Whether or not you want to think about it, your family wouldn't exist were it not for sex. Middlesex is a novel about generations, kind of like the parts of the Bible where someone begat someone, and that person begats [sic] someone else, and so on and so forth. Thankfully for our reading pleasure, Jeffrey Eugenides can write passages that are a heck of a lot steamier than "begat." It's a little easier to think about your parents having sex when you see just how hot it is. Or does that make it creepier?
Questions About Sex
- Is the sex between Lefty and Desdemona creepy or romantic? Does this ever change?
- How do Cal's first two sexual experiences (with the Obscure Object and her brother, Jerome) compare to one another?
- Is sex ever destructive in the novel, or is it always used to create something?
- How do Tessie and Milton's attitudes toward sex influence Cal's attitudes toward sex at a young age?