Gauss 1

Chris Gauss
Mrs. Kneznekoff
ACC Introduction to Literature
24 April 2014
Sex in Naples
People started to try new things in the 1920
'
s especially in the field of sexuality .
People were growing and prospering and they needed an escape for a sexual release
,
so they tried new things
.

People were actually starting to move away from their homes and attend colleges
,
especially young women
, as people actually had time and money with the economy booming as it was
.

“
In fact
,
the decade that witnessed a wholesale movement toward early sexual experimentation was not the swinging sixties but the roaring twenties
.

And it wasn ' t rock and roll
­
originally a term for the sexual act
­
but jazz that got the young people all worked up and in need of erotic release
”

(
Sexton
). As people started trying new things and experimenting sexually
,
people started talking about it .
William Faulkner was one of the writers who made it one of his topics
.
In

Gauss 2

“
Divorce in Naples
,”

William Faulkner uses the characters to address and state his disapprovement on the changing sexuality of the 1920
’
s
.
In
“
Divorce in Naples”
,

Faulkner specifically focuses on the issue of gay relationships .
He uses the character Carl to represent the clean
,
innocence in the world .
He uses the character of George to show the changing in sexuality
.

George had been a man of gluttony and prostitutes all of his life
,
but the times are changing , and the new George is thriving for the young pure and innocent Carl
.
He dances with his love every night
,
and they share everything that lovers share
,
except they never consummate their love
.

George continues to pursue his life of wrong as Carl stays on his ship and learns the bad things of hederosexuality from his crew mates, but stays physically pure
.

“
William Faulkner grew up and began his writing career during a time of great cultural upheaval
,
especially in the realm of sexuality
,
where every normative notion of identity and relationship was being re­examined
” (
Trefzer
).
Criticizers of this short story classify this text as
“
gay fiction
”
and call it what
Faulkner encountered on his first trip to Italy and how he spoke if the new

Gauss 3

experiences in which he encountered
.
Other disagree as
Faulkner talks of sexuality in several others of his writings and writers talk of this and how it was influential in his life in a book named
Faulkner’s Sexualities
.

Criticizers also take in the fact that Faulkner was a quoted Christian
,
“ That I’m probably
– within my own rights
.

I feel that I’m a good Christian
­
whether it would please anybody else’s standard or not I don’t know
.” (
Faulkner
) and why would he continue to talk of such a controversial issue of the day
.

(
Vickery
)