We were in a Virtual world where the only taboo was real life. But in a true Virtual world I could have gently picked up Elgin and dropped him for ever from the frame. (p.98)<\/p>\n
They are in Oxford, away from Elgin. Louise is smiling, calm but she has something undercover. She keeps her secret as if she is a war-time agent. The secret makes Oxford a virtual world. Virtual world is so real, but is not real. The narrator\u2019s prospect and anticipation are wedging into the very thin line crossing real world and virtual world. The narrator is foreseeing that she will go back to her shell, but at the same time wishing she stays.
\nHalberstam and Freeman\u2019s arguments about time and space of normativity and the queer provide elaborate view in the virtual world, and reveals the characters\u2019 suffocating struggle. Oxford is not just a place where hope and forecast, pretense and sincerity are crossing on an individual level. Rather, it is a place where the narrator and Louise are struggling against overwhelming power of normativity, which is Elgin, marriage, respectful social status and stable economic condition.
\nThey tried to get away from the norm, but their escape may vanish just like their temporary shelter, the rented room. Criticism against them will be as adverse as the scorching heat and distracting noises outside. They may doubt themselves at last, as the narrator sees the illusion of Elgin. You may be some place out of the real world, but the normativity persists so strongly in everywhere that you can never be out of the real world and only realize that you were in the virtual world.
\nHowever, these instability and vulnerability of their escape do not undermine its value. As what Halbertstam said, the crisis of instability is also an opportunity to create alternative modes of life. The moment Louise decided to leave Elgin, she made her real world and the virtual world reversed, as \u2018my love for you makes any other life a lie\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We were in a Virtual world where the only taboo was real life. But in a true Virtual world I could have gently picked up Elgin and dropped him for ever from the frame. (p.98) They are in Oxford, away from Elgin. Louise is smiling, calm but she has something undercover. She keeps her secret … Continue reading Virtual World<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2977,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123782],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2977"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}