Gay subtext?

[Evil Anya]

Originally posted by Enedcolloion:
<STRONG>Tolkien didnt write about sex properly cos he probably thought he would mess up the narrative of the story and as for homosexuality, when it was written it was practically non-exsistent...and the only really "sexual" thing i can think of is the way Gollum "feels" everything and everyone.</STRONG>

Homosexuality wasn't non-existant, it just wasn't talked about. Being gay isn't something that's been recently invented, it's just that people weren't as aware of it and if they were, they kept silent about it because it was highly taboo. People get murdered for their sexuality in this day and age, imagine how bad it was back then.

I don't believe there is any sexual activity implied in the story, but at times it seems to me that Frodo and Sam's relationship is of a romantic nature. I don't think romance is something that has to be sexual, or be specifically gay/straight. However, if someone believes wholeheartedly that Sam and Frodo were making sweet hobbit love then i have no problem with that, I don't think it's ludicrous of them to interpret the story that way.

The line that always sticks out to me regarding Sam and Frodo is when they are in Shelob's lair, after Frodo has been bitten and Sam goes to attack Shelob, "No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts, where some desperate small creature armed with little teeth alone, will spring upon tower of horn and hide that stands above it's fallen mate".

That line always struck me as ambiguous, it could just be referring to their friendship but it seems deeper to me.

To me it doesn't matter HOW they loved eachother, just that they did love eachother. I don't think there is anything dirty about love.

[ December 30, 2001: Message edited by: Evil Anya ]