November 9: Radclyffe
Hall's The Well of Loneliness,
regarded as a classic of lesbian literature, went on trial in England on this
day in 1928. Johnathan Cape had published the book at the end of July, to mixed
reviews and no immediate outcry. Three weeks later, the editor of the Sunday Express caused a sales rush when he
described the novel as "unutterable putrefaction" and
"contagion," saying that he "would rather give a healthy boy or
a healthy girl a phial of prussic acid." Without being asked (or telling
the author), the nervous editors at Jonathan Cape decided they'd better send
the book to the Home Office for examination; the authorities then began a
series of raids and seizures, resulting in a call to trial. Outraged by these
developments, Hall openly pledged to smash "the conspiracy of
silence" on the lesbian issue, and to defeat censorship "on behalf of
English literature."
Among those who rallied to her support was Virginia Woolf,
though she was moved to do so by principle rather than art: "The dullness
of the book is such that any indecency may lurk there—one simply can't keep
one's eyes on the page." That's from a letter to Ottoline Morrell; the
following is from a playful letter of August 30, 1928 to Vita Sackville-West,
which begins with Woolf complaining that she hasn't been able to concentrate on
her own work:
What has caused this irruption I scarcely know—largely your
friend Radclyffe Hall (she is now docked of her Miss owing to her proclivities)
they banned her book and so Leonard [Woolf] and Morgan [E. M.] Foster began to
get up a protest, and soon we were telephoning and interviewing and collecting
signatures—not yours for your
proclivities are too well known….
Despite her regrets over the book's merits, Woolf was among
those who agreed to speak at the trial. "Most of our friends are trying to
evade the witness box," she wrote her nephew, Quentin Bell, "for
reasons you may guess. But they generally put it down to the weak heart of a
father, or a cousin who is about to have twins." In the end, the presiding
judge declined to hear any distinguished opinions on what he saw as a
straightforward legal matter, and banned the book outright.
Daybook is contributed by Steve King, who teaches in the English Department of Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland. His literary daybook began as a radio series syndicated nationally in Canada. He can be found online at todayinliterature.com.
Subscribe
Email
Print
Share
Please sign in to add a comment on this article.