Tipping the Velvet

The ties between performance and gender in the novel recall Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity—trace how Butler’s theorization of gender performance differs from Waters’s use of gender and performance, using Butler’s “Gender Insubordination” (1991).

Historians and archival records show a bias toward preserving evidence and accounts about gay men above other LBGTQ+ identities. Explore the significance of Waters’s focus on fictionalized historical lesbians. How does Waters handle the “leanness of the lesbian archive” (475)?

Mythological allusions abound in the novel—from Narcissus to Diana and Ganymede, all figures associated with LGBTQ+ identity. Pick one figure and explore the implications of their use within the novel.

How does Tipping the Velvet argue for a connection between socialism and LGBTQ+ identity? Where does Waters place the similarities between the two?

How do the different categories of LGBTQ+ identity explored within the novel compare to their modern-day counterparts? How does Waters’s use of historically accurate identity labels give insight into LGBTQ+ history?

Using the Oxford English Dictionary or another comprehensive dictionary, explore the etymology of one of the novel’s historical identities for LGBTQ+ people. How does this label evolve, disappear, or dovetail into modern conceptions over time?

How does Tipping the Velvet challenge historical fiction as a genre?

Watch the series adaptation of Tipping the Velvet—how does the series compare to the novel? What changes or conscientious decisions does the series make, and why are they made?