Product Description

Since the publication of John Boswell's Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, historians have accepted the view that the early Middle Ages tolerated and even fostered same-sex relations and that intolerance of homosexuality developed only late in the medieval period. In this extraordinary study, Allen J. Frantzen challenges this long-held belief, showing that early medieval Christians did not tolerate same-sex acts, and, furthermore, that men and women during this time who preferred homosexual relations pursued their desires in spite of official sanctions. The early medieval period was, Frantzen argues, an age before people recognized the existence--or the possibility--of the "closet."

With its ambitious scope and elegant style, Before the Closet focuses on Anglo-Saxon literature but also includes thoughtful examinations of contemporary opera, dance, and theatre. Instead of the closet, Frantzen employs the figure of the shadow to illustrate the coexistence of homosexual and heterosexual relations in the Middle Ages. He introduces this figure through an analysis of a man's part sung by a woman in operas such as Gounod's Faust and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. He traces the reverse figure--men taking women's parts--in two dances by Mark Morris, The Hard Nut and Dido and Aeneas, and analyzes the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant in Tony Kushner's play Angels in America. Frantzen's wide-ranging study also includes such well-known poems as Beowulf and The Wanderer.

Erudite and provocative, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of sources from the seventh to the twelfth century and traces Anglo-Saxon same-sex behavior through the age of Chaucer and into the Renaissance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1649956 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 380 pages

Amazon.com Review
Historical studies of sexuality and homosexuality are often time- and place-specific. It is a refreshing surprise that Allen J. Frantzen's Before the Closet moves deftly from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to the present and back again, but even the book's subtitle--Same-Sex Love from Beowulf to Angels in America--does not give a clear sense of its breadth and expansiveness. Arguing that John Boswell's critically acclaimed Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality misrepresents the easy acceptance of homosexuality in the early and medieval Catholic church, Frantzen postulates that, while same-sex activity and relationships were strictly forbidden, they existed and manifested themselves in various "shadow" forms.

Frantzen's argument for the existence of this "shadow" homosexuality relies on myriad examples from a wide range of Western culture. From 19th-century trouser roles (male operatic characters sung by women) to Mark Morris's choreography to Tony Kushner's award-winning Angels in America, Frantzen finds correspondences and analogues to far older works of Anglo-Saxon literature such as Beowulf and The Wanderer, along with medieval penitentials (books used by priests to assess the penance for a specific sin). Always enlightening and endlessly provocative, Before the Closet will challenge your preconceptions about both early English poetry and contemporary depictions of gayness. --Michael Bronski

From Publishers Weekly
An exciting account of medieval sexuality? Surprisingly, yes. Loyola University English professor Frantzen brings the "shadows" of same-sex relations ("as closely attached to heterosexual relations as shadows are to their objects") into relief by highlighting their centrality in everything from operatic "trouser roles," in which women dress as men in ambiguous visions of female-female desire, to the dances of Mark Morris, which "offer gay people entertainment and affirmation of the highest order." Turning to his specialty, Frantzen reveals an Anglo-Saxon world much less prudish than we are accustomed to imagining. Where "queer theory" has sought to uncover gay liberation in the past, his "assimilationist" model never limits same-sex desire to genital contact. An engaging and witty guide to tales of cross-dressing saints, legal codes paying much more attention to heterosexual than homosexual misbehavior and references to "Sodom and Gomorrah" less severe than one would expect, he discovers both self-identified same-sex lovers and a culture that allowed them a certain license. Pointing out the nationalist chauvinism of the numerous historians who have labeled William the Conqueror's son gay, Frantzen also makes clear the vast difference between medieval and modern conceptions of sexual identity. Frantzen's marvelous book, concluding with a fascinating discussion of how Angels in America reverses Anglo-Saxon codes of national unification, opens up a world most readers will never have even known was there. It's a difficult topic, but Frantzen's comprehensive, readable and even wryly funny treatment makes this an unexpected pleasure.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Frantzen (English, Loyola Univ.) here attempts to refute John Boswell's classic work on homosexuality in the Middle Ages, Christianity, Social Tolerance And Homosexuality (LJ 6/1/80). Unfortunately, the arguments just don't add up, and Frantzen often disproves his own thesis. Despite his claims of widespread legal and religious persecution, he admits there were no legal statutes against homosexuality until the reign of Henry VIII, more than 300 years later. Where homosexuality is condemned, specifically in ecclesiastical guidelines for priests offering penance, the term used by the blushing prelates is sodomy, which Frantzen concedes could define all manner of sexual indiscretions, hetero as well as homosexual. Added to the unconvincing arguments are disjointed digressions on Tony Kushner's Angels in America and the work of American choreographer Mark Morris, as well as an essay on the author's personal experiences. The strength of the work lies in its well-indexed original sources, and it can thus be recommended primarily for academic collections with gay studies departments.?Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

This review appeared in Publishers Weekly 9/14/98 (p. 9)
An exciting account of medieval sexuality? Surprisingly, yes. Loyola University English professor Frantzen brings the "shadows" of same-sex relations ("as closely attached to heterosexual relations as shadows are to their objects") into relief by highlighting their centrality in everything from operatic "trouser roles," in which women dress as men in ambiguous visions of female-female desire, to the dances of Mark Morris, which "offer gay people entertainment and affirmation of the highest order." Turning to his specialty, Frantzen reveals an Anglo-Saxon world much less prudish than we are accustomed to imagining. Where "queer theory" has sought to uncover gay liberation in the past, his "assimilationist" model never limits same-sex desire to genital contact. An engaging and witty guide to tales of cross-dressing saints, legal codes paying much more attention to heterosexual than homosexual misbehavior and references to "Sodom and Gomorrah" less severe than one would expect, he discovers both self-identified same-sex lovers and a culture that allowed them a certain license. Pointing out the nationalist chauvinism of the numerous historians who have labeled William the Conqueror's son gay, Frantzen also makes clear the vast difference between medieval and modern conceptions of sexual identity. Frantzen's marvelous book, concluding with a fascinating discussion of how Angels in America reverses Anglo-Saxon codes of national unification, opens up a world most readers will never have even known was there. It's a difficult topic, but Frantzen's comprehensive, readable and even wryly funny treatment makes this an unexpected pleasure. (0ct.)