Straight Acting

The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

An alternative biography of Shakespeare seen through the lens of queer Elizabethan England.
From the Head of Research at The Globe, London.

'Fluent and witty . confident . highly readable'
Kathryn Hughes, GUARDIAN

'Lively and accomplished'
Sophie Duncan, LITERARY REVIEW

'Engaging, enthusiastic and informative'
Philip Hensher, SPECTATOR

'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating'
KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-Infinite

Was Shakespeare gay? The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might think .

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.

Straight Acting 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.

'Magisterial and saucy . This fresh account kickstarts the queer canon of English literature: Shakespeare won't go back in the closet again'
EMMA SMITH, author of This Is Shakespeare

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