Abstract
In this paper I discuss the changing literary depictions of "eros of education" in relation to male same-sex mentor-pupil relationships through an analysis of three works from three different periods: Plato's Symposium, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Alan Bennett's The History Boys. The contentious relationship between intimacy (both mental and sexual) and education is a major concern of this paper. Using Rene Girard's theory of triangular desire and a modified version of Girard's original triangle, I trace the development of male same-sex mentor-pupil relationships starting in fifth-century Athens. From Athens I follow the tradition of Platonic pedagogy into nineteenth-century Victorian England, and finally to modern academic depictions, here specifically Thatcherite England. Through a close analysis of each text, in relation to the key concepts paideia and paederasty within a homosocial environment, I conclude that ultimately, while the Platonic pedagogical model is still esteemed, as values and educational aims have changed, there is less and less of a place for it and there is an increasing desire to be distanced from it.
Advisor
Florence, Monica
Second Advisor
Prendergast, M. Teresa
Department
Classical Studies; English
Recommended Citation
Grundtisch, Megan, "Plato Gone Wilde: An Analysis of Same-Sex, Mentor-Pupil Relations in Plato's Symposium, Oscar Wilde's the Picture of Dorian Gray, and Alan Bennett's the History Boys" (2009). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 36.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/36
Disciplines
Classics
Publication Date
2009
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2009 Megan Grundtisch