''The Charioteer'' is a
war novel
A war novel or military fiction is a novel about war. It is a novel in which the primary action takes place on a battlefield, or in a civilian setting (or home front), where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, suffering the ...
by
Mary Renault
Eileen Mary Challans (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983), known by her pen name Mary Renault ("She always pronounced it 'Ren-olt', though almost everyone would come to speak of her as if she were a French car." ), was an English writer best ...
first published in London in 1953. Renault's US publisher (Morrow) refused to publish it until 1959 due to its generally positive portrayal of homosexuality. ''The Charioteer'' is significant because it features a prominent – and positive –
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
theme at an early date and quickly became a
bestseller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
– particularly within the gay community.
[ As it was published in 1953, The Charioteer, though briefly mentioned (p. 152) is not actually discussed in this book.]
Plot summary
This
romance novel
A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...
is primarily set in 1940 and 1941 during the immediate post-Dunkirk period of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
at a military hospital in England during nightly bomb raids and
blackouts. The story's protagonist, Laurie (Laurence) 'Spud' Odell, is a young soldier wounded at
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Winford
Winford is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is within the unitary authority of North Somerset about south of Bristol. The parish has a population of 2,153.
The parish includes the village of Felton whi ...]
just outside Bristol), who must decide if his affections lie with a younger
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
working at his hospital or a
naval officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...
whom he had 'worshiped' when they had both been pupils at an all-boys boarding school and with whom he has suddenly been reconnected.
The conscientious objector, Andrew Raynes, is a young Quaker, as yet unaware of his own sexuality, who is working as an orderly at the military hospital where Laurie is being treated. Ralph Lanyon, who commanded the
Merchant Navy ship which evacuated Laurie from Dunkirk, was Laurie's boyhood hero at school, but he was expelled for a sexual incident with another boy (Hazell). He is sexually experienced and an established member of the homosexual sub-culture of the nearby city.
Laurie must come to terms with his own nature as well as the two different aspects of love characterised by Andrew and Ralph: the 'pure', asexual nature of his love for Andrew; and the sexual satisfaction of his love for Ralph. The novel derives its title from the
Chariot Allegory :''See also the chariot allegory in the Indian work Katha Upanishad, and another in the story of Vajira.''
Plato, in his dialogue '' Phaedrus'' (sections 246a–254e), uses the Chariot Allegory to explain his view of the human soul. He creates thi ...
employed by Plato in his dialogue ''
Phaedrus'', in which the soul (the charioteer) must learn to manage the two aspects of love, the black horse representing the lustful side of love, and the white horse representing the altruistic side of love.
Circumstances eventually force Laurie to choose Ralph over Andrew, giving Andrew up rather than force him into conflict with his religious beliefs and his still-unresolved sexuality. There is altruism on Ralph's side too as he is prepared to sacrifice himself rather than stand in Laurie's way and force him into his own lifestyle of covert sexuality and 'specialisation'. Renault is concerned that homosexual men be fully integrated members of society and do not try to exist in a ghetto of their own making, as exemplified by the party ("part-brothel, part lonely hearts club") at which Ralph and Laurie are reunited. In Ralph, Renault creates a tarnished hero with the potential to be a noble warrior (she alludes to Plato's ''Symposium'', in which a character philosophizes about an army composed of male lovers), whom Laurie, who has not yet lost his youthful idealism, can redeem. The hope is that Laurie and Ralph can build a meaningful long-term relationship rather than a life of only sexual gratification.
Renault had been trained as a nurse and worked for several months at the Winford Emergency Hospital outside Bristol (which had a fairly large contingent of conscientious objectors working as orderlies). The story's wartime setting enabled Renault to consider issues such as how gay men could be valued and useful members of society, to 'make out as a human being' as she expresses it, whilst still remaining true to their nature. Renault's other earlier novels also had gay themes (primarily lesbian) but in her subsequent novels, Renault turned away from the 20th century and focused on stories about male lovers in the warrior societies of ancient Greece. Thus she no longer had to deal with modern gay issues and prejudices, and was free to examine the nature of male love and heroes as the object of love.
Characters
Laurence "Laurie" Patrick ("Spud") Odell: the main character, aged 23; injured at Dunkirk and sent to a temporary hospital in the country – obviously near Bristol (called Bridstow in the novel)
Ralph Ross Lanyon: A couple of years older than Laurie and formerly the Head Prefect at Laurie's boarding school; he was expelled following a 'sex scandal'; joins the merchant navy and then the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a cit ...
during the war and loses several fingers on one hand while captaining the boat that brought the wounded Laurie back from Dunkirk; one of Laurie's love interests
Andrew Raynes: Laurie's other love interest; a young Quaker and
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
who works at the hospital at which Laurie is a patient
Reg Barker: Laurie's friend – another wounded soldier at the hospital
Madge Barker: Reg's wife who has an affair
Nurse Adrian: a nurse at the hospital at which Laurie and Reg are patients
Lucy Odell: Laurie's mother
Michael Odell: Laurie's father, deceased. An Irish reporter who died of alcoholism and pneumonia when Laurie was six.
Gareth Straike: the man Laurie's mother re-marries
Bunny: Ralph's partner and former flat-mate
Alec Deacon: a trainee doctor, friend and ex-partner of Ralph
Sandy Reid: also a trainee doctor and Alec's current partner
Dave: an older Quaker who also works at the hospital and is the unofficial leader of the conscientious objectors working as orderlies; long-time family friend of Andrew. He had, at least, an 'infatuation' with Andrew's father (Bertie) before both of them got married
Reception and critical analysis
David Sweetman, Renault's biographer, notes that some reviewers linked the book to the growing movement for reform of the laws against homosexuality in Britain and 'even drew the support of the Church of England's official newspaper'.
Anthony Slide
Anthony Slide (born 7 November 1944) is an English writer who has produced more than seventy books and edited a further 150 on the history of popular entertainment. He wrote a "letter from Hollywood" for the British ''Film Review'' magazine from ...
noted that ''The Charioteer'' was a
bestseller
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...
within the gay community.
Michael Bronski
Michael Bronski (born May 12, 1949) is an American academic and writer, best known for his 2011 book ''A Queer History of the United States''. He has been involved with LGBT politics since 1969 as an activist and organizer. He has won numerous a ...
called the novel "an outright plea for the tolerance of homosexuals" and praised it as "sincere and well-written."
''The Charioteer'' was not ranked among the top 100 gay and lesbian novels compiled by The Publishing Triangle in 1999. However, the site's visitors voted it their Number 3 (out of 100).
''The Charioteer'' has been almost constantly in print since its publication and continues to influence readers even after over 60 years. and
In 2013 the book was re-issued by Virago Press as one of their Modern Classics series; this edition has a useful Introduction by
Simon Russell Beale
Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
.
''The Charioteer'' was published in Spanish in 1989 – translated by María José Rodellar – with the title ''El Auriga'' and into Greek in 1990 with the title ''Hō eniochos''.
In 2008, a fan created their impression of th
trailer for a (never made) movieof the novel. There is also a considerable number o
'creations' on Tumblrfeaturing ''Charioteer'' characters and quotations.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charioteer, The
1953 British novels
British LGBT novels
Gay male romance novels
Novels by Mary Renault
Novels set during World War II
1950s LGBT novels
Novels with gay themes
Longman books