“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!
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!
Submitted by singfurimmer.
I found Susan Bennett’s review of Tony Howard’s book Women As Hamlet: Performance And Interpretation In Theatre, Film, And Fiction. I’m curious about this book myself, and this review was very helpful. I would link to it, but it’s a PDF. So here is the whole text:
“Tony Howard’s lively and informative study draws our attention to the fact that the extensive history of Shakespeare’s most famous character includes an extraordinary and rather unexpected presence of women including, remarkably, the first Hamlet on film and, in all likelihood, the first Hamlet on the radio (1). Howard tells us that since the mid-nineteenth century more than two hundred professional actresses across the globe have played the role of the procrastinating protagonist and his Women as Hamlet impressively examines a wide selection of those performances in the theatre and on film as well as looking to representations in other media including the visual arts and fiction.
The project starts by situating some of the most famous female Hamlets among the number of travesti roles on the professional stage. This includes, of course, Sarah Siddons in the eighteenth century along with Charlotte Cushman and Sarah Bernhardt in the nineteenth. Detailed and carefully nuanced accounts of their performances—for example, Howard creates a vivid picture of Cushman’s Hamlet, drawn from the actress’s own prompt book—provide a fine sense of how their presentations were realized and received. Howard also looks specifically at this historical trajectory in the context of emerging discourse and activism around women’s rights: for example, he notes of Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s popular “sensation” novel, Eleanor’s Victory, that it was a rewriting of Hamlet “as a feminist social critique” (73).
I know at least a couple of you (including you, the person who reblogged something on this sort of topic within the last 24 hours that is actually what reminded me I wanted to do this post, and also you, the person who started a tumblr specifically about this) may be able to help me answer at least one of the following questions, all of which concern…
The questions are as follows:
- How awesome does this look?
- Have you read it?
- If you answered ‘yes’ to question 2: is it as awesome as it looks?
- If you answered ‘yes’ to question 2: how advanced does my grasp of queer theory have to be before I can get any benefit out of it?
- If you answered ‘yes’ to question 2: how advanced does my grasp of Shakespeare have to be before I can get any benefit out of it?
- If you answered ‘no’ to question 2: doesn’t this look awesome?
- Is it too much that the title of this post is a pun on the title of a book that’s already another pun?
Thank you very much for your assistance with these inquiries.
Too good not to reblog. Plus, maybe some of you could help him out.
An interesting paper on the sexuality of Sebastian, of Twelfth Night, which
attempts to substantiate a claim not only of Sebastian’s bisexuality with his rescuer/friend Antonio but also his sexual role within that relationship and later his role within a potential marraige with Olivia.
An excerpt:
When they initially part on the beach Sebastian confesses to Antonio, “[M]y name / is Sebastian, which I called Roderigo” (2.1.15-16). Neither the play nor most of its critics pause over this passage. Pequigney argues, “The alias may be demystified if it is seen as a means to hide his identity, his true name and family connections, during a drawn-out sexual liaison with a stranger in strange lands.” (205). Given Sebastian’s androgynous physicality, Antonio’s ardent love “[A] desire, / More sharp than filed steel” (3.3.4-5) for the youth, Sebastian’s compliant and pleasing nature, his emotional dependence on Antonio, his initial desire to keep secret his identity, and not least of all his utter confusion and surprise at being thrust into a marriage with Olivia, the play seems to suggest, as Pequigney has argued, the certainly of a physical relationship between he and Antonio.
And plenty more of interest at the link.
Have y’all seen this? Just bought it today. My favorite essay so far is Heather Love’s on Macbeth but I’m a fan of the title for the reading of Midsummer Night’s Dream… Shakespeare’s Ass Play.
[A book cover. The top half is taken up by paintings of Shakespeare with brightly coloured makeup, stars, and other patterns on his face. The bottom half is black and includes the title, “Shakesqueer,” with the subtitle “A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare.” The editor is Madhavi Menon.]
(Submitted by maybesomedaydoctorj.)
