Queer(ing) Fantasy: The Lady of Fire

Abstract

Since I was young, I was completely fascinated by everything fantasy. Whether at school, at work, at home, and even out with friends, I would find it relaxing as I drifted away into my own internal world full of magic. This was a way to escape the difficult reality of knowing I would never be accepted by my surroundings. I searched for validation in my own dream world, and with the opportunity to narrate this world creatively, I have noticed how it truly reflects my deepest feelings. I thus asked the following questions: How can fantasy writing portray the different stages of a gay man’s life in a repressive context? How can the fantasy genre play a role in fighting back sexism? How does a fantasy character convey, through the supernatural, pertinent social problems from everyday life? In “queering” this novella, I have explored through fantasy writing, and its concomitant analysis, the stages of a gay man’s life, and the role of shifting gender roles in fighting sexism and other social problems. Queer fantasy literature predominantly centers around LGBTQ+ characters as key protagonists. What is different however in my work is that I have illustrated the different stages of a gay man’s life through a quest of self-discovery forged by the protagonist, a heterosexual female. Ultimately, although there are similarities between my novella and earlier queer fantasy writing, my work is more of an analogy of how the world treats, not only the LGBTQ+ community, but also different marginalized groups that are discriminated against.