Septimus's Sexuality

We dedicated a lot of time in class on the topic of Septimus's relationship with Evans and whether or not it's homosexual. I don't completely discard the possibility of Septimus being homosexual as we have already seen an example in Clarissa and Sally, in addition to the similarities Woolf draws between Clarissa and Septimus's suicide near the end of the book. However, I don't think that the stressful situations in the trenches during the war should be used as a primary piece of evidence for this argument of Septimus being gay, perhaps a little side note if used at all.

For me, I just can't see it any other way. During rough times like a war, emotions are most likely running rampant, people don't know what to do, people start to panic. It seems clear as day to me that Septimus was in this position and was looking for someone to guide him. It's only natural, we all do it as well. When we have no clue what's going on or don't know what to do, which can be as simple as being bored, we look towards our friends for help a lot of the time. In situations where you could die at basically any moment friends become much more than just that, they become much more of a family. They mean that much to you because when you lose them, you're going to have to find another person who understands you, who can relate to you in desperate times and there is no guarantee to find the right match when everyone is taught to be emotionless and manly.

When you do find someone that you can trust to guide you, you start to admire them and start to look up to them. You start to want their qualities at times. It doesn't necessarily have to be gay to think that a dude looks good, you just wish you looked as good as him. I think this could be the case with Septimus and Evans and is illustrated by the scene with the two dogs. One energetic smaller dog chasing around a bigger and less enthusiastic dog. One of the dogs already knows the game and has played it several times while the other is just starting and wanting all the answers.

I felt like this argument was the most far out and reaching of all of the other ones we discussed. I mainly don't agree with the examples used to support it. But once again, I don't think that it's unlikely for him to be homosexual.


Comments

  1. 1000gamesSeptember 14, 2018 at 11:44 PM

    It is true that it is a huge possibility that Septimus isn't gay, however, there was one flaw in your argument. who the hell would look good in the middle of a war.

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  2. Nic RamkumarSeptember 15, 2018 at 6:06 PM

    I think this is a really interesting way of looking at Septimus' sexuality. I agree that it could be a bit of a stretch to call Septimus gay given what little we know about his relationship with Evans. The imagery of an older dog and a younger dog could be seen just as easily as a representation of a close emotional relationship between two men. Much of Septimus' story is a critique of the culture of toxic masculinity present at this time (as well as today) and having Septimus have a close friendship with Evans be seen as unmanly would play into this.

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  3. Elizabeth RienstraSeptember 15, 2018 at 9:21 PM

    This is certainly an interesting way of interpreting Septimus's sexuality. In 5th hour, we didn't really talk about his sexuality all that much, so I haven't thought about it nearly as much as you have. But the general reading I got of Septimus's and Evans's relationship was that it wasn't gay. Like you said, it makes much more sense for Septimus to simply be admiring of Evans. Often these feelings can lead into romantic interest, but I don't think that happened with Septimus and Evans.

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