Cloud 9 Sexuality & Sexual Identity Quotes

After Clive finds out Harry's true sexual preference for men, he tells Harry he'll have to get married. Harry's other option was to commit suicide in order to escape the shame of being gay in a homophobic society. But he figures that getting married can't be worse than doing away with himself.

Lin says this to Victoria pretty much out of the blue. We're not sure if anything in their prior relationship would have prepared Victoria for this, but whatever way you look at it, the announcement comes pretty abruptly. Only a few pages later, Lin adds that she would like to have sex with Vicky. She's not ashamed of her sexual preferences, and makes a good enough pitch to make Victoria seriously consider the offer.

Edward is Victoria's brother; but that doesn't stop him from wanting to touch her breasts. But the touch isn't only a sexual one. Edward wants to touch the breasts because he wants to have them himself. Edward is bisexual, and he identifies as a woman. Yeah, you're going to have to start thinking more and more outside the box if you want to keep up with Churchill.

Victoria, Edward, and Lin decide in Act 2 that they're going to have an orgy. And not just any orgy, but an outdoor park orgy in honor of old pagan religious traditions based around a goddess. Christianity is mostly based around the idea of god the father, but Victoria and the gang want to have sex while praising a female deity.

We don't know how much of this she's making up, but Victoria claims that in pre-Christian religions, people weren't yet aware that babies came from sex. So the society didn't think it needed men at all except for giving women pleasure. It's certainly a reversal of the male-centric view of the world Clive puts forward in Act 1.

Victoria's husband Martin stumbles across Victoria, Lin, and Edward having an orgy in the middle of the park. They invite him to join, and he ain't in the mood to say no. He goes on to add that he's all for women's liberation as long as it means more sex for everybody. Or in other words, his support for women is a tad superficial. But who cares, says Churchill. It's an orgy!

Edward's boyfriend Gerry isn't the monogamous type. In fact, he seems to have sex whenever and with whomever he can. But in these lines, he tells us that sometimes he goes out to the park and decides not to pick someone up because he just likes being alone. As a character, Gerry is defined mostly by his promiscuity in this novel. But that doesn't mean the guy doesn't also enjoy his alone time.

Betty has spent her whole life concerned about how to make men happier. She's been so committed to this mission that she doesn't even realize that she enjoys sex until she's in her old age. But better late than never, as far as Churchill's concerned.

For the first time, Betty accepts the fact that her son Edward is interested in having sex with other men. As Betty admits, she thinks Edward has tried to tell her before, but she hasn't listened. Now, though, she seems to be in a mental space where she can accept Edward for who he is. Moving away from her homophobic husband Clive no doubt has something to do with that.

In the play's final scene, Clive walks onstage and tells his wife Betty that she's not the type of woman who can go around picking up men. After all, Betty is (according to Clive) a proper English woman who's above that sort of thing. But for the first time, Betty's ready to fly on her own and she can do whatever she wants.