Tipping the Velvet

Each of the novel’s three parts concentrates on a different love interest for Nan, from Kitty to Diana to Florence. Compare the three—what do Nan’s relationships with these women convey about her growth and development?

The ties between performance and gender in the novel recall Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity—trace how Butler’s theorization of gender performance differs from Waters’s use of gender and performance, using Butler’s “Gender Insubordination” (1991).

Historians and archival records show a bias toward preserving evidence and accounts about gay men above other LBGTQ+ identities. Explore the significance of Waters’s focus on fictionalized historical lesbians. How does Waters handle the “leanness of the lesbian archive” (475)?