“Hysteria Might Easily Be Misunderstood.” T. S. Eliot and Male Hysteria

Abstract

Gender and sexuality are central to a discussion of T. S. Eliot’s poetry in the article, in order to show the antagonisms between proper and improper desires which are repeatedly revealed in its allusions and citations, as well as the speakers’ various identifications. – Closely connected to errant sexuality is the question of hysteria. It was traditionally described as a (predominantly) female malady, but more recently, hysteria in men has gained much critical attention. Hysteria is often directly linked to sexuality; ergo male hysteria must be in intimate relation with male sexuality. As Eliot’s prose poem “Hysteria” reveals, the tackling of male sexuality through hysteria often moves from an external description to an internal revelation: at first it seems that the male speaker describes hysteria only as he sees it around him (i.e. in the woman accompanying him), but it eventually turns out that he is suffering from the condition at least as much as she. He experiences the woman and her sexuality to be directly threatening him. This significantly affects the man’s perception of his own masculinity and (hetero)sexuality. – Well into the mid-1920s, Eliot’s male subjects appear as victims of unsettling sexuality. His female characters are juxtaposed to characters like the shy, resentful, and somewhat effeminate Prufrock, whose repressions and confessions the article analyses at some length. The clash between a desire that accepts no limits and a desire to conform to socially imposed norms can lead to a split personality, an acute split between the body and the soul, nervous attacks, or echoes of madness. Hysterical symptoms, often reinforced by reminiscences, can be relieved through confession, and the truth, according to Michel Foucault, is almost exclusively sexual. – As the article sets out to demonstrate, anxieties of masculinity (often resulting in hysterical discourses) are never far from Eliot’s writing. Try as he may firmly to constitute a male literary world, the feminine element continually threatens its disruption. Consequently, sexuality in Eliot’s poetry is never unproblematic, especially for its men; indeed, femininity can be seen as the disturbing element that often makes men seem unmanly, effeminate, and close to being described as homosexual.