Radclyffe Hall
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| Born: | August 12, 1880 <tr><th style="text-align: right;">Died:</th><td>October 7, 1943 |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s): | Novelist, poet, short story writer
<tr><th style="text-align: right;">Nationality:</th><td>British</td></tr><tr><th style="text-align: right;">Writing period:</th><td>1906-1936</td></tr> |
Radclyffe Hall (August 12, 1880 - October 7, 1943) (born Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall), was a British poet and author of the acclaimed lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness.
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[edit] Life and romances
Marguerite Radclyffe Hall was born in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1880, to a wealthy philandering father and quarrelsome mother. Lonely while growing up (her parents separated when she was a baby and she was virtually ignored by her mother and stepfather), she was educated at King's College, London, and then in Germany. She nicknamed herself "John" (probably after her great-grandfather, whom she strongly resembled), and after inheriting her father's estate at the age of 21, she formally took the name "Radclyffe Hall".
Hall was a lesbian, and described herself as a "congenital invert," a term taken from the writings of Havelock Ellis and other turn of the century sexologists. Having reached adulthood without a vocation, she spent much of her twenties pursuing women she eventually lost to marriage. In 1907 her poetry brought her to the attention of the then 50-year-old Mrs. Mabel Batten, who was married with an adult daughter. Batten (nicknamed "Layde"), and Hall fell in love, and set up residence together after Batten's husband died.
In 1915 Hall fell in love with Mabel Batten's cousin, Una Troubridge (1887-1963), a sculptor who was the wife of an admiral and the mother of a young daughter. Mabel Batten died the following year, and in 1917 Radclyffe Hall and Una Troubridge began living together.<ref>http://www.apurnell.com/wilreadings/Hall.htm</ref> The relationship would last until Hall's death. In 1934 Hall fell in love with Russian émigré Evguenia Souline and embarked upon a long-term affair with her, which Troubridge painfully tolerated.<ref>Hall's letters to Souline were published in Glasgow, Joanne (ed.) (1997). Your John: The Love Letters of Radclyffe Hall. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-3125-2.</ref> Hall became involved in affairs with other women throughout the years, possibly including blues singer Ethel Waters.<ref name="gianoulis">Tina Gianoulis, "Ethel Waters", GLBTQ: An encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, transgender and queer culture.</ref>
Hall lived in London and, during the 1930s, in the tiny town of Rye, East Sussex with Troubridge. She died at 63 (of inoperable colon cancer), and is interred at Highgate Cemetery, London, UK. The vault containing her remains is in the "Circle of Lebanon", half way round from the Egyptian Avenue entrance.
In 1930 Radclyffe Hall received the Gold Medal of the Eichelbergher Humane Award. She was a member of the PEN club, the Council of the Society of Psychical Research and a fellow of the Zoological Society.<ref>Biographical note in the Virago Press edition of The Well of Loneliness.</ref>
[edit] Best known published works
Hall is best known for The Well of Loneliness, the only one of her eight novels to have overt lesbian themes. Published in 1928, The Well of Loneliness deals with the life of Stephen Gordon, a masculine lesbian who, like Hall herself, identifies as an invert. Although Gordon's attitude toward her own sexuality is anguished, the novel presents lesbianism as natural and makes a plea for greater tolerance.
Although The Well of Loneliness is not sexually explicit, it was nevertheless the subject of an obscenity trial in the UK, which resulted in all copies of the novel being ordered destroyed. The United States allowed its publication only after a long court battle. It is currently published in the UK by Virago, and by Anchor Press in the United States.
Radclyffe Hall was listed at number sixteen in the top 500 lesbian and gay heroes in The Pink Paper, September 26th, 1997 edition, issue 500. The Well of Loneliness was number seven on a list of the top 100 lesbian and gay novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999.<ref>The Publishing Triangle's list of the 100 best lesbian and gay novels</ref>
In 1926 Adam's Breed was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
[edit] Quotes
"Let them criticize. Everyone has a right to think and say exactly what they like in this world. If no one took any notice of them slanders would injure no one."
[edit] The Girls of Radclyffe Hall
The British composer and bon-vivant Gerald Berners, also the 14th Lord Berners, wrote a roman à clef The Girls of Radclyffe Hall, in which he depicts himself and his circle of friends, including Cecil Beaton and Oliver Messel, as lesbian schoolgirls at a school named Radclyffe Hall. The indiscretions made in this novel (which was published and distributed privately) created an uproar among Berners' intimates and acquaintances, making the whole affair highly discussed in the 1930s. The novel subsequently disappeared from circulation, making it an extremely rare book among collectors of gay literature. Rumour has it that Beaton bought all the already scarce copies of the book and destroyed them.
[edit] Publications
[edit] Novels:
- The Forge (1924)
- The Unlit Lamp (1924)
- A Saturday Life (1925)
- Adam's Breed (1926)
- The Well of Loneliness (1928)
- The Master of the House (1932)
- Miss Ogilvy Finds Herself (1934)
- The Sixth Beatitude (William Heineman Ltd, London, 1936)
[edit] Poetry:
- The Forgotten Island (London : Chapman & Hall,1915)
- Dedicated to Sir Arthur Sullivan (England : s.n., 1894)
- A Sheaf Of Verses : Poems (London : J. And E. Bumpus, 1908)
- Twixt Earth And Stars (London : John And Edward Bumpus Ltd., 1906)
- Poems Of The Past & Present (London : Chapman And Hall, 1910)
- Songs Of Three Counties And Other Poems (London: Chapman & Hall, Ltd. 1913)
- Rhymes and Rhythms (Milan, 1948)
[edit] Biographies:
- Baker, M. (1985). Our Three Selves. The Life of Radclyffe Hall (New York: William Morrow)
- Cline, Sally. Radclyffe Hall: A Woman Called John (Overlook Press 1999)
- Dickson, L. (1975). Radclyffe Hall at The Well of Loneliness. A Sapphic chronicle (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons)
- Souhami, Diana (1998). The trials of Radclyffe Hall (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- Troubridge, Una (1961): The Life and Death of Radclyffe Hall (London: Hammond)
[edit] References
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