Quote · Empire: World History
370. The First British Indians: Saving Jews In Nazi Germany (Ep 2)
Where this was said
Somerville College Oxford and the Question of Same-Sex Relationships
At 15:08 · chapter starts 14:00
The conversation turns to what kind of relationship Catherine and Lena actually had, and what the consequences might have been. Dalrymple notes that male homosexuality faced brutal criminalisation — Oscar Wilde received two years hard labour in 1895 — and asks whether women faced similar risks. Anand's answer is striking: no equivalent law existed for women, because the Victorian legal mind simply could not conceive that women would 'do such a thing.' This invisibility cut both ways: it protected Catherine and Lena from prosecution, but it also meant their relationship would be invisible to history. Anand is careful to avoid imposing modern categories, while being clear that the evidence — inseparability, financial interdependence, Sophia's own word 'intimate' — points overwhelmingly to a loving bond.
While Oscar Wilde got two years hard labor in 1895, lesbian relationships faced zero legal penalty in England — not because of tolerance, but because the Victorian legal mind literally could not conceive that women would do such a thing. This invisibility both protected and erased women like Catherine.
Oscar Wilde received a sentence of two years hard labor in 1895 for male homosexuality, illustrating the extreme legal danger for men compared to the legal invisibility of lesbian relationships.
Oxford University did not formally award degrees to women until 1920, meaning Catherine and Bamba left with education but no official qualification.
