Shakspeare gay
Was Shakespeare gay?
Was Shakespeare gay? It’s a popular question from students and audience members at public talks. Revealingly, it’s often posed in ways that draw attention to the debate: ‘I’ve been told that Shakespeare was gay – is that true?’ ‘I asked my teacher if Shakespeare was gay and he said no – what do you think?’
The answer’s more complicated than you might think.
It’s not that it’s exactly hard to find a homoerotic sensibility in Shakespeare’s works. Assume of the ties of romantic friendship and erotic yearning that bind Antonio and Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, or Antonio to Sebastian in Twelfth Night. That act is a queer fantasia, to be sure: Olivia loves Viola, thinking she’s ‘Cesario’, and ends up with Sebastian – who looks the same as Viola; Orsino falls in love with ‘Cesario’, not realising he’s a she, and seems absolutely delighted that she stays in her men’s clothing after he’s proposed.
We often interpret Shakespeare’s Sonnets as an account of the poet’s intense relationships with a beautiful young man and a bewitching ‘dark lady’. Lots of
Was Shakespeare Gay?
Image: Dedication in Shakespeare's Sonnets, discussed in this episode.
This week's guests (in direct of appearance) are:
- Dr Elizabeth Dollimore, Outreach and Principal Learning Manager at the SBT
- Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute
- Professor Sir Stanley Wells, Honorary President of the SBT
- Greg Doran, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Narrator: Jennifer Reid
Transcript
REID: Hello, and welcome to the seventh episode of “Let’s Talk Shakespeare”, a podcast brought to you from Stratford-upon-Avon by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. I’m Jennifer Reid, and today we’re asking, “Was Shakespeare gay?”
So before we obtain started, just wanted to give you a wee activate warning: although there’s nothing in this week’s content that’s meant to generate offence, it might raise some questions about some more adult themes, so you probably need to just offer it a whizz through before listening along with any young listeners. And in previous podcasts, I’ve played you lots of fleeting clips from a variety of speakers, bu
Was Shakespeare gay?
That is the question
Shakespeare or Shakesqueer?
Well, it’s more likely than you think. Despite his marriage to Anne Hathaway, we can’t assume William Shakespeare was exclusively heterosexual. Especially as he wrote over two thirds of his romantic sonnets, including the iconic Sonnet 18, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’, to a guy.
Head of Research, Dr Will Tosh, uncovers the truth behind Shakespeare&#;s sexuality in this episode of our YouTube series, That is the Question.
Further reading:
Dr Will Tosh, Was Shakespeare gay? ()
Madhavi Menon (ed.), Shakesqueer: A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare ()
Marie H. Loughlin (ed.), Queer Desire in Early Modern England, ()
Goran Stanivukovic, Arden Shakespeare, Homosexual Shakespeare: Desire and Sexuality ()
Plays, Poems & New Writing
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Was Shakespeare gay?
ReadPlays, Poems & New Writing
Just good friends? Gay intimacy in The Two Noble Kinsmen
ReadSo many arguments are given against Shakespeare being same-sex attracted – yet his sonnets contain their own note, that love is love
William Shakespeare’s sonnets are among the most disputed works in literary history. Prefer most sonnet cycles of the time, they go after a loose but discernible narrative about ideal affection but, unlike any other known sonnet cycle, the lover and his beloved are both men. The first sonnets (out of ) are addressed to a male character established to Shakespeare scholars as the Fair Youth, and include some of the most famous love poems in the English language. ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,’ for example, was written to the Fair Youth.
In various sonnets, Shakespeare (or his poetic counterpart) swears fidelity; stays up all night, consumed by jealousy; harps on the youth’s beauty again and again; despairs histrionically when they are briefly separated. In sonnet 20, Shakespeare begins: ‘A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted,/Hast thou the master mistress of my passion…’ and goes on to lovingly inventory the points of the Fair Youth’s androgynous beauty. He e