Queer Waiting (to Get Caught) in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley

Oscar von Seth

doi:10.54797/tfl.v55i3.54947

Författare

Oscar von Seth Uppsala universitet

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54797/tfl.v55i3.54947

Nyckelord:

The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith, queer theory, antagonism, queer waiting, deidealization

Abstract

Queer Waiting (to Get Caught) in Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley

This article presents an interpretation of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith. At the center is Tom Ripley, the novel’s protagonist, a closeted serial killer suffering from profound internalized homophobia. Throughout the narrative, Tom waits in a variety of ways. The article examines how the phenomenon of waiting is rendered in Highsmith’s novel, what Tom waits for, and how waiting affects him. Furthermore, it emphasizes how waiting and queerness intersect in the text while simultaneously investigating if Tom’s antagonistic traits are enhanced because he is forced to endure waiting. Theoretically, the concept of queer waiting (von Seth 2025) influences the interpretation. Queer waiting suggests that although waiting is a universal human activity and inescapable feature of life, queer people experience waiting in unique ways. Broadly, the article demonstrates that Tom Ripley embodies a cluster of antagonism, queerness, and waiting. He awaits getting caught for his crimes and experiences a sort of waiting to be outed as queer. Also, Tom waits for attention from the man he desires, his straight friend Dickie. Ultimately, the article concludes that it is because Dickie strings Tom along that Tom’s antagonism is expressed violently.

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Författarbiografi

Oscar von Seth, Uppsala universitet

Filosofie doktor i litteraturvetenskap. Hans pågående postdokprojekt, ”Queer väntan i litteratur och film” (finansierat av Vetenskapsrådet), är placerat vid Centrum för genusvetenskap, Uppsala universitet, och vid King’s College London. von Seths forskningsintressen befinner sig i skärningspunkten mellan litteraturvetenskap, filmvetenskap och queerteori. Utöver detta är han intresserad av maskulinitet, sexualitetshistoria och narrativa representationer av AIDS-epidemin. Hans avhandling, Outsiders and Others (2022) är den första utförliga queera läsningen av Hermann Hesses författarskap, och hans monografi om queer väntan, ett nytt koncept för queerteori, ges ut av Bloomsbury under 2026.

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