Lovecraft's Sexuality: Part Two

First, I hope that I am long dead before people start psychoanalyzng me. :)

The query here is that while Lovecraft was clearly (in my opionon) heterosexual, he seemed not to have passion or want sex like many people do. Even in his day, with Victorian mores (or Edwardian mores) people did have sex drives. The Hollywood tanloids of the 20's and 30's clearly show that people cared deeply about their sexuality and their urges. They were not quite as explicit as the swinging 60's or the Me Decade, but they did have deep energies.

I found the information at www.asexuality.org of interest in thinking about Lovecraft's behavior.

An asexual is someone who does not experience sexual attraction. Unlike celibacy, which people choose, asexuality is an intrinsic part of who we are. Asexuality does not make our lives any worse or any better, we just face a different set of challenges than most sexual people. There is considerable diversity among the asexual community, each asexual person experiences things like relationships, attraction, and arousal somewhat differently.

Asexual people have the same emotional needs as anyone else, and like in the sexual community we vary widely in how we fulfill those needs. Some asexual people are happier on their own, others are happiest with a group of close friends.

{Lovecraft loved to be surrounded by people, and he keenly felt Noblesse Oblige. - CP}

Other asexual people have a desire to form more intimate romantic relationships, and will date and seek long-term partnerships. Asexual people are just as likely to date sexual people as we are to date each other. Sexual or nonsexual, all relationships are made up of the same basic stuff. Communication, closeness, fun, humor, excitement and trust all happen just as much in sexual relationships as in nonsexual ones.

Unlike sexual people, asexual people are given few expectations about the way that our intimate relationships will work. Figuring out how to flirt, to be intimate, or to be monogamous in a nonsexual relationships can be challenging, but free of sexual expectations we can form relationships in ways that are grounded in our individual needs and desires.

Many asexual people experience attraction, but we feel no need to act out that attraction sexually. Instead we feel a desire to get to know someone, to get close to them in whatever way works best for us.

For Lovecraft, correspondence was his fulfillment. He spent every cent he had on postage, and at the end of his life he was doing more correspondence than at the begiining of his career. He would write dozens of pages. He needed people, and his letters were frequently obliging and clever to draw out details about a person's interests. - CP

Asexual people who experience attraction will often be attracted to a particular gender, and will identify as gay, bi, or straight. For some sexual arousal is a fairly regular occurrence, though it is not associated with a desire to find a sexual partner or partners. Other asexual people experience little or no arousal. Because we don’t care about sex, asexual people generally do not see a lack of sexual arousal as a problem to be corrected, and focus their energy on enjoying other types of arousal and pleasure.

There is no litmus test to determine if someone is asexual. Asexuality is like any other identity- at its core, it’s just a word that people use to help figure themselves out. If at any point someone finds the word asexual useful to describe themselves, we encourage them to use it for as long as it makes sense to do so.

So, this is an iussue that has never been raised to my knowledge about Lovecraft. It may or may not be relevant, but considering his stories are nihilistic, materialist, absent of females, absent of strong characterization, and lacking any sexuality to speak of, then we have to wonder about his psyche.

However, we can also detect a bit of selfishness and self-centeredness. There is considerable autobiography in his stories - and letters. He has a fetish about presenting himself as not only antiquarian, but OLD.

Asexuality may be a strong motivating factor in his poetry, fiction, and correspondence.