Hey Amanda!
(By the way... what do you make of that plot line with Tony being bisexual... and Alice dumping him when she found out?)
The first time we see that Tony is into men as well is in the beginning, after he has invited Nan back to the theatre to see Kitty’s performance. I believe it was the day when Kitty gave Nan the rose. She walked into Tony’s office and startled him – he was in another man’s embrace and it looked like she had interrupted an intimate moment. What amazed me about that scene was that Nan did not look confused or surprised or upset that she’d caught her sister’s boyfriend in that situation. The more I think on it, the more I realize that she may not have even guessed that what she had seen was sexual in any way. Up till her first night with Kitty, we know that she was not aware that “two girls could go all the way”… I wouldn’t be surprised that it never occurred to her that Tony was bisexual.
It is not surprising to me that Alice dumped Tony when she found out his sexuality. She was homophobic, like most people were at the time. She more or less shunned Nan after she ‘came out’ to her that night in bed (when Nan visited from London). She also said when she found out that Tony liked men as much as he liked girls, it made her “feel dirty”. That says it all, really.
Thinking about Walter makes me think a little bit about the mini-series of Fingersmith and another difficult prominent male character. What's you're take on "Gentleman" from Fingersmith? How much did he understand about Maud from the beginning? I think he figures out her specific attraction to Sue during the watercolor lessons... but, I often wonder if he knew about Maud almost from the first time he met her. I think he's completely stunned about Sue. And, I also wonder about what's meant to be implied between Gentleman and the "shoeshine" boy (the one that seems to have such a crush on Gentleman in a very naive way). Are we meant to believe that Gentleman is gay too? He never seems to indicate real sexual interest in the women for himself... even after the marriage he seems willing to leave Maud alone and proceed with the facade of the marriage very much like play-acting. His entire motivation through the whole thing really seems to be the money (and ego)... at least as far as I can see.
I love that you brought up the subject of Gentleman!
The way I see it, Gentleman was a very talented deceiver, on so many levels. First off, he had to keep up appearances at Briar, fooling all the staff and even Mr Lilly, the master of the house, leading them to believe that he was part of the gentry. Then he had to deceive Sue (and Maud) into thinking that he was on their sides from the start. And the ultimate level of deception – after his death, they found out that he was a drapist’s son named Frederick Bunt, not Richard Rivers as he had led everyone to believe from the very beginning. Amazing just how deep the lies ran, isn’t it?
I don’t know that Gentleman guessed Maud’s sexuality from the beginning. He knew for a fact (and even commented on it) that she was ‘unmoved’ by the content of the books (designed to “stir the emotions”) that she read at her uncle’s readings. He saw that there was something very unusual about her, no doubt. Maybe he picked up some clues along the way, but it all became crystal clear to him during that particular painting lesson; it became obvious that she was lusting after or falling in love with Sue. He even threatened to tell Sue about the infatuation if Maud did not keep up her end of the bargain. I can’t say he was surprised when he found out.
Another interesting thing – on their wedding night at the cottage, Gentleman stumbles upon Sue and Maud making love, his reaction is interesting – there is a look of surprise on his face, he watches them for a few seconds and then leaves them to it. The first time I saw that, I wondered why he didn’t confront them. Then I realized that he was not about to draw that kind of attention to himself. What would he explain to Mrs. Cream (the cottage owner) if she came asking what the fuss was about? It would wreck the whole plan (they needed to appear to be the “young fashionable couple on their wedding night”). So he acted like he had not seen anything. We only find out later that he uses that knowledge to convince the madhouse doctors that his wife (unknowing Sue) was deranged – remember when he told them in Maud’s interview that his wife had made unwelcome advances to her maid (Maud). He used everything he could to his advantage, just like a crafty conman would.
Regarding Gentleman’s sexuality –
In the book, we are told (in Sue’s narration, I think) that in some circles, it is rumored that Gentleman is a “nancy” i.e. a gay man. So I think we are to believe that Gentleman is gay. He definitely indicated no sexual interest in any of the girls, never tried to take advantage of them in that sense. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he was gay, but certainly adds to the point. In the beginning, when he meets Maud at Briar and comes up to her room at night to present her with his scheme, she is startled at first and says something along the lines of: “I know nothing of what I read from my uncle’s books..” to which he says “I haven’t come for that, you can get that at any street corner..” No sexual interest right off the bat. Then on their wedding night, Maud is huddled in bed when he grabs her arm and pulls her up, she flinches hard and then he says again: “I’ve told you I don’t want that.” Still no sexual interest.
And yeah, Charlie (the “shoeshine” boy, as you called him) was completely infatuated with Gentleman (who he thought was a saint, of course =). He was even more keen on him in the book than in the movie. I think Gentleman knew that Charles was sweet on him, but I don’t think he was about to get involved with a little bootboy when he had such big plans on the go, with so much money at stake. Like you said, his entire motivation through the whole thing was $$$ - money!
I love that our discussion of TTV bled into Fingersmith.
Back to Tipping... ~
How about we drift off to Nan and Diana for a sec.
What did you make of Diana, of the 'arrangement' she had with Nan, or of her very open Sapphist lifestyle?
