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IdleRhetoric t1_j26azzp wrote

By Frye's definition, I think you have a case. Winston has always struck me as misogynistic - he seems to see Julia as a sex-object, a child, and a lover, but not as a complete, equal human.
And he admires O'Brian on an intellectual level, even when being tortured. Almost as if the latter is his parent, the former his child.

I dislike Frye's definition though. While the book is a strong reinforcer of 1940's heteronormative attitudes and chauvinism, the term homoerotic has the connotation of objectification and sex, which I don't see in the book. Winston may "love" O'Brian as a strong male figure (admiration is the word I'd use), but he doesn't desire him.

So it's a parsing of definitions - I think your idea holds water, but it's much to nuanced an argument to make in a few, short paragraphs. The loaded term of homoeroticism is going to muddy that, as it carries too much baggage, as most commentators have shown.

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