Lord Dismiss Us
4579836
218065868
2008-06-09T00:21:07Z
Robina Fox
1765847
added category
{{infobox Book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = Lord Dismiss Us
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = [[Image:Lord-dismiss-us.jpg|200px|''Lord Dismiss Us'' book cover]]<!--prefer 1st edition-->
| image_caption =
| author = [[Michael Campbell]]
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Novel]]
| publisher = [[Heinemann (book publisher)|William Heinemann]]
| release_date = 1967
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages = 378 p. (hardback edition)
| isbn = NA
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
'''Lord Dismiss Us''' is a [[1967]] [[novel]] by Michael Campbell.
==Plot summary==
''Lord Dismiss Us'' is set in an [[Independent school (United Kingdom)|English boys' public school]].
The novel deals with the [[child sexuality|love affair]] between two [[boy]]s. Carleton, a bright [[sixth form|sixth former]] loves Allen, a boy two years his junior. Carleton is very open about his feelings when speaking to Allen:
<blockquote>
''"Oh, I do love you. I love you, my darling. Don't be shy, look at me. Do you love me?"</br>
"Yes."</br>
"Do you swear?"</br>
"Yes."''
</blockquote>
The school is not only a hotbed of passion between other boys too. Ashley, one of the teachers, [[pedophilia|loves]] Carleton, and there is also a new headmaster who wants to root out [[human sexual behavior|moral corruption]].
The novel presents the issue of [[Age disparity in sexual relationships|cross-generational sexual attraction]] and [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse]], or more aptly the abuse of power. Its true theme, however, is the nature of [[homosexuality|same-sex]] love and sex within the confines of an opposing moral establishment. It explores the conflict between the individual and his sense of right and the sense of right as determined by those in power. Campbell's notion of homosexual love may be over-romanticized and poetic, robbing it of lust, but that love is the focus of the novel. ''Lord Dismiss Us'' is a novel about right, not wrong, and virtue, not sin.
==See also==
*[[List of books portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors]]
[[Category:1967 novels]]
[[Category:British novels]]
[[Category:LGBT literature in the United Kingdom]]