Homoerotic encounters in the fictions of Edgar Allan Poe

Using "The Fall of the House of Usher" as the principal, framework tale, this study illuminates Edgar Allan Poe's fictions from a perspective that focuses on homoerotic encounters. Since few prior studies have been directed at Poe's homosexual content, this thesis gives special attention to the benchmark criticism by D. H. Lawrence, which has long influenced readers' interpretations of sexual relationships in Poe's stories. This inquiry includes gender studies, especially the work of Leland S. Person, as well as queer theorist commentary on Poe and his contemporaries. It also deliberates on the definition of the queer aesthete provided by Alexander Doty and discusses how Poe's characters actually pre-date some assumptions about early appearances of the homosexual male in literature. Additionally, this thesis considers how writers who have been influenced by Poe tend to write texts that routinely provide fertile ground for the queer theorist.