Media Influence On Teens/Women

The Well of Loneliness

Radclyffe Hall was born on August 12th, 1880 in Bournemouth, Dorset, a county in South West England. Though her parents were wealthy, she faced a tough childhood as her father left before she was born (“Hall,” 1). Furthermore, after remarrying, as a result of her mother wanting a “normal” daughter, her mother and step-father paid little to no attention to her. She lacked education from an early age, but this did not prevent her from furthering her knowledge as she attended King’s College in London, and later on attended college in Germany. Although these hardships had a negative impact on her life, they also made her a strong woman which helped her to cope with additional misfortunes later in life.

Radclyffe Hall was a lesbian, although she referred to herself as a “congenital inversion”, a term taken from sexologist Havelock Ellis (“Hall,” 1). She was also a British poet and author of eight novels. Her most well-known and controversial novel “The Well of Loneliness” had a lesbian theme and was banned almost immediately after its release in 1928. This book was way ahead of its time, as it was viewed as having been a “danger to the nation” (“Smith,” 1). Although Hall was a lesbian, this was the only one of her eight novels to have a lesbian theme.

In 1907 Hall met Mabel Veronica Batten at the Homburg Spa in Germany. Batten, whom Hall referred to as “Ladye”, was a well- known amateur singer of lieden, or romantic European songs (“Cline,” 58). Ladye, who was married with a daughter and grandchildren, was fifty-one when they met, while Hall a mere twenty-seven years of age. After the death of Batten’s

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husband, the two fell in love and began residing with one another. Batten, who was Hall’s inspiration, gave Hall the name “John”, which she would come to use for her entire life.

In1915, Hall fell in love with Batten’s cousin, Una Troubridge and after Batten’s death the year after, the two began living with one another. Although their relationship would last until 1936, when Radclyffe Hall died of colon cancer, Hall would come to fall in love again. This time with Evguenia Souline. Troubridge would unwillingly put up with this affair and a few others during their time spent.

It is really unfortunate that even to this day we live in a world of hate. Although times have changed, and equality is slowly becoming more and more of an issue, there are still those who think that others are sub-par. This was the instance in “The Well of Loneliness”.

This novel was a portrayal of Radclyffe Hall’s life. It was written to display lesbianism as being natural and as a plea for tolerance at a time where there was none. Sigmund Freud’s studies on lesbianism at the time proved that homosexuality did not need to be cured, and was not a disorder as was previously thought by sexologists at the time. This did not change the public’s opinion on homosexuality as Stephen Gordon would come to know.

Growing up, Stephen Gordon felt that she was different from the other girls, as she and they had nothing in common. Feelings of loneliness were the commonplace, and she was frequently disgruntled as she thought many other girls were talking about her, mostly her appearance, which was often true. Her mother had shunned her when she learned of her sexual preference, so aside from a couple of friends, and her relationship partners, she had no one on her side that understood her.

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At the time all this was occurring, homosexuality was misunderstood by many and was still a new idea that had been thrown onto the scene. It was seen as being bizarre, disgusting and nonsensical. Although many views on homosexuality have not changed today, it is much more accepted in our society. Ever since the civil rights era, the country has been thriving for equality and we have advanced significantly in doing so. Homosexuality is still somewhat looked down upon today,

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