The American Byron: Homosexuality and the Fall of Fitz-Greene HalleckHailed in the mid-nineteenth century as the most important American poet of the period, Fitz-Greene Halleck was a close friend of William C. Bryant, an associate of Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, and a celebrity sought out by John Jacob Astor and American presidents. Halleck, an attractive man of wit and charm, was dubbed "the American Byron" because he both employed similar poetic strategies and challenged the most sacred institutions of his day. A large general readership enjoyed his verse, though it was infused with homosexual themes. Indeed, Halleck's love for another man would be fictionalized in Bayard Taylor's novel Joseph and His Friend a century before the Stonewall riots. |
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... city infested with male prostitution . 104 Lydia Maria Child , who had once met a berdache , wrote a story in 1863 , “ Willie Wharton , ” which cautions the title character against becoming a city fop . As Camille Paglia argues the ...
... city provided a relatively relaxed atmosphere for homosexuals . Halleck " felt free and gayer " in the city , telling his sister " how he really felt . . . how social and friendly " New Yorkers were in contrast to Guilford's citizens ...
... City . Meetings were frequent and open " only to those deemed the most handsome and foppish . " Members signed letters under initials such as X and Z and recruited those who were " what the ladies call rather pretty " or the " model of ...