As many in our
class have noticed, there seems to be some fondness between Ishmael and
Queequeg in Melville’s Moby-Dick; a
fondness that goes beyond that of friends. Sure, one can look at it say that
it’s an example of brotherly love, but that doesn’t really fit with how Ishmael
described their cuddling. “Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found
Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You
had almost thought I had been his wife.” He also refers to Queequeg’s tomahawk
as being like a baby, cuddling with them in bed. This conjures up images of a
nuclear family. It’s like their the married husband and wife, with the tomahawk
playing the role of the child. “We had lain thus in bed, chatting and napping
at short intervals, and Queequeg now and then affectionately throwing his brown
tattooed legs over mine, and then drawing them back; so entirely sociable and
free and easy were we[.]” This last line appears in a chapter entitled “Nightgown”,
which is a feminine nightwear outfit. By today’s standards, we at least
question whether or not these men are gay, but human sexuality hadn’t yet used
sexuality as an identity.
When Moby-Dick was published in 1851,
sexuality was seen as more of behaviour; something that you do. This all
changed in 1886 when German scientist Richard von Krafft-Ebing decided to
research sexuality from a biological standpoint (Rosario). In his work Psychopathia Sexualis, Krafft-Ebing
hilighted four sexual “disorders”: decreased, increased, precocious or senile,
and perverted sexual drive.
Homosexuality (or psychosexual inversion, as it was called then) was considered
to be “contrary sexual feeling” and was a perversion; a perversion that was caused
by degenerative hereditary and moral insanity. This degeneration was a result
of unhealthy behaviours and/or environments damaging the people’s genes.
With all this in
mind, would the relationship between Ishmael and Queequeg be seen as being well
within the norm? Not exactly. Based on the words used by Ishmael, I think it
still would have been seen as being a little odd for the time. Ishmael is
taking on the gender roles of a woman when it comes to sharing a bed. He’s
being submissive. In addition to the physical aspects, they carry on other couple roles. They carry out idle
chit-chat for hours while cuddling. They end up sharing a smoke. Does this make
them a gay couple? Not necessarily. All it means is that their relationship is
outside that of the norm.
Works Cited
Rosario, Vernon A. "Science and Sexual Identity: An Essay
Review." Journal of the History of Medicine 57 (2002): 79-85.
Jeffrey, I'm glad that you brought a historical context to this discussion; we talked about this the other day in class, but your post provides useful information for class members.
ReplyDeleteI agree that their relationship is outside of the norm. You have some interesting research here that I think makes a good point. The view of homosexuality was much different in the time of Melville and even though it was still considered deviant, there wasn't the stigma surrounding it that there is today. I think that Melville was trying to shock his readers with Ishmael's and Queequeg's "friendliness."
ReplyDeleteA nightgown was indeed a woman's sleepwear, but at this time men were still wearing night shirts even though they were being steadily replaced by pajamas. I think by feminizing the night shirt Melville is making another point on the relationship that Ishmael and Queequeg have. It really is more like a marriage than readers might initially think.