A Shakespearean Subculture of Sexuality
Presentation Type
Presentation
Release Option
Event
Description
William Shakespeare’s plays “The Merchant of Venice '' and “Twelfth Night” both feature a man named Antonio, whose seemingly platonic devotion for his male friend has been argued by many critics to border on romantic as observed through language, actions, and dialogue. Written within three to four years of each other, it can be argued Shakespeare was deliberate when giving his characters both the same name and similar maritime occupations, as identity is a recurring theme in “Twelfth Night,” and names, titles, and identities are significant in “Merchant of Venice” . Shakespeare’s untitled sonnet sequence explores gender and sexual fluidity with “his almost unprecedented choice of a beautiful young man (rather than a lady) as the principal object of praise, love, and idealizing devotion” (NortonAnthology, 1170). Perhaps Shakespeare never intended to publish his sonnets for public reading, but “Shakespeare’s sonnets, or some of them, were circulating in a manuscript a decade before their publication, for Francis Meres referred in 1598 to ‘his sugared sonnets among private friends-” Mere’s description suggests an intimate culture in which sexual fluidity is accepted (The Riverside, 1836). Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays both explore a romantic relationship between two men, as contended in Joseph Pequigney’s “The Two Antonios and Same-Sex Love in ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘The Merchant of Venice,’” and Robert Matz’s “The Scandals of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.” Shakespeare’s use of language and portrayal of the relationships of the Antonios and the language and portrayal of the poet’s relationship with the young man reflect a social sphere where gender and sexuality are fluid, in a way that might have been unprecedented in early modern culture.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Mary Villeponteaux
Department of Primary Presenter's Major
Department of Literature
Location
Concurrent Sessions (Room 240)
Symposium Year
2022
A Shakespearean Subculture of Sexuality
Concurrent Sessions (Room 240)
