William Shakespeare: Were They Gay?

This one has been debated on for a while, with either people having a vague knowledge of the 126 sonnets addressed to a man, and others quite explicitly regarding the genius as bisexual.

I am of the opinion that we can confirm queer identities, but not specific sexual orientations. I'm prepared to declare I ebelive Shakespeare to be queer, but can only theorise that he was possibly bisexual, as such terms were non-existent in the majority of historical queer icons' times.


But that doesn't deny they were any less queer.

bookriot.com
Anne Hathaway as Viola, who disguises herself as a man and has Countess Olivia fall in love with her

It's undeniable with Shakespeare. Or should I say Shakesqueer.

The man wrote many different sonnets, and, yes, not all about love, but the majority were addressed to a man, while only the last 28 were addressed or referred to a woman. In the last episode, I discussed Emily Dickinson, so it felt right to follow her with someone equally poetic and romantic such as William Shakespeare.


These infamous sonnets were never confirmed, but specualted to be addresed to William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, due to the initials 'W.H'. Shakespeare's adoration is further confirmed as his first Folio in 1623 was dedicated to Herbert as well.

The sonnets include the infamous Sonnet 18:

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 

Add caption

Still unsure of Shakespeare's queerness? try Sonnet 29

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings. 

Lastly, "does it matter?"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this (and expect this when it comes to writing this series) and it annoys me to no extent. Does it normally matter? No. Does it matter in terms of what it means to the LGBTQ+ community? Yes it does. The most famous writer in English history. The one writer you are guaranteed to be taught about in secondary school. The man who everyone has absolutely some idea of. Of course that matters to us that he was actually queer. If you ever hear some high-class bigot go on about tradition in Shakespeare's plays... let them know that man was queer. He was one of us, and there's somethign very important about that.



More on Shakespeare:
http://shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetintroduction.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare/Sexuality
https://bookriot.com/2017/03/01/queer-shakespeare-roundup/