Possession Theme of Sexuality and Sexual Identity

In the same way that Possession is all about exploring the ins and outs of the little thing we call love, the novel is also fascinated by the mystery of human sexuality. To some extent, Byatt represents sexuality and sexual identity as nebulous, complex, and unpredictable, but in other ways, she represents human beings as falling into the exact same patterns of love, lust, desire, and attraction over and over again throughout history. Sound contradictory? We prefer to think of it as paradoxical—and for that reason totally interesting.

• Does Possession give us any hard evidence that Christabel LaMotte and Blanche Glover were lovers? What hints and clues does the novel give us?
• Possession doesn't give us many details about Mortimer Cropper's sexuality, but if you had to take a guess—after tallying all of the hints, clues, and evidence—what would you say?
• Maud Bailey, Beatrice Nest, Ellen Ash, and Randolph Henry Ash all share periods of celibacy in common (some for longer periods than others), and Roland Mitchell fantasizes about celibacy while he's in his relationship with Val. In what ways are these characters' experiences of celibacy similar and different, and why are they significant to the novel as a whole?

Although Possession usually represents its characters' sexualities with subtlety and nuance, a number of questionable stereotypes seem to lie beneath the novel's surface. It's possible to recognize stereotypes about gay male sexuality (Mortimer Cropper), lesbian aggressiveness (Leonora Stern), and bisexual unfaithfulness (Christabel LaMotte). On the whole, Possession represents heterosexual intimacy as being deeper and more meaningful than same-sex intimacy and desire.

Possession avoids assigning terms like "straight," "gay," "lesbian," or "bi" to the novel's characters, and this is partly because the novel was written and is set in a time when the language of the gay liberation movement was very different from the language of LGBTQ+ issues today.