Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

Nature, human or otherwise is neither natural nor unchanging. Elaborate on this claim using the
insights of one or two theoretical approaches with examples from one or two literary texts.

Defining human nature is something people have been attempting to do throughout the
years and it tends to inevitably result in either the oversimplification or over complication of
something that is arguably too fluid to have one solid definition. One of the main reasons for
this is because the definition of what makes us human has continually changed and evolved
over the years. What was considered unnatural in the past, might not be thought of in the
same way now. This essay will explore the idea that human nature is neither natural nor
unchanging using the insights from Eve Kosofsky Sedgwicks Between Men focusing
primarily on the theory of male homosocial desire, how societal pressures relate to it and
cause people to feel the need to conform to the ideals of any given society. This essay will
also look at parts of theories from Michel Foucaults History of Sexuality, and Sigmund
Freuds Theory of Personalities, with examples from The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dr Jekyll
and Mr Hyde as well as The Ruling Class.

Based on the class structure of Victorian society, it is apparent that this was a society that
had a rigid set of rules and code of etiquette that needed to be adhered to at all times.
Societys willingness to comply with this set of rules would appear to indicate that one of
the things that is a constant in human nature is the existence of a hierarchy within the
society in which everyone has their station in life and within that station they each have a set
of behavioural guidelines that they must adhere to at all times or suffer the consequences of
acting inappropriately. Dr Jekylls creation of the potion that allows him to have a physical
manifestation of the dark side of his personality would be an example from literature that

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

supports this idea. This is because the only reason he creates the potion to begin with is so
that he is able to rid himself of all the unsavoury parts of his psyche, thereby allowing him
to maintain the respectability that his position within society affords him. Because of this, it
is possible to state that the nature of humanity is such that it causes people to go to extreme
lengths to maintain the image of themselves that they present to the world. This then raises
the question, is the nature of humanity grounded in the superficial? Perhaps is it the
importance placed on image and the representation of oneself that is the one main constant
in human nature.

Freuds theory of personalities involves three main ideas: the ego, the superego and the
id. The id is the most basic and primal part of the personality that is driven by pleasure and
seeks the immediate gratification of all desires. The ego partly develops from the id and it
then acts as the part of the personality responsible for dealing with the realities of the world
and ensures that the impulses of the id are expressed, albeit in a socially acceptable way.
The superego is what acts as a conscience, holding the internalised moral standards that
people get from society. As the superego is something that is meant to be the higher moral
standards to which the ego holds itself up to, Victorian society in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
would appear to be the perfect representation of the superego. The reason why the idea of
the superego is important in this case is because the idea of people having to conform to
societal norms is what ties Sedgwicks theory on homosocial desire to the nature of
humanity.

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

Sedgwicks work is primarily focused on male homosocial desire. Homosociality

describes social bonds between persons of the same sex and male homosociality in
particular promotes the interests of men and is often homophobic1. Sedgwicks work
explains three things in particular, and that is that the bond between men is often the
strongest, the woman is a token of exchange and men feel homosexual panic, which could
be a result of societys disapproval of homosexual relations between men. While it was
frowned upon within the society, private male homosexual acts were later on explicitly and
severely legislated against in 1885, when gay sex behind closed doors was made a criminal
offence. This led, most notoriously, to the imprisonment in of Oscar Wilde in 1896.
Sexuality in The Picture of Dorian Gray is shown to be mostly heterosexual as evidenced
by Dorians romance with Sibyl Vane. Perhaps the reason why Wilde never explicitly states
the sexuality of his characters and instead allows the reader to draw their own conclusions
was simply because the rules of society meant that he could not write an openly homoerotic
book. Despite this, the portrayals of sexuality are more ambiguous than anything else as a
result of the homoerotic undertones of Basils feelings towards Dorian and Dorians own
relationship with Lord Henry.

There are many instances of homoerotic subtext in The Picture of Dorian Gray, the
majority of these are within the relationship dynamics between Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward
and Lord Henry Wotton. Perhaps the most obvious example of homoeroticism in the novel
is in the first scene when Basil describes his first meeting with Dorian to Lord Henry:

1Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire, ed.
by Nancy K. Miller (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), p. 1.

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

When our eyes met, I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror
came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere
personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my
whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself.2
While he does not explicitly state whether or not his feelings for Dorian are romantic, it is
clear that Dorian is considerably more than just a friend to Basil and that their first meeting
had considerable impact on Basils life. Furthermore, Dorians own interactions with Lord
Henry can be read in many ways. In one way, Dorian could be seen to have an infatuation
with Lord Henry, but in another it could be argued that their relationship is simply a good
example of male homosociality seeing as their relationship with each other is far stronger
than their relationship with any female character and it is the relationship between these two
men that is central to plot of the novel. Dorians relationship with Sibyl Vane and later Hetty
Merton as well as Lord Henrys relationship with his wife Victoria seem insignificant in
comparison.

Whether or not human nature is something natural, depends very much on the definition
of what is natural and what is not. In Victorian society, the existence of homosexuality was
always considered unnatural. However, surely it can be argued that because of the very fact
that homosexuality is something that exists in humanity, by definition it is part of human
nature and as such it should be considered natural. Michel Foucaults History of Sexuality
states that there was an excessive repression of sexuality within the Victorian society and
that illicit sexuality was not only seen as sinful and unnatural in the eyes of religion but also

2Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray (United States: Penguin Export, 2012), p. 10.

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

criminal in the eyes of the law. The repression of sexuality in Victorian society that Foucault
talks about can be seen in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in a few instances. It could be that as a
result of the repressive nature of the society that he lives in, the more Dr Jekylls forbidden
appetites are repressed, the more he desires the life of Mr Hyde, which in turn causes Mr
Hyde to grow stronger. A queer reading of the novel could also imply that Mr Hyde
represents the perceived hedonism of the homosexual lifestyle and perhaps because
homosexuality was seen as unnatural, that is the reason why great pains are taken to
describe Mr Hydes actions as unnatural and almost inhuman.

Throughout this essay, the argument that has been made regarding human nature and
whether it is neither natural nor unchanging has been focused mostly on the exploring the
facet of human nature that arguably has not changed, which is the existence of a hierarchy
and the rules of etiquette that comes with that. An example of the of humanitys constant
capacity for change however, can be seen in Peter Barnes play The Ruling Class. The play
involves Jack, a possible paranoid schizophrenic with a God complex who inherits the title
of the 14th Earl of Gurney upon the unforeseen death of his father. Jacks family however
who are convinced that he will dishonour the family name are hellbent against allowing him
to keep the title and scheme to have it taken away from him by any means necessary.3 The
ensuing power struggle that occurs as a result of putting a person as unpredictable as Jack in
the middle of an old aristocratic family is the perfect juxtaposition of old Victorian ideals
versus the change of the younger generation.

3Peter Barnes, The Ruling Class (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015).

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

Furthermore, Jacks incredibly unpredictable personality and his ability to change his
desires and mannerisms completely within seconds is the very thing that shows that human
nature at its core is something that is very much dependent on the specific given individual
and is not constant at all. This then comes back to the idea that no two people are ever the
same and that individuality plays a significant role in human nature. Perhaps the accuracy
lies in Oscar Wildes statement that, the only thing that one really knows about human
nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it.4 All of this
would appear to support the paradoxical notion that the only constant in human nature that
can ever be assumed is that it is ever-changing and will continue to evolve over the years to
come.

In conclusion, the claim that nature, human or otherwise is neither natural nor unchanging
can be both proven accurate and argued against depending on specific examples in
literature. On one hand it can be argued that the one unchanging facet of human nature is the
following of hierarchal rules and concern with superficiality, but on the other it can also be
said that throughout history rules and what is considered acceptable within society have
been constantly changing and as such even what is considered natural and unnatural has
changed over the years. Therefore, perhaps the real conclusion is that because the validity of
the statement can in fact be argued either way, the real nature of humanity is that as a result
of its subjective nature, there is no one defining trait to it.
(1855 Words)
4Oscar Wilde, The Decay of Lying: And Other Essays (United Kingdom: Penguin Classics, 2010), pp. 268.

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

Bibliography
Barnes, Peter, The Ruling Class (United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015)

Foucault, Michel, The History of Sexuality: The Use of Pleasure: V. 2: The Use of Pleasure (United
Kingdom: Penguin Books, 1992)

Kelly, Mark G. E., Foucaults History of Sexuality Vol I, The Will To Knowledge, 2013

McGowan, John, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, ed. by Vincent B. Leitch and
others, 2nd edn (New York: Norton, W. W. & Company, 2010)

Muriqi, Luljeta, Homoerotic Codes in The Picture of Dorian Gray, 2007

<http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile> [accessed 22 April 2015]

Raby, Peter, The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde, ed. by Peter Raby, 1st edn (Cambridge,
U.K: Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky, and Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Between Men: English Literature and Male
Homosocial Desire, ed. by Nancy K. Miller (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993)

Stevenson, Robert Louis, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (United Kingdom: Penguin Classics, 2012)

Szanter, Ashley, The Nature of Victorian Homosociality: The Picture of Dorian Gray and the
Prevalence of Male Homosocial Relationships

Maneesha Arasu (Question 12)K1458644

<http://www.academia.edu/8401738/_The_Nature_of_Victorian_Homosociality_The_Picture_of_D
orian_Gray_and_the_Prevalence_of_Male_Homosocial_Relationships_> [accessed 22 April 2015]

Wilde, Oscar, Picture of Dorian Gray (United States: Penguin Export, 2012)

Wilde, Oscar, The Decay of Lying: And Other Essays (United Kingdom: Penguin Classics, 2010)