To Orwell Today,
re: ORWELL NOT SEXUALLY LIBERAL

After reading your comments of 'Orwell not sexually Liberal,' I was wondering if it is viable to undertake a Freudian reading of 1984. The text is clearly littered with sexual imagery and symbolism, do you think it could be argued that this is demonstrating Orwell's sexual repression surfacing?

Thanks alot,
Stephanie Hamilton (University of Leicester)

Greetings Stephanie,

Go for it. Stretch Orwell out on that Freudian couch and psychoanalyze him for all it's worth. He'll be quite the interesting case study.

Orwell probably was sexually repressed, and the power of that bottled-up force - when it was finally released - is "1984". See 26.Julia & Rebellion and 30.Love Instinct & Family

Actually, Orwell had an indirect connection to Freud through his second wife, Sonia, who was very good friends with Freud's grandson, Lucien Freud, who was a successful artist.

Freud was going to accompany Sonia on the plane taking Orwell to Switzerland where they were going to live for Orwell's health. Sonia was actually with Lucien Freud and another friend at the pub across the street from her Percy Street flat at the very moment, unbeknownst to her, that Orwell was suffering a fatal hemorrhage of his lung. See SONIA'S FLAT & ORWELL'S HOSPITAL

When Sonia called the hospital later that night to check on how Orwell was doing - as was her habit when she didn't visit personally - she was told that Orwell had died. She was absolutely shocked and devastated.

Sonia, in her youth, had been an artists' model and it is rumoured that she was the woman in Lucien Freud's painting "Hotel Room", seen above. Supposedly they had been lovers at one time.

Sonia is also who Orwell modelled "Julia" after in "1984".

All the best,
Jackie Jura