SEX AND THE CARLYLES' MARRIAGE
Nowadays, few recognise Carlyle's name, even in his native Scotland, but those who do, perhaps from seeing it at the roadside as they pass Ecclefechan on the motorway to England, usually know but one thing about him - that he had sexual problems. There were rumours in his lifetime, but that he should be remembered for this has more to do with the bitter dispute that flared up after his death with the publication of his Reminiscences and Froude's biography. It became a blazing row in 1903, and smouldered on well into the 1930's. There is less rancour today, but the arguments continue, and will be unresolved for lack of facts.
To spare the casual reader the lengthy history of the controversy over Carlyle's sexuality, recounted in 'The Froude Controversy'- not that it is without considerable interest - here is a well-balanced, temperate and modest modern conclusion, reached by the Hansons in an appendix to their biography of Mrs Carlyle. 'The truth' they say, 'must be a matter of opinion.'.....'Those who took part in the controversy were unduly concerned to prove one extreme or the other - that Carlyle was impotent, or that his wife was incapable of giving him sexual satisfaction.' They believe that the couple were 'sexually ill-matched' but suggest that there were sexual relations 'of a kind' until the move to London, when they ceased. They do not accept that the sexual problems accounted for their marital problems, which were, they say, more related to their personalities and upbringing.
I agree with this general view, while disputing that it is possible to separate sexuality from personality and upbringing in this way. My own conclusions are set out, after reviewing the evidence in detail, in the Froude Controversy.
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