Maurice And Its Titular Hero In The Light Of Queer Theory

Queer theory covers the study on all "non-straight" sex, gender and sexuality. One of its major principles is the questioning of heterosexual hegemony and protest against stereotyped discrimination against homosexuality and oppression on non-straight people, whose beliefs are inconsistent with dominant social norms of sex or gender. But it does not mean to advocate homosexuality as some people misunderstand. In essence queer theory opposes rigid binary opposition of heterosexuality and homosexuality, thus encouraging people to tolerate and accept different gender identitiesBased on the detailed textual analysis of Maurice from the perspective of queer theory as the major theoretical basis, the author in the thesis explores the characterization in Maurice to discover Maurice’s desire and reveal Forster’s protest against rigid gender categorization, and his appeal for the elimination of discrimination against homosexuality and a pursuit of a harmonious world. The analysis of Maurice is integrated with a study of Forster’s homosexual orientation.