The lack of non-heterosexual options are at the heart of the third Jamesian tale of literary detection I will discuss, "The Author of Beltraffio" (1884). The sexually claustrophobic culture which James and his characters inhabit are both restrictive yet tantalizingly permissive along the edges of societal parameters (a dichotomy which culminates in the Wilde trials). By permissive I mean opportunities to discuss (and surreptitiously engage in) homosexuality existed to a limited extent. Prior to the Wilde trials, these opportunities are perhaps best illustrated by the life and writings of John Addington Symonds (who, I will argue, strongly influenced the writer in "The Author of Beltraffio"). Symonds is a good example because he illustrates how early advocates of homosexuality found themselves caught in an environment which Michel Foucault characterizes as a place where:

Sexuality was carefully confined; it moved into the home. The conjugal family took custody of it and absorbed it into the serious function of reproduction. On the subject of sex, silence became the rule. The legitimate and procreative couple laid down the law. The [heterosexual] couple imposed itself as model, enforced the norm, safeguarded the truth, and reserved the right to speak while retaining the principle of secrecy . . . . The rest had only to remain vague; proper demeanor avoided contact with other bodies . . . Foucault 3

Considering a culture in which sex is moved into the home and becomes the domain of the conjugal family, it is not difficult to imagine how many late nineteenth-century homosexuals found themselves caught between the expected conjugal role and the emerging homosexual identity. Symonds found himself in the middle of this dichotomy, married to a woman yet advocating tolerance for an alternative love. Given this precursor to our current "Don't ask, don't tell" approach to homosexuality, it is not surprising that scholars such as Edel and Seymour so easily rejected the idea that James had any definable sexuality. If having sex is about reproduction, how could James have been sexual? These imposed models and enforced norms began to come unwound near the end of the nineteenth century when "The Author of Beltraffio" was written. "The rest" of sexuality, as Foucault puts it, began to let itself be known. "The Love that dare not speak its name" (Douglas 58) began to find its voice in a variety of venues ranging from political pamphlets to medical and legal journals.

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick quotes James Steakley as reporting that in 1871 the " 'estimates of the actual number of homosexuals in Germany, [rose] from .002 percent of the population in 1864, to 1.4 percent in 1869, to 2.2 percent in 1903.' " Steakley is quick to admit that " '[t]hese estimates . . . appear astonishingly low in light of modern studies, but they nonetheless document the end of homosexual invisibility.' " (Sedgwick 133). Given the growing number of people who sexually identified outside of traditional parameters, Victorian society found it impossible to contain sex and sexuality within the conjugal home; sex, apparently, was not restricted to parents' bedrooms. The reasons for such a radical change in how people's sexualities were viewed cannot be reduced to any one event or date. However, Foucault's designating 1870 as the "birth" of the homosexual is chief among the important dates and events in the chronology of the emergence of homosexual identity. Foucault's assertion that "[h]omosexuality appeared as one of the forms of sexuality when it was transposed from the practice of sodomy onto a kind of interior androgyny . . . . The sodomite had been a temporary aberration; the homosexual was now a species" (Foucault 43). And with that identity came immediate negative representation by the heterosexual majority. From its first appearance, "the homosexual" was part of both the mental health and legal industries. Such prompt vilification of this new "species," whether medical or judicial, ensured the environment of secrecy and shame under which James and his contemporaries lived.

This new "species," as Foucault terms the emerging homosexual identity, held an almost obsessive attraction for James. His approach/avoidance tendencies in regard to homosexuality are evident in his dealings with Symonds. After the publication of "The Author of Beltraffio" (1884) James writes to his brother that, to the author's amazement, people assume the tale is about Symonds, whom James claims he never met. Not only had he met Symonds in 1876, James found him to be " 'a mild cultured man, with an Oxford perfume . . .' Symonds' perfume was the aura of a homosexuality that [James] was not yet ready to think about" (Kaplan 178). James was, however, ready to think about Symonds' homosexuality by the early 1880s.

In 1884 after a correspondence with Edmund Gosse, who divulged intimate details about Symonds and his charade of a marriage, James made the following entry in his notebooks: " 'the opposition between the narrow, cold Calvinistic wife, a rigid moralist; and the husband impregnated--even to morbidness--with the sprit of Italy, the love of beauty, of art, the aesthetic view of life, and aggravated, made extravagant and perverse, by the sense of his wife's disapproval.' " (Edel, Treacherous 125). The almost literal parallels between Symonds and the author in James's tale, Mark Ambient, are seemingly undeniable by anyone (except, apparently, James himself). James's drawing from Symonds' life can be seen in many aspects of the story, from the disapproving, moralizing wife to Ambient representing "the spirit of Italy" (Symonds most noted work--aside from his tracts calling for tolerance for what was called the Greek ideal--was his definitive work The Renaissance in Italy). Yet when Gosse compliments James for " 'showing great insight into the secret of Symonds' character,' " James bewilderingly states, " 'Perhaps I have divined the innermost cause of j.a.s.'s discomfort--but I don't think I seize . . . exactly the allusion you refer to' " (Edel, Treacherous 125-126). James was " 'devoured with curiosity as to this revelation. Even a postcard (in covert words) would relieve the suspense of the perhaps already-too-indiscreet' " (Edel, Treacherous 126). Based on his correspondence, James seems to be unaware of his use of Symonds, but certain tell-tale clues suggest otherwise.

First, how could James, master of human observation, not see the obvious parallels between Symonds and Ambient? Secondly, as in the preface of The Tragic Muse, James tries to redirect the reader's attention away from his more obvious influences. In the preface to the 1909 collection of short stories in which "The Author of Beltraffio" appears, James claims the catalyst for the tale was a story of "an eminent author, these several years dead and on some of the embarrassment of whose life and character a common friend was enlarging: 'Add to them all, moreover, that his wife objects intensely to what he writes. She can't bear it (as you can for that matter rather easily conceive) and that naturally creates a tension--!' " (James, Author viii). Such an attempt to redirect the reader's attention away from Symonds and toward some long dead author actually raises additional questions. If this author is dead several years, why not simply name him? Further, what were the "embarrassments"? Why does the wife object to the writing? More importantly, why does James's unnamed friend insist that James cannot simply conceive of why, but easily conceive? What about this author's embarrassments make them so recognizable to James? This line of questioning makes a reader wonder what is being left out. What key will unlock the (closet) door?

As we have seen in both "The Figure in the Carpet" and "The Aspern Papers," James's texts communicate on numerous levels. On the surface, the plot of "The Author of Beltraffio" is concerned with the tensions of a British author and his wife as seen through the eyes of a young American. Yet even a cursory reading of the text offers a murky sense of deception which goes beyond the couple's disagreement about literature. Upon closer examination the emotions which circulate through the text (resentment, regret, betrayal, excitement, etc.) seem genuine and representative of how James's characters interact with each other. Yet somehow a piece seems to be missing in the compelling interaction between the characters. From the beginning a reader is drawn into the Ambients' interpersonal struggle which is obviously centered around their son, Dolcino (evident by their power struggle to possess the boy). As the reader's knowledge of the situations builds, he or she is left with an important question: What are the Ambients' (especially Mrs. Ambient's) motivations? James's text is clear on Mrs. Ambient's objections to her husband's writing but less so on why. What in Ambient's bohemian texts does she find objectionable? What could her husband's aesthetic views have to do with their obvious marital strife?

The answer to these questions can be found by investigating what James knew of Symond's marriage. Kaplan notes that James was "[a]ware of Symonds' wife's disapproval focused on his homosexuality, that "hyper-aesthetic" was a polite synonym for homoerotic" (Kaplan 302). "The Author of Beltraffio," unlike the prior tales I have discussed (those dealing with the literary subsuming the sexual), deals with homosexuality.

"The Author of Beltraffio" offers a significantly different experience when read from a queer experience than either "The Figure in the Carpet" or "The Aspern Papers." James's story about the Ambients is not about sexual desire but rather about sexuality, specifically homosexuality. The other two literary detection stories I have examined were concerned with desire which lends itself to a queer interpretation (i.e., a man's desire to discover a literary secret and another man's passion to uncover hidden texts). I have interpreted these stories from a queer perspective and have detailed the ways in which homoerotic sexuality maneuvers within the texts. The homoerotics so pervasive in the prior two stories are not prevalent in "The Author of Beltraffio" (with the exception of the narrator's infatuation with Ambient). Instead of homoerotics, the tale is about homosexuality. The difference is this: homoerotics is the way in which homosexual desire is expressed while homosexuality is simply the existence of such desire. The significance of this distinction is the difference between tales which record homoerotics and a tale which defends homosexuality (a bold stance for a late nineteenth-century writer).

With the understanding that James is discussing homosexuality, and given the strong similarities between the author in the story and Symonds, Ambient does not simply represent "a" homosexual, but rather "the" homosexual. James is not giving the account of a character who is homosexual (like, for example, E.M. Forster's protagonist in Maurice). James is expressing the condition of being homosexual in late Victorian culture. In order to construct this representation, James must provide a character to represent a sexually repressive society. Mrs. Ambient is quickly identified as this vehicle. Just as "hyper-aesthetic" was a polite synonym for "homosexual," "art" serves the same function in "The Author of Beltraffio." Mrs. Ambient proudly states that she is "not artistic" (James, Author 18).

Due to the correlation between homosexuality and art, Ambient reacts negatively when the narrator claims Dolcino is "like some perfect little work of art" (James, Author 21). The narrator associates the young boy with homosexuality and the anxiety which is produced (much like as in "The Pupil") is palpable: "[Ambient] turned quickly in the passage, grasping my arm. 'Oh don't call him that, or you'll--you'll--! . . . . You'll make his little future very difficult' " (James, Author 21-22). James is well aware of the difficulties of being homosexual in a repressed society. Further, Ambient cannot afford to have Dolcino linked in any way to his art (i.e., homosexuality) or his wife (i.e., society) will punish him by taking his son away.

As we have seen in James, a slight difference in interpretation can have an enormous effect on interpreting a work (e.g., Cohen's misplacement of what he terms a "negative mode"). By positioning Ambient as "the homosexual," James illustrates the difference between allowing homoerotics to be expressed and taking a political and moral stance on homosexuality--vastly different activities. By setting Ambient up as both a representation of homosexuality and as a successful genius of an author, James makes an uncommonly strong affirming statement about homosexuality. By the mid 1880s, James has exorcised some of the homophobic demons which haunt both "A Light Man" and "The Pupil." He has moved beyond the lonely and desperate characters of "The Figure in the Carpet" and "The Aspern Papers" to arrive at a point where he can confidently, and positively (if in code) portray a real homosexual identity with its dignities and faults. The tale is, of course, a tragic one. Although James has chosen an affirming portrayal of homosexuality, that sexuality still, however, exists in a hostile environment.

Such an environment ensures a tragic element to any homosexual content. James, keenly aware of this element, weaves a story which is explicit as to who is responsible for the tragedy. James is exceedingly careful not to make the mistake Cohen does--blaming the homosexual for the tragic events which unfold. Rather, James offers Ambient's wife, representative of Victorian culture, as the instigator of their marital trouble and finally as murderer of their child. None of the tragedy of the tale is due to anything Ambient himself has done wrong. He has simply done what writers do. He is punished, by the death of this son, for simply being--as are gays and lesbians.

While the narrators of these tales (all of who express homoerotic desire) can be dismissed by the reader as unreliable, the main homosexual valence in "The Author of Beltraffio," which Ambient represents, is not subject to the reader's interpretation. James tells his reader that Ambient is a genius and he allows his reader to choose which side of the homosexual question he or she identifies with. In essence, the tale becomes an elaborate adaptation of Symonds' pamphlets for tolerance of homosexuality. James recreates the effects of Symonds' pamphlets by writing a story in which homosexuality is represented by a brilliant author whose only negative trait (as judged by society) is that he is an aesthete (i.e., homosexual). This is the secret of Symonds' character for which Gosse compliments James. Although the reader has a choice whether to side with Mrs. or Mr. Ambient, Mrs. Ambient's position represents the unfounded fear and hatred of homosexuality. What reader of literature would support the censorship and literary suppression which Mrs. Ambient represents? To further dissuade a reader from siding with Mrs. Ambient, James makes her into what Edel terms a "Medea-like" (Edel, Treacherous 125) character. She is a rank murderer who allows her son to die rather than have him someday exposed to Ambient's aesthetically charged books.

"The Author of Beltraffio" is not only an elaboration of Symonds' pamphlet material. Like the bulk of James's work, it communicates on numerous levels at once. James's tale of marital strife which ends in the tragic death of a boy whose beauty, James warns, is "too fine and pure for the breath of this world" (James, Author 12) acts as a cautionary tale about trying to build a heterosexual life around a homosexual existence.

James was repulsed by the way Symonds used his marriage as a first line of defense against any suggestions that he was anything but respectable. James characterized him as selfish and perverse for trying to inhabit such obviously incompatible identities. Perhaps James's harsh evaluation of Symonds stems from James's own refusal to engage in a heterosexual facade (culminating in the suicide of Woolson). Although James judges Symonds harshly, the character representing him is treated with far more sympathy. Such a turbulent amalgam of emotions created a strange sense of repulsion tempered with camaraderie between James and Symonds. In the same year that "The Author of Beltraffio" was published, James "express[es] 'the good will' he felt toward Symonds for what he had 'written about the land of Italy,' for which he nourished 'an unspeakably tender passion . . . . It seemed to me that the victims of a common passion should sometimes exchange a look' " (Kaplan 302). Certainly James and Symonds were "victims of a common passion" which James expressed through not only remapping desire but also sexuality.

James's use of the remapping of sexual experience onto the literary raises the level of sophistication in his stories of literary secrets. They are not simply closeted tales of repressed sexuality. Rather, "The Figure in the Carpet" and "The Aspern Papers" are expressions of an eroticism which is anything but closeted if one understands James's complex expression of tangled feeling made all the more perplexing by a repressive culture. In his stories of literary detection, James avoids the obvious (and thus dangerous) conveyances of homoeroticism in favor of a carefully erected construct where literary desire becomes James's avatar of the sexuality his culture will not allow him to express.