has it been confirmed that shakespeare was gay?

Answer 1

I didn't think it was possible to confirm the prefences - sexual or otherwise - with anyone who is long dead. Unless, of course, there is some documentation that states: "I, William Shakespeare, am homosexual".

Some people argue that a number of Shakepseare's sonnets seem to be written to a young man and they are written with a romantic tone, so they take that as proof that he was gay. But there's no proof that the sonnets were fictional or personal or even that that "tone" was intended by the author.

Shakespeare was married with three children, but people take his long absence from his wife - his possible "estrangement" - as a time when he realized his sexual preferences and preferred to live out that lifestyle in London. But that's where his work was, so you have to account for that.

So, in a nutshell, no one can CONFIRM that Shakespeare was gay. They can postulate, but they can't prove. It may be probable, but it is not provable. And, at any rate, does it make any difference? Does it make his writing any better or worse? I certainly don't think so.

Answer 2

We know far too little about him to say conclusively that he was gay. We're not even certain that William Shakespeare, the actor and resident of Stratford-upon-Avon, was the person who wrote the plays.

There's little evidence one way or the other about his sexuality outside of the texts. He was married and had children, but spent a lot of time away from his wife and they don't seem to have gotten along all that well. There's an authentic anecdote in a diary of the period in which Shakespeare and Richard Burbage were having an affair with the same woman, which would tend to suggest that he enjoyed sex with women.

As for the author of the plays and poems, there are some suggestions in the texts that the author was gay. In particular, many of his sonnets are addressed to a man often called the "Fair Youth". These are quite passionate, and tend to suggest that the author is gay.

There are a few sticking points in that theory, though. For one, other passionate sonnets are addressed to a Dark Lady; the author may have been bisexual.

For another, there's a chance that the author of the poems may have been a woman! Mary Sidney is one recent candidate; the evidence is not conclusive but very suggestive.

There are other, more subtle reasons to believe that the author of the plays was gay, such as the relationship between Aufidius and Coriolanus. You can analyze the texts to your heart's content, but you'll never be sure. History just works that way.

Answer 3

Sheesh.

There are a lot of people running around out there who aren't prepared to confirm that the dude even EXISTED...and now this.

Several prior respondents have pointed to the Sonnets, and, in particular, to the sequence (#1-17) in which Shakespeare addresses a young lord. The poems are interesting on many levels, but perhaps most interesting in that they all treat on a single theme: You're SO beautiful that you'll do a disservice to Nature and to the world-at-large if you die without leaving a child behind to remind future generations of your appearance.

However, this hardly suggests that Shakespeare was gay. In fact, the most plausible explanation for this particular sequence of poems (and I believe I'm cribbing from a really good essay by W. H. Auden here) is that the young lord was likely a patron of Shakespeare's theatre troupe. If you follow the logic here, the sonnets would have been written at the behest of this young man's parents, who implored Shakespeare to remind the guy of his REAL obligations (i.e., get busy making some HEIRS).

Bottom line: gay, straight, asexual, bi-sexual...who gives a rat's you-know-what? The guy could WRITE a little.

Answer 4

Alexander the Great Yes! Shakespeare No.

Answer 5

Most of the so-called evidence of Shakespeare's homosexuality is an interpretation of 126 of the sonnets, which are addressed to a young man (often refered to as "The Fair Lord"). The sonnets dwell on the beauty of the young man and one could make an argument that they demonstrate a sexual attraction for him. However, one could also make an argument that author is just praising his dear friend.

Fairly thin evidence of his sexuality. To say this "proves" he is homosexual would be as ludicrous. In fact, in light of the fact that he fathered two children, there seems to be a fairly solid case to be made that he was heterosexual.

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter one way or another. The sonnets and plays are equally brilliant no matter what his sexual orientation may have been.

Answer 6

No. I was in stratford recently (really boring) and there was nothing about shaksperes sxuality, other than he was married and had like, 3 kids. He had to get married cause he made anne hathaway pregent!

Answer 7

Hello
In those days Gay meant Happy...

hope this helps

Answer 8

I second the motion and now we have just confirmed that shake spear was a woman who was defiantly gay.

Answer 9

What an inane Q. I have to agree with Joey,,, HOW would that be proveable 500 years after the fact, BUT more directly WHAT would it matter?????????????????????
No offense

Answer 10

Ummmmm... how were you planning to get confirmation; through a seance?