his first love and life’s work—writing. Despite the lack of extensive formal education, Whitman experienced literature, "reading voraciously from the literary classics and the Bible, and was deeply influenced by Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, and Sir Walter Scott" (Introduction vii).
Normalizing Homosexuality Through Heterosexuality
1487 Words | 3 PagesThe topic of homosexuality has always been one approached with caution due to its taboo nature derived from its deviation from the heterosexual norm. Traditionally, and across several cultures, homosexuality has been successfully discussed through normalizing the behaviour through heterosexual representation. Gender reversal or amplification of feminine qualities of male characters have often been means by which authors are able to subtly introduce the foreign idea of homosexuality and equate it to its more formal and accepted counterpart, heterosexuality. The works of Shakespeare and Li Yu have assisted in exposing homosexual relationships while still maintaining them under the heterosexual norm, whether it be through direct or metaphorical representations.
Walt Whitman’s Children of Adam
1088 Words | 3 PagesOne poem that Whitman penned without being concerned with offending people is "Children of Adam." "Children of Adam" is a languid, sensual poem that is overtly sexual. As Whitman says in his poem, he is "singing the phallus,/singing the song of procreation.
An Analysis of Sing the Body Electric
1256 Words | 3 PagesWikipedia contributors. "Walt Whitman." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 May. 2014.
Transcendentalism in the Poems of Whitman
2115 Words | 5 PagesStedman, Edmund Clarence. "An Important American Critic Views Whitman." Critical Essays on Walt Whitman. Ed. James Woodress. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1983. 116-127.
Essay Comparing Desire In Sonnet 20 And Byron's Te
2145 Words | 5 PagesThe existence of homosexual desires is clearly demonstrated in Shakespeare's "Sonnet 20" and Byron's "To Thyrza." However, these poets' environment dictated the sexual metamorphosis that enabled them to maintain their sexual ambiguity and protect their anonymity in their respective works. These poems provide a framework to serve the duality that reflected this era in British society; preservation of a nation's preferred orthodox sexual identity, and the reality of its' authors heretical erotic feelings.
Romanticism In William Wordsworth
1407 Words | 3 PagesOne of the most popular American poets is Walt Whitman. Whitman’s poetry has become a rallying cry for Americans, asking for individuality, self-approval, and even equality. While this poetry seems to be truly groundbreaking, which it objectively was, Whitman was influenced by the writings of others. While Whitman may not have believed in this connection to previous authors, critics have linked him to Emerson, Poe, and even Carlyle. However, many critics have ignored the connection between Walt Whitman and the English writer William Wordsworth. A major proponent of Romanticism, Wordsworth’s influence can be seen in Whitman 's poetry through a Romantic connection. Despite differences in form, one can see William Wordsworth’s influence on Walt
‘America’ by Walt Whitman.
1143 Words | 3 PagesWalt Whitman is arguably America’s most influential poet in history. Born Walter Whitman in May 31st, 1819 to Walter Whitman and Louisa van Velsor, he was immediately nicknamed ‘Walt’ to distinguish him from his father. He came to life in West Hills on the famous Long Island, the second of nine children that grew up in Brooklyn. He came to be fondly known as ‘the Bard of Democracy’, mainly because that was a main message in his work. He is also celebrated as ‘the father of the free verse’. He was a liberal thinker and was vehemently against slavery, although later on he was against the abolitionists because, according to him, they were anti-democracy. He managed to marry transcendentalism with realism in his works. His occupation was a printer school teacher and editor.
La paideia homosexuelle: Foucault, Platon et Aristote
3390 Words | 7 PagesABSTRACT: As Michel Foucault describes it, the homosexual paideia in classical Greece was an erotic bonding between a boy who had to learn how to become a man, and a mature man who paid court to him. In many of his dialogues, Plato plays with this scheme: he retains the erotic atmosphere, but he inverts and purifies the whole process in the name of virtue and wisdom. In the Republic, however, Socrates' pupil forsakes this model in favor of a bisexual education for the shepherds and shepherdesses of the State. Aristotle resolutely opposes this move. He thus reverts to a kind of homosexual paideia for the future citizens of his ideal state, but this choice fosters many unspoken problems.
Compare And Contrast Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman
722 Words | 2 PagesHe crossed the boundaries of the poetry literature and gave a poetry worth of our democracy that contributed to an immense variety of people, nationalities, races. Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson (Poetry Foundation). He always believed in everyone being treated equally and bringing an end to slavery and racism. Through his poetry, Whitman tried to bring every people in America together by showing them what happiness, love, unison, and real knowledge looked. His poetry and its revolution changed the world of American literature
Sexology Essay
1005 Words | 3 PagesThe prevalence of sexology literature and scholarship was and remains to be a topic of discourse when questions to the origins of a ‘homosexual’ identity arise. In today’s society, one usually points to the New York City Stonewall Riots in 1969 as the beginning for the recognition of homosexual love and identity. Indeed, this event remains to be an important marker in queer* history, but there are many scholars in various interdisciplinary fields who would instead argue that emergence of homosexuality as an identity stemmed from medical and psychiatric research carried out by German psychiatrists and doctors.
LGBT Subculture
1415 Words | 3 PagesBawer, Bruce. A Place at the Table: The Gay Individual in American Society. New York: Poseidon, 1993. Print.
More about Walt Whitman: An Omnisexual Poet
The Comparisson Between Edna Pontellier Character and a Poem
982 Words | 2 PagesFrances E. W. Harper and James Whitfield
1482 Words | 3 PagesA Comparison of Whitman’s Song of Myself with Ginsberg’s Howl
1225 Words | 3 PagesWalt Whitman's Drum-Taps
995 Words | 2 PagesNormalizing Homosexuality Through Heterosexuality
1487 Words | 3 PagesWalt Whitman’s Children of Adam
1088 Words | 3 PagesAn Analysis of Sing the Body Electric
1256 Words | 3 PagesTranscendentalism in the Poems of Whitman
2115 Words | 5 PagesEssay Comparing Desire In Sonnet 20 And Byron's Te
2145 Words | 5 PagesRomanticism In William Wordsworth
1407 Words | 3 Pages‘America’ by Walt Whitman.
1143 Words | 3 PagesLa paideia homosexuelle: Foucault, Platon et Aristote
3390 Words | 7 PagesCompare And Contrast Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman
722 Words | 2 PagesSexology Essay
1005 Words | 3 PagesLGBT Subculture
1415 Words | 3 Pages