Nineteenth-century England has been extensively explored in order to understand the cultural and social changes took place
with the reign of Queen Victoria. Several writers have considered how the social class
divisions, gender divisions and ethics of the time were. Much has been said about the women’s undermined position in the Victorian era or controversial character of male figure. But, little research has been done about the “effeminacy” of men in Victorian England regarding the social class divisions, rather scholars concentrate on the male-male desire or
homosexuality of men. Work of people like Michel Foucault, David Halperin, Jonathan Katz and Eve Sedgwick tended to focus on the rise of heterosexuality, the deployment of homophobia, and the dissemination of homosexual panic. The in-between status of middle class male of the time is neglected, stayed behind the scenes or these men were easily accepted as the homosexual men.
The purpose of my paper is to analyze the “ effeminate male” of middle class of Victorian England in regard of class divisions and divisions of gender identities with the strict moral codes on sexuality in this era. My question is: “ Why was the Victorian England middle class male effeminate?” In order to answer this, there is the need to evaluate how the concepts of homosexuality and effeminacy are perceived in England in the nineteenth century and how they are related with the class divisions. Under the strange and strict moral codes of the time, it is important to determine in which dimensions the cultural changes were shaped. The social changes of the time were leading to rapid cultural changes, including redefinition of the key terms like “effeminacy”, “homosexuality”, “dandyism”, and “gentleman”. Evaluating the connections of these terms, it is necessary to illustrate the significant features and aspects of life styles of English “gentlemen”, “dandies” and “working class men”, and how they differentiate from each other. Paying attention to the commonness of man to man desire and homosexual male relationships, I will refer to Oscar Wilde as an example. Mainly concentrating on the morals on sexuality and gender identities of the time and referring to some specific regulations with making comparisons between the status of men and women, it will be shown how significant features of Victorian England period caused the male of middle class to be dandified.