I now pronounce you Dwarf & Hobbit...oops! - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lalwendë · 05-02-2007, 09:38 AM

I think rather that Tolkien did not include any outwardly gay characters simply because he didn't. Even in the 50s he was operating in a different world - if a writer did include a gay character then he or she would invariably be included to serve a purpose, e.g. to make a point about sexuality (like DH Lawrence) or to point the work up as a 'gay' novel (like Radclyffe Hall). Tolkien's work though was not really 'about' sex or relationships so he had no reason to make sure he included such characters. In contrast today you may find a critic clamouring for such characters just in the interests (irrelevant or otherwise) of 'balance' - in much the way that you find modern critics bemoaning the supposed lack of women in Tolkien's work. Plenty of fiction exists without mentioning any gay characters, any women, any black people, any children etc - it does not mean that they did not exist.

He was not trying to make any kind of point by not including any outwardly gay characters, they simply were not relevant to the story he wrote in the period he was writing. The possibility remains for some characters to have been in the closet (or not in the closet, rather that the issue did not come up as it was not part of the narrative) or for unseen folk in Middle-earth to have been gay.

05-02-2007, 09:38 AM	#11
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I think rather that Tolkien did not include any outwardly gay characters simply because he didn't. Even in the 50s he was operating in a different world - if a writer did include a gay character then he or she would invariably be included to serve a purpose, e.g. to make a point about sexuality (like DH Lawrence) or to point the work up as a 'gay' novel (like Radclyffe Hall). Tolkien's work though was not really 'about' sex or relationships so he had no reason to make sure he included such characters. In contrast today you may find a critic clamouring for such characters just in the interests (irrelevant or otherwise) of 'balance' - in much the way that you find modern critics bemoaning the supposed lack of women in Tolkien's work. Plenty of fiction exists without mentioning any gay characters, any women, any black people, any children etc - it does not mean that they did not exist. He was not trying to make any kind of point by not including any outwardly gay characters, they simply were not relevant to the story he wrote in the period he was writing. The possibility remains for some characters to have been in the closet (or not in the closet, rather that the issue did not come up as it was not part of the narrative) or for unseen folk in Middle-earth to have been gay. __________________ Gordon's alive!