whispers
AU where Ophelia is using Hamlet as part of a scheme to topple a corrupt monarchy and at the end she runs away with him and Horatio because fuck love triangles
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It's not Shakespeare as such, but it's queer history and I was wondering whether you'd link it? Thanks. It's secrethistoriesproject (on tumblr).Anonymous
Followers, if any of you are interested, go take a look!
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» Shakespeare's Queer Children: Sexual Politics and Contemporary Culture
“Shakespeare’s Queer Children” argues that Shakespeare is not the exclusive possession of any one social group or cultural formation, but has provided an enabling and empowering resource which has allowed “other” radical voices to be heard, often in the face of forces which would consign them to insignificance, marginalization or oppression. The book stages a series of detailed, closely contextualized readings of significant texts and moments in the cultural history of Shakespeare, including the trials of Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter’s “Wise Children”, the debate over “political correctness” and the literary curriculum, and Derek Jarman’s films. Chedgzoy argues that if Shakespeare is not of an age but for all time, it is surely not because his works transcend or obliterate historical and cultural differences, but because they offer a space where conflicting desires - aesthetic, social and erotic - can be enacted, explored and transformed.
Submitted by theshakespearegirlnovel. Thank you!
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I have finally found a Shakespeare blog that is totally Queer! THANK YOU!!!
Glad to be of service! If you’ve got anything to submit please send it our way, we always need more submissions.
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Richard Burt - Unspeakable ShaXXXspeares: Queer Theory and American Kiddie Culture
Not sure if you’ve posted about this book yet, but Richard Burt’s Unspeakable ShaXXXspeares (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998, revised edt. 1999) is a damn good book on queer Shakespeare, with a focus on film/TV adaptations and pop culture. Well worth checking out.
Submitted by shakespearean—thank you!
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The Madness of Love - A Mercutio/Romeo Fic (Some Mercutio/Tybalt)
By Meltha.
Mercutio first met Romeo in hell. At least, that was where he had thought he was. Hell, after all, is a place that has no hope left in it. Mercutio had seen his father, his mother, his two older brothers and his little sister fall ill with plague, slowly slipping away each day. His God-fearing neighbors had turned their backs on them, fear stripping them of any semblance of humanity. Eventually, in their panic, the people of Verona nailed shut the doors of every effected house to prevent the spread of contagion or the escape of the doomed inhabitants. He had been surrounded by the continual stink of death, and hope had ceased to exist for him except as a dim memory.
For three weeks Mercutio had lived in that hell, watching helplessly as his family died one by one, but inexplicably the disease did not touch him. However, there was no food left in the house, and he had soon sunk to the level of eating rats, the only creatures to break the edict of quarantine. He began to grow delirious and weaker day by day, his mind becoming unhinged with famine, grief, and terror.
But hell was not to be his final resting place. At long last the door was pried open, and Friar Lawrence had stood silhouetted against daylight so blindingly bright that Mercutio had thought he might be God. The holy man had been horrified at what had been done during his absence to visit one of his superiors in Mantua, and the friar had come to put the dead to rest; he had not expected any survivors. In his shadow had stood a small boy, barely daring to peek around the voluminous folds of the friar’s brown robes. Friar Lawrence had looked down, only just now realizing the child was there.
“Great saints! Romeo, thou must not enterest this place. What dost thou here? No, answer not, I have not time for thy idle prattle. Be a good child and run back to thy parents’ house,” he had said.
“Will he die?” he asked, frowning seriously.
“Fear not,” he said kindly, bending to speak to him face to face with a consoling expression. “There are worse things than death, and those who have treated these poor souls with such contempt have far more to fear than this one does if he be called to his eternal home. But hie thee hence! There’s a good lad.”
With a long backward glance, the little boy ran along the cobbled streets. His eyes had briefly connected with Mercutio’s bleary ones, and somehow in that moment a bond had been forged. Meanwhile, uttering Paternosters and Aves with an urgency that seemed to propel him with superhuman force, Friar Lawrence had carried the weak and ill Mercutio back to the church where he nursed him to health over several months.
Mercutio had been ten years old.
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Some Genderqueer (Canadian) Shakespeare
Saw that you had a link to Kathryn Hunter’s R3, which reminded me of this fantastic production of Richard III starring Seana McKenna. Here is a short film which juxtaposes Ms McKenna’s transformation from woman to man with another production that was on that season, Michel Tremblay’s Hosanna (the protagonist is a drag queen emulating Liz Taylor’s Cleopatra).
This link goes to my blog, wherein one finds another video regarding this production’s concept, with a complete transcript.
There are a couple of great Canadian plays which deal with gender, homosexuality and Shakespeare. The first is Elizabeth Rex, and the second is Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)
Elizabeth Rex by Timothy Findlay deals with gender roles in Shakespeare’s time- Queen Elizabeth I is a woman who is fulfilling a man’s duty, and Ned Lowenscroft is a gay actor in Shakespeare’s troupe who specialises in women’s roles. He is dying, and she has condemned her lover to death.
In the foreground sits an older woman wearing a bright red wig and stiff white gown with a large neck ruff. Her accoutrements are bedecked with lace and pearls, and her face is heavily made up with white base and red spots of blush and lipstick. She is striking a dramatic pose, and looks to her right. This is Diane D’Aquila as Elizabeth the First. By her lap is a glowing lantern with a small candle inside. This is a DVD cover- the text on it reads- Opening Night: Showcase for the Performing Arts: Elizabeth Rex.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie Macdonald follows the adventures of a would-be university professor through the texts of Othello and Romeo and Juliet. Compared to Elizabeth Rex it is very lighthearted, and has a lot of gay hijinx, in every sense that phrase can be taken.
The background is an iconic shot of Shakespeare in blue wash. His eyes and mouth are replaced by what look like magazine cut-outs- His left eye is replaced by a white woman’s blue eye, and his right eye is replaced by what looks like an Impressionist rendering of an eye. His mouth is replaced by a white woman’s made-up red lips. On the bottom of the image is the cut-out of a hand holding a cigarette, done in black and white. The text of this cover reads- From the author of Fall On Your Knees: Winner of the Governer General’s Award for Drama: Ann-Marie Macdonald: Goodnight Desdemona: (Good Morning Juliet)
These are great plays. I encourage anyone who’s into Queered Shakespeare to check them out.
Submitted by bouzingo-canadian. Thank you!
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» Shakespearean Headcanon
Submit your own headcanons about Shakespeare’s works!
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Dear Queer Shakespearians,
Your mod has finally gotten around to emptying out several things that were sitting in his inbox and his to-queue bookmark, so you can expect to see several new posts over the next few days. To keep up the influx of content, please submit anything you have been sitting on that is even remotely related to queer Shakespeare! I’d like to get this place up and running again.
Tchy
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A fan video of the Macbeth episode of Great Performances, featuring Patrick Stewart as Macbeth and Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth. The video is set to Mulan’s I’ll Make a Man Out of You and focuses on Lady Macbeth encouraging Macbeth to carry out their plots. It was submitted by quantumspork, who says,
Not explicitly “queer,” but a silly riff on the themes of masculinity in Macbeth. Besides, I’ll Make a Man Out of You videos are always necessary.
