Compulsory (hetero)sexuality and queer virginity in Troilus and Criseyde and Sappho and Phao

Abstract

In the field of sexuality and gender studies, the topic of asexuality is often overlooked, especially in pre-modern literature. While pre-modern authors did not have access to the language that we would use today to describe this phenomenon, their understanding of the concept often manifested as a rejection of compulsory heterosexuality on the part of their characters. This study analyses two female characters from Medieval and Renaissance literature—Criseyde from Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and Sappho from John Lyly's Sappho and Phao—and argues that their refusal to enter the sexual economy of their stories until forced is representative of their struggle to resist heteronormative sexuality in favour of living in a state of queer virginity.