Katy In Oranges

companion to Jeanette as she too is religious. However, their happiness does not last. They are caught on their get-away weekend. To protect Katy, Jeanette lies before The Society for the Lost saying it was Melanie who was with her that night – inflicting no damage on Katy’s reputation. In the novel Katy represents a more modern yet religious lesbian, a woman who accepts herself just like Jeanette. In that sense they are each other’s equals. Not much is known about Katy other than her relationship with Jeanette, but she does make Jeanette more confident about her sexuality. Katy and Melanie are polar opposites in Oranges, because Katy seems perfectly aware of what her relationship with Jeanette is, and does not feel any shame towards her homosexuality.

She often shows up when things are getting heated for Jeanette, serving as a temporary escape from reality. The community sees Miss Jewsbury as an “unholy” woman because she is known for her sexual deviance, and she represents another woman caught between two worlds: her homosexuality and her religion. She remains closeted through the entire novel and only Jeanette knows about her desires. Jeanette eventually declines her flirtations as she chooses to be open about her sexuality – something which Miss Jewsbury is unable to do. She is the image of the closeted lesbian who is unable to come out in a community that would shun her if she did. Melanie and Miss Jewsbury are in that respect similar characters, yet Miss Jewsbury differs from the other by not being married. Because of that she could also represent the spinster lesbian, but the novel does not reveal her age. If she, by chance, was an older women who never got married and alongside that struggled with her sexuality, she would also be a

Jeanette, the novel’s protagonist, tries to find a connection between her religion and her sexuality. She undergoes various punishments after being caught sleeping with women, but does not betray herself and her sexuality by conforming to gender roles and heteronormativity. Jeanette is, therefore, a woman with agency and proud of her lesbian identity. Her story does not end in tragedy, which is rather revolutionary for the time Winterson wrote Oranges. There is no stereotype that defines Jeanette, though Melanie is a classic example of the closeted lesbian. She chooses security over her desires, causing her to become unhappily married. Melanie represents sexual confusion and cheats herself in having a fulfilling relationship with a woman in order to remain accepted within the church community. Then Katy is fairly similar to Jeanette’s character, a woman who is not ashamed to be openly gay and religious. She becomes an equal to Jeanette and is the most fulfilling relationship she has. The differences between Katy and Melanie makes Katy a more likeable character and a better suitor for Jeanette. And lastly, the closeted Miss Jewsbury. Miss Jewsbury is a woman divided between her sexual desires and her devotion, and this inability to make a decision makes Jeanette turn away from her. Winterson’s characters in Oranges represent different lesbian identities that might either