Girlfriends, Boyfriends, and Bright Young Things

Abstract

The chapter explores Cunard’s circle of bohemian friends as it gives an analysis of women’s independence and the identification of that independence with lesbian sexuality. The chapter also examines Cunard’s relationship to Wyndham Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and Louis Aragon, rereading Huxley’s fictional portrayal of Cunard as femme fatale and his engagement with English primitivism. Cunard’s contributions to Vogue and avant-garde aesthetics and leftist politics are also investigated.