The mighty Mavors, jealous to behold
A Mars more mighty nor himself below,
Did once resolve his rivall to ore’throw…

—Sir Robert Ayton (1569–1638), “Upon the 5th of November”
published in JACOBEAN PARNASSUS: Scottish Poetry from the Reign of James I (ASL, 2022)

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/jacobean-parnassus/

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #17thcentury #EarlyModern #BonfireNight #GuyFawkes #Jacobean #5thNovember

THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER / BONFIRE NIGHT / V FOR VENDETTA

Something often not recognised by the casual reader of V for Vendetta (let alone people who have only seen the film - which tells a completely different story according to Alan Moore) is how sexually motivated the story is. Let me explain.

It is known that the character V imitates the historical figure Guy Fawkes, a politically motivated English individual who in 1605 assisted in a plot to blow up the English parliament. In the UK this event is commemorated every year on November the 5th (tonight) when his effigy is burned on a bonfire and fireworks are let off. Alan Moore's use of Guy Fawkes' image, however, is subversive, for V also blows up parliament. In other words, in V for Vendetta we are taking the side of Guy Fawkes and not the side of parliament.

Now the 1980s in the UK was a time of heterosexual oppression of queers. Various laws were brought in banning the "promotion" of homosexuality as a valid existence. Alan Moore was right at the heart of this both as an activist against it but also personally in that he lived at the time with two women as a pansexual threesome. Thus, it is not irrelevant that in many ways the true hero of V for Vendetta is the lesbian Valerie in room four who passes the note to V in room V in the resettlement camp which finally radicalises him. The whole story of V for Vendetta is in fact motivated by fascist oppression of queer sexuality.

V for Vendetta is a queer revenge story, a story about how queer is at the heart of the fight for political freedom.

"An inch. Its small and its fragile and its the only thing in the world that’s worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I don’t know who you are, or whether you are a man or a woman. I may never see you. I will never hug you or cry with you or get drunk with you. But I love you… I wish I could kiss you. Valerie.”

#5thnovember #bonfire #bonfirenight #guyfawkes #vforvendetta #politics #fascism #queer #lgbtq #trans #ukpol #uk #comics

Remember the 5th of November

#5thNovember
#GuyFawkesDay
#GunpowderPlot

https://zurl.co/meFA

Remember, remember!
The fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot;
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!

#5thNovember #Remember #GunpowderTreason #GuyFawkes

Remember, remember the 5th of November

#5thnovember