Straight Acting The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

<p><b>'Fluent and witty . . . confident . . . highly readable'</b><br><b>Kathryn Hughes, <i>GUARDIAN</i></b><b><br><br>'Lively and accomplished'</b><br><b>Sophie Duncan, <i>LITERARY REVIEW</i></b><br><br><b>'E</b><b>ngaging, enthusiastic and informative'</b><br><b>Philip Hensher, <i>SPECTATOR</i></b><br><br><b>'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating'<br>KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of <i>Super-Infinite</i></b><br><br><b>Was Shakespeare gay? The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might think . . .</b><br><br>Shakespeare's work was profoundly influenced by the queer culture of his time - much of it totally integrated into mainstream society. From a relentless schooling in Latin and Greek homoeroticism, to a less formal education on the streets and in smoky taverns, from the gender-bending of the early comedies to the astonishingly queer literary scene that nurtured Shakespeare's sonnets, this is a story of artistic development and of personal crisis.<br><br><i>Straight Acting</i> is a surprising portrait of Shakespeare's queer lives - his own and those in his plays and poems. It is a journey back in time and through Shakespeare's England, revealing a culture that both endorsed and supressed same-sex desire. It is a call to stop making Shakespeare act straight and to recognise how queerness powerfully shaped the life and career of the world's most famous playwright.<br><br><b>'Magisterial and saucy . . . This fresh account kickstarts the queer canon of English literature: Shakespeare won't go back in the closet again'<br>EMMA SMITH, author of <i>This Is Shakespeare</i></b></p>