Hard Times and Heartaches

ABSTRACT

This paper considers recent critical responses to Rad-clyffe Hall's 1928 novel The Well of Loneliness. While Hall's portrayal of mannish invert Stephen Gordon has had a troubled reception in this century, recent work celebrating butch-femme identity and practice has gained the novel wider acceptance among lesbian critics. While these recuperations are significant in working against homophobic readings of The Well, they often overlook the real difficulties Hall described. This paper argues for the historical significance of Hall's work as a reflection of the lived experience of lesbians in a homophobic society.

Key Words:

• Mannish lesbian
• butch-femme
• inversion

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heather Love

Heather Love is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Virginia working on the relation between literary modernism and the formation of lesbian identity.