In Memoriam

Sexual acts between men were still criminalized in England during the early 1900s. Although the law was rarely enforced, instead used as an add-on crime to incite humiliation or shame in those accused of other offenses, it still caused fear and shame in gay men and children for over four centuries. In Memoriam thus explores the societal stigma that Ellwood and Gaunt face as they navigate their feelings for one another.

From the start, Ellwood and Gaunt both hide their feelings for each other for their entire childhood and even into their time together in the military. Ironically, gay relationships still occur, with Gaunt noting that “what boys d[o] together in the dark [i]s only acceptable if obscure. It [i]s unspoken, invisible, and, crucially: temporary” (13). In other words, everyone knows that sexual relationships are happening, like that of Ellwood and Maitland, but it is kept private and never spoken of. The boys at school casually mention that men who are “sodomites […] ought to be shot” and how the boys will eventually turn to “marriage and respectability and the putting aside of boyish, immature desires” (10, 62). As a result, Preshute mirrors much of society by presenting sex between men as criminal and done only by immature youths or deviants, with everyone turning to heterosexual marriage to fit into society.

In addition to school jokes and shame surrounding gay relationships, there are also the very real implications for gay men that Gaunt and Ellwood experience in the war. When Gaunt and Ellwood write letters while Ellwood is still at school, Maitland desperately asks Gaunt to stop to protect them both. Despite the fact that their letters do not openly express their feelings for each other, Maitland fears their discovery. Similarly, after Ellwood and Gaunt embrace after surviving battle, they are caught by Burgoyne, who immediately sends them on a death mission as punishment. Even the implication of a gay relationship is met with shame, punishment, and even death, forcing gay men to hide their feelings.

The full effect of this social stigma on Gaunt becomes clear through his conversations with Devi, Pritchard, and Maud. When Devi and Pritchard bring up his sexuality in the prisoner camp, Gaunt becomes overwhelmed with anxiety: “Gaunt didn’t know what to do with his face, his hands, he had forgotten how to breathe” (241). Similarly, when Maud suggests a philosopher who argues for gay relationships, “Gaunt’s entire body [i]s numb and tingling. He kn[ows] his mother [i]s somewhere in the house, perhaps within earshot […] Gaunt t[akes] a deep, shuddering breath” (329). The stigma against gay relationships has a deep impact on Gaunt, who—at the very suggestion of his sexuality from three of the people closest to him—is overwhelmed by anxiety.

However, as the conversations with these three continue, there is hope for Gaunt. Devi and Pritchard immediately make it clear that they do not care; to Gaunt’s surprise, “neither Pritchard nor Devi look[] disgusted. In fact, they both look[] just as they always did: Devi, laughing and mischievous; Pritchard, placid and comforting” (241). When Maud has a similar reaction, there is hope for Gaunt and for society, with it becoming clear that not everyone ascribes to the prevailing societal opinion of him. While the novel emphasizes the precarious situation for gay young men like Gaunt and Ellwood, there is ultimately hope through characters like Devi, Pritchard, and Maud.