What is the sexual orientation of the author Samuel Butler?

Answer 1

The answer to this question is that we actually don't know.
What we do know is that Samuel Butler described as being very close and intense with his male companions.

He was particularly close to a German who was working in London, Charles Pauli. They purchased neighbouring apartments and spent a lot of time together. Samuel paid for Charles' studies. Long after Charles finished his work and left England, Samuel still sent him money until his death.

After that, Samuel became close to a Swiss student called Hans Rudolf Faesch, who had travelled to England to seek work and study English. When Hans finished his studies, his work meant that he had to relocate to Singapore, a British colony at the time. Samuel and Hans were both witnessed being very close to each other and crying before Hans left in the train.
After Hans left, Samuel wrote a poem called "In Memoriam H. R. F.", clearly written for Hans Rudolf Faesch. However very shortly after submitting it for publishing, the Oscar Wilde scandal came to light, focusing on Oscar's homosexual behaviour in his literature. Samuel quickly withdrew the poem before it went to print. Bear in mind that these were the days when homosexuality was seen as an evil.

A few years later, Samuel met Henry Festing Jones. he was a solicitor (lawyer) who was unhappy with his job. So Samuel encouraged Henry to leave his job and work for him as a personal assistant and travelling companion, paying him handsomely. They saw each other on a daily basis and travelled literally everywhere together until Samuel's death in 1902.

However, despite all this, Samuel was also known to make occasional visits to a female prostitute called Lucie Damas. Though what happened between them on the visits is not clear.


So, it is possible Samuel was homosexual and his visits to Lucie were just a way to try and throw the public off his scent. Or it could be possible that he preferred to be around men, a substitute father figure to make up for the hate he had for his own father. The truth is, we will never know for sure. But what we do know is that he is a brilliant writer, his life experiences led to him producing excellent material and he is the major contributor to many of Homer's works being translated into English and being used still today.

You can read more about Samuel and his somewhat mysterious life here by clicking here.


This is the answer for the Victorian novelist. If you intended to ask about the Stuart-era poet of the same name, click here to see this question instead.

Answer 2

The answer to this question is that we actually don't know. What we do know is that Samuel Butler described as being very close and intense with his male companions. He was particularly close to a German who was working in London, Charles Pauli. They purchased neighbouring apartments and spent a lot of time together. Samuel paid for Charles' studies. Long after Charles finished his work and left England, Samuel still sent him money until his death. After that, Samuel became close to a Swiss student called Hans Rudolf Faesch, who had travelled to England to seek work and study English. When Hans finished his studies, his work meant that he had to relocate to Singapore, a British colony at the time. Samuel and Hans were both witnessed being very close to each other and crying before Hans left in the train. After Hans left, Samuel wrote a poem called "In Memoriam H. R. F.", clearly written for Hans Rudolf Faesch. However very shortly after submitting it for publishing, the Oscar Wilde scandal came to light, focusing on Oscar's homosexual behaviour in his literature. Samuel quickly withdrew the poem before it went to print. Bear in mind that these were the days when homosexuality was seen as an evil. A few years later, Samuel met Henry Festing Jones. he was a solicitor (lawyer) who was unhappy with his job. So Samuel encouraged Henry to leave his job and work for him as a personal assistant and travelling companion, paying him handsomely. They saw each other on a daily basis and travelled literally everywhere together until Samuel's death in 1902. However, despite all this, Samuel was also known to make occasional visits to a female prostitute called Lucie Damas. Though what happened between them on the visits is not clear. So, it is possible Samuel was homosexual and his visits to Lucie were just a way to try and throw the public off his scent. Or it could be possible that he preferred to be around men, a substitute father figure to make up for the hate he had for his own father. The truth is, we will never know for sure. But what we do know is that he is a brilliant writer, his life experiences led to him producing excellent material. You can read more about Samuel and his somewhat mysterious life here: http://bit.ly/Biography-Samuel-Butler

Answer 3

The answer to this question is that we actually don't know.

What we do know is that Samuel Butler described as being very close and intense with his male companions.

He was particularly close to a German who was working in London, Charles Pauli. They purchased neighbouring apartments and spent a lot of time together. Samuel paid for Charles' studies. Long after Charles finished his work and left England, Samuel still sent him money until his death.

After that, Samuel became close to a Swiss student called Hans Rudolf Faesch, who had travelled to England to seek work and study English. When Hans finished his studies, his work meant that he had to relocate to Singapore, a British colony at the time. Samuel and Hans were both witnessed being very close to each other and crying before Hans left in the train.

After Hans left, Samuel wrote a poem called "In Memoriam H. R. F.", clearly written for Hans Rudolf Faesch. However very shortly after submitting it for publishing, the Oscar Wilde scandal came to light, focusing on Oscar's homosexual behaviour in his literature. Samuel quickly withdrew the poem before it went to print. Bear in mind that these were the days when homosexuality was seen as an evil.

A few years later, Samuel met Henry Festing Jones. he was a solicitor (lawyer) who was unhappy with his job. So Samuel encouraged Henry to leave his job and work for him as a personal assistant and travelling companion, paying him handsomely. They saw each other on a daily basis and travelled literally everywhere together until Samuel's death in 1902.

However, despite all this, Samuel was also known to make occasional visits to a female prostitute called Lucie Damas. Though what happened between them on the visits is not clear.

So, it is possible Samuel was homosexual and his visits to Lucie were just a way to try and throw the public off his scent. Or it could be possible that he preferred to be around men, a substitute father figure to make up for the hate he had for his own father. The truth is, we will never know for sure. But what we do know is that he is a brilliant writer, his life experiences led to him producing excellent material.