Nameless Offences
Homosexual Desire in the 19th Century
Published on 23. May 2003
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-1-86064-890-8 (ISBN)
Description
Homosexuality became increasingly visible in 19th-century English society and problems related to the "secret vice" and the "love that dare not speak its name" go to the root of Victorian social and cultural history. This book shows how the homosexual "closet" was created. It was not just by the operation of the law and increasing police enforcement but also by the efforts of successive governments, politicians and journalists, and others involved in public debate, to marginalize homosexuality in civil society. The problem of disclosure and the risk of inflaming class divisions in an age of growing homosexual awareness accompanied an appetite for sexual scandal and the danger of blackmail. Prevention of slander and the vilification involved in scandals among the ruling classes were potent reasons to marginalize homosexuality and create the "closet". The Victorian masculine "character" was at issue, as the homosexual scandals of the 1880s exposed the gulf between notions of private and public morality.
Reviews / Votes
'Nameless Offences is a cogently argued and well-written book which contributes importantly to our understanding of the history of the legal regulation of sexual behavior between men in the 19th century...I cannot do justice...to the richness of his historical narrative...[he] has found gems of narrative detail...and woven them into a persuasive analysis.' - Morris B. Kaplan, Associate Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York 'The mainspring of the work is the determined endeavour to explode the idea that homosexuality was silenced throughout the nineteenth century... Well-written, the book makes good reading. Most of all, it offers a lively panorama of Victorian society, seen from a refreshingly new perspective that will contribute to the impetus of Masculinities Studies.' -Gilbert Pham-Thanh, Cercles (France) January 2005 'English Literature in Transition' journal (US based). Review by Roger Luckhurst (Birkbeck College): "Cocks brings a sophisticated, critical awareness to this empirical work" "The book offers extremely valuable evidence and certainly challenged me to revise my understanding of homosexual identity in the study of the fin de siecle." "clearly breaks new ground...a lot of spark"More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations, maps
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-86064-890-8 (9781860648908)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
11/2009
I.B. Tauris
€52.23
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2003
1st Edition
I.B. Tauris
€29.99
Available for download
Person
Dr Harry Cocks is Research Fellow at the Department of History, University of Manchester.
Content
List of maps, tables and figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction: Histories of the Closet? 1 PART I 1. Prosecuting the 'Unnatural Crime' 15 2. Policing Sodomy in the Nineteenth Century City 50 PART II 3. Reading the Sodomite 77 4. Respectability, Blackmail and the Transformation of Scandal 115 PART III 5. 'A Strange and Indescribable Feeling': Unspeakable Desires in Late-Victorian England 157 Conclusion 199 Notes 201 Select Bibliography 227 Index 253