Gender Performativity of Harold Smith

In Twin Peaks, the character Harold Smith commits suicide and leaves in his note that he is a “lonely soul” (Lavery 230). Harold is noticeably more feminine then all the other male characters in Twins Peaks. According to Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, Harold aligns himself with the female gender role. Kristin M. Stelmok from the University of Maine describes the theory of performativity as “categories of gender and sex are merely performances which gain their authority through reiterative practice.” Since Harold is kept inside from his apparent agoraphobia, he has no need to “perform” a male gender role. He is however exposed to the kind hearts of the volunteers in the Meals on Wheels service in Twin Peaks. These characters from the Meals on Wheels program (i.e. Laura Palmer) become a part of his life in a very interesting way. He absorbs these feminine characters through their stories of the outside world. Laura Palmer visits Harold frequently since she is a part of the Meals on Wheels program, and they begin to have a friendship. Laura tells Harold her life story since he is very curious about the occurrences outside of his house. Once Laura dies, he keeps her diary and reads it to gain a better understanding of Laura and the female gender. Since he is coped up in his house he essentially becomes genderless in a “performativity” world. When Donna starts to visit Harold he shows off his wonderful garden to her, trying to win her affection. He doesn’t know that she is just playing him to get to her best friend’s diary. He however is much like the orchid in his greenhouse. He absorbs the lives of others, and wants to be a beautiful flower like an orchid. This is evident when he takes notes on Donna, when they strike a deal so Donna can read parts of Laura’s diary. He wants to absorb the lives of women, since he wants to be a symbol of pure beauty like Laura and Donna. As soon as Donna betrays Harold, he kills himself because has nothing left to absorb. He describes himself as a “lonely soul” since no one is around to observe his external beauty, and no one wants to share their life with him, so he is truly a lonely orchid with no purpose but to die.

A Tragicomedy of Gender Performativity and Patriarchal Subversion in One Act. December 16, 2005. University of Maine. November 24,2008. http://www.umaine.edu/victorianlinks/Salome.htm

Lavery, David .Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. 203.

Charles S.