A Scarlet Pansy
This book can be opened with
The astonishing tale of Fay Etrange—republished in its original unexpurgated form
First published in 1932, A Scarlet Pansy is an extraordinarily vivid and richly textured depiction of American queer life in the early twentieth century, tracing the coming-of-age of androgynous Fay Etrange. Born in small-town Pennsylvania and struggling with her difference, Fay eventually accepts her gender and sexual nonconformity and immerses herself in the fairy subculture of New York City. A self-proclaimed “oncer”—never tricking with same man twice—she immerses herself in the nightclubs, theaters, and street life of the city, cavorting with kindred spirits including female impersonators, streetwalkers, and hustlers as well as other fairies and connoisseurs of rough trade. While reveling in these exploits she becomes a successful banker and later attends medical school, where she receives training in obstetrics. There she also develops her life’s ambition to find a cure for gonorrhea, a disease supposedly “fastened on mankind as a penalty for enjoying love.”
A Scarlet Pansy stands apart from similar fiction of its time—as well as that of the ensuing decades—by celebrating rather than pathologizing its effeminate and sexually adventurous protagonist. In this edition, republished in its original unexpurgated form, Robert J. Corber examines the way in which it flew in the face of other literature of the time in its treatment of gender expression and same-sex desire. He places the novel squarely within its social and cultural context of nearly a century ago. Much more than an artifact, A Scarlet Pansy remains a uniquely delightful and penetrating work of literature, resonating as much with present-day culture as it is illuminating of our understanding of queer history and challenging our notions of what makes a man a woman, and vice-versa.
A dizzying mix of low camp and high drama, A Scarlet Pansy is at once laugh-out-loud funny, startling, odd, and ultimately—through the lens of our queer world today—very moving. Robert J. Corber’s insightful and astute Introduction places the novel in a clear historical context while continually highlighting the emotional power and the camp glory of the novel and the erotic adventures of its
—Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States
hero/heroine, Fay Etrange.
A Scarlet Pansy is essential reading for scholars and fans of Anglo-American queer literature . . . To mix metaphors, this forgotten flower is quite a little gem, and Corber’s editorial efforts are worthy of readers’ deepest thanks and praise.—American Literary History
A Scarlet Pansy makes an important queer intervention in the historical record of how to be gay. It is a great pleasure to be brought out into pre-Stonewall gay culture along with the protagonist, and to see this combination of camp and sex.—Nicholas de Villiers, University of North Florida
A Scarlet Pansy is a queer romp of a read. . . Corber’s Introduction is excellent on the nuanced presentation of gender and sexuality in the novel, and he is especially good at locating the text alongside a range of other, more familiar queer novels and writers, from Wilde and Radclyffe Hall to Charles Henri Ford and Parker Tyler.—Modern Language Review
Fordham University Press deserves our gratitude for making available the original 1932 version of A Scarlet Pansy. . . Editor Robert J.Corber stresses in his introduction the novel's importance for both transgender and gay literature.—Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide
Robert Scully is the unknown author of A Scarlet Pansy.
Robert J. Corber (Edited By)
Robert J. Corber is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor in American Institutions and Values at Trinity College.
Preface | ix
Recovering A Scarlet Pansy: An Introduction, by Robert J. Corber | 1
A Note on the Text | 25
Acknowledgments | 27
A Scarlet Pansy by Robert Scully | 29
