Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

A dazzling and "highly readable" ( Guardian ) portrait of Shakespeare as a young artist, revealing how his rich and complex queer life informed the plays and poems we treasure today “Was Shakespeare gay?” For years the question has sent experts and fans into a tailspin of confusion. But as scholar Will Tosh argues, this debate misses the point: sex, intimacy, and identity in Elizabethan England were infinitely more complex—and queer—than we have been taught. In this incisive biography, Tosh reveals William Shakespeare as a queer artist who drew on his society’s nuanced understanding of gender and sexuality to create some of English literature’s richest works. During Shakespeare’s time, same-sex desire was repressed and punished by the Church and state, but it was also articulated and sustained by institutions across England. Moving through the queer spaces of Shakespeare’s life—his... A dazzling portrait of Shakespeare as a young artist, revealing how his rich and complex queer life informed the plays and poems we treasure today Was Shakespeare gay? For years the question has sent experts and fans into a tailspin of confusion. But as scholar Will Tosh argues, this debate misses the sex, intimacy, and identity in Elizabethan England were infinitely more complexand queerthan we have been taught. In this incisive biography, Tosh reveals William Shakespeare as a queer artist who drew on his societys nuanced understanding of gender and sexuality to create some of English literatures richest works. During Shakespeares time, same-sex desire was repressed and punished by the Church and state, but it was also articulated and sustained by institutions across England. Moving through the queer spaces of Shakespeares lifehis Stratford schoolroom, smoky London taverns and playhouses, the royal courtTosh shows how strongly Shakespeares early work was influenced by the queer culture of the time, much of it totally integrated into mainstream society. He also uncovers the surprising reason why Shakespeare veered away from his early works gender-bending homoeroticism. Offering a subversive sketch of Elizabethan England, Straight Acting uncovers Shakespeare as one of historys great queer artists and completely reshapes the way we understand the Bards life and times.