I have to start by saying that I am not a specialist in litterature or anything that relates to it...I am just someone who enjoys reading fiction....I have just finished reading Herman Hesse's Demian which brought me back to another book by him I read few years ago "Narcisse and Goldmund". back then, the relationship between the two main characters intrigued me because of the lack of sensuality and I asked myself whether a platonic relationship between two men was not a protective shield for Hesse to avoid the issue of homosexual love....and after reading Demian I was even more intrigued of the fact that Hesse invented the character of the mother of Demian for sinclair to fall in love with....someone who resembles Demian in all his aspects but who is a female so someone who sinclaire could "legitimately" consider as a lover! but then the image of the mother prevails proving once more that Hesse has difficulty in making his male characters fall in love with real women ! the only woman that marked the life of sinclaire before he met Eve was more of an icon an unreachable Dantian goddess : Beatrice !

A number of scenes and relationships described in Hesse's books certainly seem to point in that direction. Hesse himself was not homosexual although he valued friendships among men very highly. Most of the leading figures in his books enjoy close friendships. Hesse's relationships with women, on the other hand, were somewhat problematic throughout his life. This may have originated psychologically in his early relationship with his mother, who at times seemed distant to him and who lacked appreciation for his art and its "secular" subject matter, and his sisters. He was somewhat awkward toward women and shied away from marriage if that was possible. Only the third of his marriages was successful. His books depict not so much figures as separate entities the way you would encounter them customarily in novels, but as aspects of the leading characters' own complex personality. Being projections of such aspects they often appear almost two-dimensional. The leading characters attempt to re-integrate these "aspect figures" in a process which is intended to illustrate the striving for a healthy, curative wholeness of human nature. This process often fails, particularly in the earlier books where Hesse himself struggled to find an answer. The relationships between the leading figures on the one hand, and men and women figures on the other, thertefore cannot be understood to be of a sexual nature. As a matter of fact, sex is a non-issue for Hesse, the author. The mother-image to him illustrates the wholeness of the human being at birth and again at death. His search of a divided personality for wholeness is therefore a "search for the mother." Frau Eva in DEMIAN came to represent the ideal of that great mother, not of a woman per se.

I hope this makes sense and is a valid interpretation. :-)

MY FIRST HESSEšS BOOK I READ WAS DEMIAN. WHEN I FINISHED IT I ALSO THOUGHT THAT SINCLAIR FAILED TO ACCOMPLISH A MORE SENSUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN. HOWEVER,IN MY OWN POINT OF VIEW, IT WAS CLEAR TO ME THAT HIS LOVE FOR EVE WAS INTENSE AND IF HE FAILED TO STABLISH SUCH A RELATIONSHIP WAS JUST A MATTER OF CIRCUNSTANCES (THE SUDEN WAR THAT APPEARS JUST AFTER SINCLAIR MANAGED TO KISS EVE).
REGARDING THE ISSUE OF HOMOSEXUALITY , IN MY OWN POINT OF VIEW, I THINK HESSE WAS JUST SIMPLY NOT INTERESTED ON IT AS HE WAS INTERESTED ABOUT HOW TO OFFER A BETTER RELIGION,PHILOSOPHY, ETC. THAT COULD HELP TO AVOID WAR,KILLING AND INJUSTICE AMONG NATIONS AND HUMAN BEINGS.
I HAVE READ "SIDDARTHA" AND THE "STEPPENWOLF", AND BOTH BOOKS HAVE MALE CHARACTERS WHICH STABLISH A DEEP SENSUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A WOMAN. BUT WHAT I HAVE NOTICE ABOUT THESE 3 BOOKS (INCLUDING DEMIAN), IS THAT IN ALL OF THEM, THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE LOOKING FOR A HIGHER UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE WHICH COULD ALLOW THEM TO SPREAD THEIR SOULS AND SKILLS JUST NATURALLY AND IN HARMONY WITH ALL OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.

OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS IS JUST MY OWN OPINION.
JUST HESSE HIMSELF COUL BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOU
PROPERLY.

BEST REGARDS.

I myself had similar impressions when I read Steppenwolf that the main character was very much stuggling with his sexuality. Just as he ridicules all the convertions of his society, he himself adheres to them; when propositioned for an orgy by another male who is obviously interested in warming Harry up to a homosexual encounter, it is apparent that Harry's moral sense and self-defeatism prohibit him from enjoying the pleasures he obviously wants to experence. The character of Hermine in itself is evidence: her resemblance to Harry's dearest childhood friend obviosly awakes some wild (wolfish) part of his nature which causes him to desire her sexually, but in addition project some moral dillema into the situation. Utimately, Hermine's costume for the ball is the utimate tipoff to this kind of interpretation but the outcome of the novel leaves much room for personall interpretation...

Hello. Never underestimate double HH is my motto... In my opinion, I think HH was a poet and a thinker and that in itself brought about the conflicts within him -the rational and the emotional. He was always trying to confront these forces, both in his life and in his art.

Warm regards,
Duke

If you consider several basic premises of Hesse's writing, the issue of sexuality, although interesting, is possibly beside the point. Hesse's quest was actually the peaceful re-integration of various conflicting aspects of human nature which - following a dualistic (Eastern) interpretation - was torn apart by opposing roles (or personae). These conflicts were initially not present in human nature (paradise), but were mostly the benefits (!) of expectations and social constraints which were placed on the individual by society, culture, parents, education, religion (expulsion from paradise => fall from grace => paradise lost) etc. etc. The dualistic nature of man - as well of practically that of all other beings and phenomena - required oppositions, such as light and dark, plus and minus, right and left, masculine and feminine, evil and good to be meaninful. Why talk about light, if you do not have dark to define it?) It was the effect of enlightenment (see "Siddhartha") to bring these natural oppositions - which may be quite useful for daily practical life as long as it lasts - into a healthy, sensible balance with each other, the fond ethical theory being that a balanced individual would be of less harm to the rest of society and the environment and the world in general than an unabalanced one. The edge would be taken off the extremes in such an individual (a socalled "Immortal" in Steppenwolf), the way one would balance a wheel to keep it from flying apart. If one honestly tries to come to terms with one's whole personality, that is with ALL of its components, not only the most convenient, uncontroversial and pleasant ones, a male male would recognize, for example, that there was a feminine aspect within himself, each of these aspects of maleness and femaleness being of equal value and importance for natural balance. Hesse's figures often extrapolated the internal constellation and made them outwardly into narrative "heroes" with separate names. Male figures for Hesse were the exemplification of maleness within him, and female figures that of the female aspects within him. "Hermine" in Steppenwolf is, of course, the feminine version of the name "Hermann" and the female counterpart of Harry Haller => HH => Hermann Hesse). She reminds Harry Haller of a boyhood acquaintance of him who is obviously he himself in the happy days of youth. If HH needs to come to terms with his own maleness and femaleness within himself, as it were: "embrace them," or "love them", the average reader would of course conclude that this means Goldmund's feminizing is for the birds and purposely designed to agonize feminists, and Emil Sinclair's ultimate kiss of Demian an expression of unfortunately unfulfilled homoeroticism. That's why in my private opinion and in contradiction to these latter interpretations, the issue of sexuality raised in the question is a non-issue. I stand to be corrected, as always. But as I said before, Hesse has more dimensions and is tougher to read than one thinks.
Gunther

I read Demian a long time ago and didnt get that idea until i read The Stephenwolf(i dont know how you write it in english, im mexican), whem Harry meets the woman he will fall in love with, he names her Fernanda , beacuse she looks like an old friend of him, and i think its in the novel Gertrude when he also falls in love with a woman who has masculine factions and so on, i dont know if its homosexuality or something less obvious, but theres something there.

I'm so glad I found someone else who has read Demian. A friend of a friend just gave me this book, as he thought it might appeal to my sensibilities after meeting me for only a day. He was right. Interestingly enough, the person who gave me the book lives in the apartment above my friend, though my friend tells me they do not have a sexual relationship. They travel the world together as a team.
He claims to have been celibate for the past ten years. When they visited recently, I put them in one bedroom with two twin beds - no complaints. As far as they are concerned, what ever they are doing, or aren't, is fine with me.
I did really like this book. I don't think the relationship described between Max and Sinclair is really a homosexual relationship, although, I don't think it is at all homophobic either.
It is a spiritual relationship, platonic in nature, much like I assume the relationship between my friends is extremely close, nonsexual. As a matter of fact, all of the relationships that Sinclair encountered were nonsexual, even if he wished the relationships were more physical in nature. Which is interesting, because at one point in the book, Max tells Demian that dreams don't count unless they are acted upon.
I can see why most people would think the characters in this book were homosexual. I, on the other hand, think it is something else all together. I'll make another post here in regards to this book, because this is not why I'm intrigued with Hesse, although I'll admit I also thought about the sexual preferences of the characters while reading.

He also gave me a copy of Narcissus and Goldmund, which I'll read next.

I should say, the part in the book where Max tells Sinclair that dreams are nothing without attainment.

Anyone who doubys Hesse's love and appreciation of women needs to re-read narcissus and goldmund. This is not "pie in the sky" intellectial love either!! It is the real thing with smells and tastes and "earthiness". These women are so real, and in a few short paragraphs are so much broght to life, that one can almost taste and feel them too. Truly an amazing work. I would rate this as one of the most sensual novel of all time, even higher than lolita!!! BTW, I love it.