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Summary Critical Interpretation - Sex and Sexuality in 1984
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A critical interpretation of 1984 by Sian Norris: sex and sexuality. Used to get 100% in OCR English Literature A-Level.
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Sex, Sexuality and the Alt-right in Nineteen Eighty-Four;Sian Norris
George Woodcock: Winston Smith and Julia set out on an ‘insurrection through passion, through
the undisciplined sexual activity which the ruling party regards as a dangerously subversive
activity’
Rebellion through sexual attraction is one of the most powerful forms of party subversion,
as it’s the one form of passion where the Party cannot regulate one’s thoughts and
feelings.
The Party has to control sexual activity so it can indoctrinate those who are born
“For a modern reader, it contains important lessons of how authoritarian regimes view sex and
sexuality, as an insurgent Far Right attacks women’s sexual freedom.”
George Woodcock: Winston Smith is always ‘seeking to get back to an ancient and more natural
way of life where such things as historical truth, golden landscapes, sexual love and human
idiosyncrasies are once again allowed’.
Julia “represents truth, nature, sex and quirk — through her body [Winston] can live out his desire
to rebel against the Party.”
Julia’s sex and sexuality is antithetical to the Party’s aims and ideologies
Sex and sexuality can be weaponised against the Party
“If the Party slogan is ‘freedom is slavery’, then in Julia and Winston’s rebellion, freedom is sex.”
Julia and Winston can escape the ‘slavery’ of the Party through sexual rebellion
“The one genuine act in Nineteen Eighty-Four is the moment when Julia passes Winston a note
that simply says ‘I love you’. … Julia is fearless and determined in her commitment to her own
desire and emotion. She marks the paper, she expresses her desire, she takes control.”
Words are one of the Party’s most crucial methods of control
o Julia using her own words to express her sexual attraction through words is the
ultimate form of rebellion
“Orwell associates Julia with nature — a common trope that positions women’s sexuality as being
analogous to the natural world, wildness, and instinct.”
Orwell associating Julia with the Pastoral strengthens Winston’s connection with her as
she represents everything that the city he lives in doesn’t.
“The copse where they first make love is drawn in contrast to the grey, dreary mechanical city
that London has become under the Party.”
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