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Mary Renault: Difference between revisions
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{{creator}}
Mary Renault (1905-1983) was an English author who resided in South Africa with her partner, Julie Mullard, in a community of gay expatriates. Between 1939 and 1981, Renault wrote 15 novels and one (now mostly obsolete) work of nonfiction, ''The Nature of Alexander''. Though more than a third of her novels are contemporary, she is overwhelmingly remembered for her later works, which were set in Ancient Greece.
Though Renault had no training in the classics, she was widely acclaimed in her day for the historical accuracy of her books. That historical accuracy is often called into question now, as she relied heavily on the research of Robert Graves, who was perhaps more creative than becomes a historian. Renault has also been accused of portraying pederastic relationships as heroic, despite the fact that the relationships in her books are probably not pederasty as we would define it today.
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* ''Fire from Heaven''
* ''The Persian Boy''
* ''[[Funeral Games]]''
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=== Her books contain examples of: ===
* [[
* [[Abusive Parents]]
* [[Achilles in His Tent]]: When Alexander is sulking, Bagoas ''The Persian Boy'' references this as a trope.
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* [[Girlfriend in Canada]]: Laurie in ''The Charioteer'' has to make up stories about his girlfriend when talking to his straight friend Reg.
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Vivian, Leo (short for Leonora), Hilary, Julian.
* [[Green-Eyed Epiphany]]: Andrew's realisation of his love for Laurie takes this form.
* [[Green-Eyed Monster]]
* [["Glad to Be Alive" Sex]]: Nikeratos and {{spoiler|Axiothea}} have this after escaping death in a siege. A bit of a departure for them both, since they're both gay.
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* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Hoo boy, does she ever like this trope.
* [[No Woman's Land]]: Historically accurate.
* [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer]]
* [[Oedipus Complex]]
* [[Officer and a Gentleman]]: Ralph.
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* [[Spurned Into Suicide]]
* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: {{spoiler|Laurie and Andrew.}}
* [[
* [[Sweet on Polly Oliver]]: Axiothea in ''The Mask of Apollo'' dresses in male clothing. Men take her for a handsome youth and fancy her.
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Her lesbian couples -- Colonna and Valentine in ''Purposes of Love'', Leo and Helen in ''The Friendly Young Ladies'', Axiothea and Lasthenia in ''The Mask of Apollo''.
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* [[Translator Buddy]]: Laurie for Charlot in ''The Charioteer''.
* [[Transparent Closet]]: ''The Charioteer'''s hero Laurie realises his beloved Andrew is gay. Andrew, nineteen, Christian and rigidly principled, doesn't.
* [[Transsexualism]]: Several of Renault's characters feel, as Renault did, that they have both male and female natures; particularly, her major lesbians are close to being trans men.
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]: In ''The Charioteer'', Laurie is in love with Andrew, who is in love with him back, but doesn't realise it. Lots of UST. There is plenty between Ralph and Laurie as well.
* [[Virgin Power]]: Hippolytos in ''The Bull from the Sea''. Renault's Alexander also feels that "virtue has gone out of him" when he has sex. Alexias and Lysis in ''The Last of the Wine'' have sex with women on the side, but they feel that their relationship is purer and more spiritual and virtuous if they refrain from having sex with one another.
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