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Use Of Sexual Undertones In Michael Hollinger's Naked Lunch

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In Michael Hollinger’s play entitled Naked Lunch, the author uses sexual undertones to imply the nature of a relationship between two characters. The two characters featured in the play are Vernon and Lucy respectively, and while they seem to have broken up in the recent past, their lunch was going well. However, as their lunch continues, Vernon notices that Lucy is not eating the steak he prepared for their meal and is only nibbling at the corn. This seems to strike a chord with Vernon and he asks her simply “What’s wrong with the steak?” (989). Lucy assures him that there is nothing wrong with her meal, and confesses that the reason she doesn’t wish to eat the steak by saying “I’m a vegetarian,” (989). Vernon blows up on her asking a flurry …show more content…

It is implied that Lucy is stating how ever since they broke up she no longer “eats meat” which can be interpreted that she either has not been having casual sex with anyone, or that she at least has not been having casual sex with men. She states that it is something that she has “been thinking about for a while” (989), which can be interpreted that she has thought about abstaining from casual sex for a while, or has at least decided to give her sexual relationship with Vernon a break. He is no longer a key figure in her life, yet he still wishes to be, so he sets up a romantic lunch for her in hopes of at least having sex with her. This is why he is so furious that she seems to not want to engage in intimacy in return, as he thinks he is entitled to it after all that he did for her. Vernon goes on to state towards the end of the play that he “figure I’ll open a bottle of wine, apologize . . . maybe we’ll get naked, be like old times,” (991). This further shows that Vernon did not have pure intentions for their meal, and wants to be in control so everything can be exactly how it used to be. He shows his abusive side at the conclusion of the play as he jumps up and forces Lucy to eat a piece of steak even as she pleads that she does not wish to. This could be a metaphor showing that throughout the course of their relationship that Vernon may have forced Lucy to have sex in the past even if she stated that she didn’t want

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