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by ... on May 2nd, 2005

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Was Shakespeare gay?

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  • by Too Much Time On My Hands on May 9th, 2005

    Too Much Time On My Hands

    I don't think there are enough written sources about Shakespeare and his life to answer that question for sure. It is known that he had a wife and three children, one of whom died young (possibly the reason why he started putting ghosts in his plays). Because of his work, though, he probably wasn't at home much. Whether he engaged in sexual relations with other men, or whether he had any preferences/desires outside of his traditional heterosexual marriage is anyone's guess. It is true that his entire troupe of actors would have been male, because in his day females could not take the stage and men played both male and female roles. So he certainly spent lots of time with men, but that doesn't make him gay. I doubt we'll ever see clear proof either way. People just like to speculate, since we know very little about the man and it's tempting to try to "discover" him by reading and analyzing his plays.

    There's a famous portrait of him where he's wearing an earring. I remember my Shakespeare professor saying that it caused some people to raise this very question, but that it was just a fashion statement from that time period and didn't suggest anything about his sexual preferences. I've seen portraits of the Kings of France wearing similar earrings... and while one of them was quite possibly gay from all we know about him, I doubt that three of them in a row were.

    Comments

    • i think its useful and insightful. i also think its weird how lit majors can be soo discerning

      Anonymous

      by Anonymous on May 20th, 2005

    • i find it interesting

      medeea

      by medeea on May 23rd, 2005

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