The Fine Gentleman, like so many comic theatrical characters between about 16, is supposed to be an overdressed man of fashion, which in the context of the period implies that he is effeminate.
Woodward is shown in the costume of one of his most celebrated characters, ‘The Fine Gentleman’ from David Garrick’s 1740 play Lethe. The ceramic figure, produced around 1750 by the Bow porcelain factory in London, is a portrait of the actor Henry Woodward. Let’s look at two objects which illustrate this idea: a ceramic figure, and a print. 414:135-1885 – Porcelain figure of Henry Woodward as ‘The Fine Gentleman’, c.1750. In the worlds of music, the theatre and visual culture, gayness permeated numerous characters of this type without being explicitly alluded to. In mainstream popular culture, however, the figure of the effeminate, overdressed elite man was the stereotype most commonly associated with homosexuality. Often they were tradesmen, artisans and apprentices – certainly not members of the fashionable elite. It’s worth noting that, in the accounts of police raids on London molly houses, the men arrested were from a variety of social backgrounds.
How were these men perceived? The online records of the Old Bailey are one of the best resources for reconstructing gay culture in this period, precisely because its expression was illegal and therefore likely to end up in court records. In addition to functioning as meeting places for gay or bisexual men, they were also the home of a discreet drag culture, a space for men to dress and present themselves as women. Nonetheless, there was a cautious gay subculture in eighteenth-century London, which centred around a number of taverns known as molly houses. In practice, the more likely charge was ‘assault with sodomitical intent’, which would be punished by a spell in the pillory to bring shame upon the convicted men. The act of sodomy, also known as buggery, was in theory punishable by death. In law, however, sexual relations between men remained illegal. Though his dalliances prompted some satirical poetry, he never seriously faced punishment or social exclusion based upon his sexuality. The British courtier John Hervey was openly bisexual, and is thought to have had indiscreet affairs with the Earl of Ilchester and Frederick, Prince of Wales. Engaging in erotic exchanges with other men, whether physical or ideal, did not ‘make’ a man a homosexual to the exclusion of all other identities.īy the eighteenth century, we can still see some remnants of the earlier tolerance and fluidity, particularly among the elite. However, the concept of gay orientation did not develop during this time. Homosexuality had been acceptable, even fashionable, in ancient Greece and Rome, and Platonic homoeroticism was tolerated during the Renaissance period, especially in Italy. The act of sodomy, on which homosexuality was predicated, changed from something one did, to something one was – i.e., a ‘sodomite’. The notable thing about homosexuality in the 18 th century was the fact that it shifted from an action to an identity. This will be followed by a second post which looks more closely at the relationship between homoeroticism, fine art and connoisseurship in the eighteenth century. In this first blog post, we’ll look broadly at male sexuality in the context of popular culture, particularly fashion and the theatre. Using these objects as a starting point, I’m going to give you an overview of how male homosexuality, effeminacy and so-called sexual deviancy were practiced and perceived in this period.
What I want to show you here is a selection of objects in our collection which represent the changing attitude towards male sexuality throughout the eighteenth century, taking a roughly chronological view of the most important shifts and themes. While in 1700, there was a certain amount of tolerance for effeminacy, and for bisexuality, by 1800 the understanding of what it meant to be a man was considerably more rigid, closely policed, and what we might call ‘heteronormative’ – treating heterosexual desire, and the presentation of that desire, as the default mode of being. In terms of gender identity and masculine expression, the eighteenth century was an important time of transition.