Edward Carpenter: Activist and Philosopher

Edward Carpenter was a renowned, writer, activist and philosopher who became nationally and internationally recognised as a key socialist thinker of his age by his contemporaries. His works have been published in numerous editions and printed in multiple languages. More recently he has also been recognised for his key contribution in the progressive understanding of the homosexuality and sexual equality.  

As a philosopher he was particularly known for his publications Towards Democracy and Civilisation: Its Cause and Cure, in which he proposes that civilization is a form of disease that human societies pass through ( over 18 editions were published in his lifetime).  An early proponent of women’s rights, he argued for gender equality and Women’s emancipation (including the introduction of birth control) and supported the Suffrage movement.  Openly homosexual, he was an advocate of sexual freedoms for both men and women, and had an influence on both D. H. Lawrence (particularly his works ‘The Rainbow’ and ‘Women In Love’) and Sri Aurobindo, and inspired E. M. Forster's novel ‘Maurice’. At a time when being gay was illegal and Oscar Wilde was in prison, Edward Carpenter made a stand for equal rights, publishing books on gay liberation and living openly with his male partner. He was a champion of workers’ rights and the Labour movement, as well as an accomplished poet and produced musical works such as those found in Chants of Labour: A Song Book of the People. A noted vegetarian and anti-vivisectionist, he wrote extensively on the subject of animal rights, as well as advocating for a more ‘Simple way of life’ which recognized the benefits to physical and mental health of working with nature and escaping the bleak, smoky and unhealthy environs of the industrial cities.  

Despite his influence and forward thinking, Carpenter still has far less recognition than he deserves. Sheffield City Archives and the local Friends of Edward Carpenter group are both keen to increase awareness of this fascinating man and show the impact his progressive thinking and activism has had at both a local, national and international scale.

History

Carpenter was born at Brighton in 1844, into a middle-class naval family. After his education at Brighton College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (where he was a Fellow from 1868 to 1874) he took Orders. But he was already forming opinions similar to those of the advanced freethinkers of his day, and after emotional and intellectual struggles which made him ill, he decided, in 1873, that he could not conscientiously remain in the Church. He joined the staff of the Cambridge University Extension Movement and lectured in various subjects including astronomy and the history of music. As part of the University Extension Movement, which was formed by academics who wished to introduce higher education to deprived areas of England, he moved to Leeds where he hoped to lecture to the working classes, but found that his lectures were attended by middle class people, many of whom showed little active interest in the subjects he taught. Disillusioned, he moved to Chesterfield, but finding that town dull, he based himself in nearby Sheffield a year later in 1879. Here he finally came into contact with manual workers, and inspired by their work ethic and physicality, he began to write poetry, in which he acknowledged his sexual preferences were also for working men: #

"the grimy and oil-besmeared figure of a stoker" or "the thick-thighed hot coarse-fleshed young bricklayer with a strap around his waist”. 

Continuing to lecture, Carpenter’s approach and charm drew audiences from many walks of life, not just academia.  In Sheffield he embraced the Socialism of William Morris and John Ruskin. He found ready support in Sheffield’s working populous and became one of the founders of the Sheffield Socialist Society.  You can read more about his experience with the political group in his essay Sheffield and Socialism, which was first published in 1916 as part of Edward Carpenter's autobiography My Days and Dreams. 

As well as promoting workers’ rights the group launched a successful campaign to increase the relief paid by the Sheffield’s Poor Law Commissioners and protested high rents in the city by encouraging non-payment. Unfortunately, following their own policy led to them losing their building, and a decline set in as the group failed to respond to rising Trade Union militancy.

When Carpenter suffered from stress and reoccurring ill-health, he joined a working man's family at Bradway. It was during this time that he began work on one of his most famous publications Towards Democracy, a long poem expressing Carpenter's ideas about 'spiritual democracy' and how he believed humanity could move towards a freer and more just society. Towards Democracy was heavily influenced by the poetry of Walt Whitman, as well as the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita.  In 1891 he Travelled to India and Cylon to experience other cultures and further explore the philosophies that so influenced him.

After his father’s death and subsequent inheritance Carpenter finally gave up lecturing and joined his friends in running an orchard and market garden at Millthorpe, near Dronfield. He took a fair share of the work and devoted his spare time to writing, until he became well enough known to give up gardening and make a living by writing. He lived openly at Millthorpe with his partner George Merrlli, a Sheffield labourer, 22 years his junior, who stayed with him for the rest of his life. It was here that he wrote his key works on sexual identity and equality with the essay ‘Homogenic Love and its place in a free society’, which was later published as a book entitled The Intermediate Sex: A Study Some Transitional Types of Men and Women, in 1903. The work was in many ways ground-breaking, Carpenter argued that homosexuality was an expression of temperament, and not a morbid disease, to be punished or hidden. Published at a time shortly after Oscar Wilde’s imprisonment and the resulting public hysteria, Carpenter produced an essay that presented his beliefs in a reasonable and intelligent manner. Obviously, his arguments remained shocking to some and there were even attempts to ban the book from the British Library. However, the work was unique and progressive and deserves to be recognised for its bravery. The Gay Times recently described The Intermediate Sex as the foundation stone of gay liberation, and it is no wonder that through Carpenter attempts to ventilate the subject of homosexuality, both through the printed word and his own lifestyle, that he is now being championed as ‘The Godfather of Homosexual Equality’.

Carpenter moved to Guildford in 1927 and died there in 1929.

To sum up Carpenter’s philosophy is not easy; for he never set out to be a "man with a message," but sought for and found an opportunity to suit his own tastes ; but in trying to express his own individuality he voiced the needs of many others in society. He wanted for others what he found for himself. He looked to Socialism to release the labouring classes from overwork, grinding poverty, and ugliness of environment; he urged upon the middle and upper classes (especially their women) a wider and freer education, and a more intelligent treatment of the emotional problems involved in friendship and marriage. He sought to lead no party; he looked upon himself primarily as a writer, putting before his readers, in simple and graceful prose, a new and progressive viewpoint.

So, as we can see, Carpenter was a man of many talents, fervent enthusiasms, and attractive personality. He had a singular capacity for making and keeping friends, making a deep impression on everyone he met. Many of his ideas have become so much a part of modern thought that they now seem almost commonplace, and even his books are only pale reflections of the vivid spirit for which he was known and loved. It is fortunate that his library has been preserved with sufficient approach to completeness to give some idea of the extent of his interests and the interrelations between his ideas and those of contemporaries. The contents of the Carpenter Collection, which was donated to Sheffield City Archives in 1933, falls into two classes. The first contains over 1,000 books and pamphlets from his own personal library (as well as the famous sandals, for which he developed a fondness for whilst travelling in India, which he then started to produce for mail order customers). The second consists of many editions and translations of Carpenter's own works, copies of almost every periodical to which he contributed, and 2,280 papers, including the manuscripts of nearly all his books, letters from friends and publishers, and hand-written notebooks. Correspondence included letters from Sigfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, Marie Stopes, William Morris, Mahtma Ghandi and John Ruskin.

The Contents and extent of the Carpenter Collection held by Sheffield City Archives can be seen by viewing their online catalogue . If you are interested in finding out more about the life and works of Edward Carpenter, the biography Edward Carpenter: A Life of Liberty and Love by Sheila Rowbotham is available from Sheffield Library Service.