Was William Shakespeare gay or bisexual, as we would understand the terms? Since his Sonnets first appeared, that has been the question within Shakespearean criticism. What does this debate tell us about Elizabethan attitudes toward what we would now call homosexuality? Bear in mind that according to Louis Crompton, Elizabeth I recriminalised 'sodomy' after Mary Tudor (1513-1558) decriminalised it, but there was only one recorded conviction during the period in question, so it doesn't seem to have been enforced in sixteenth century England. Oddly, given James VI/I's homosexuality, the same cannot be said for the early seventeenth century, according to the late Alan Bray. So, was he or wasn't he? True, one thinks of Christopher Marlowe, sixteenth century spy, atheist and gay badboy, and author of Edward II, which deals unequivocally with the title character's romances with Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despencer, as well as the downfall of the gay monarch in question. Like Edward, Marlowe met a sorry end when he was stabbed in Deptford (1593) [see note below - ed.]. However, although possibly more closeted, Shakespeare has attracted his own degree of controversy. Nor was he the only one. Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene epic poem contains similar references to idealised same-sex relationships. As for the Bard, the Sonnets are evidence for his ambiguous sexuality. Of the one hundred and fifty two sonnets, twenty six are directed toward a married woman, possibly Emilia Bassanio, a Sephardic (crypto)-Jewish beauty, and a prime candidate for the 'Dark Lady.' However, the remainder are directed toward a young, androgynous male beauty. True, critics have debated whether or not this was an intense platonic, nonsexual male friendship, but even evangelical critic C.S.Lewis felt he had to acknowledge a possibly consummated same-sex relationship. Stephen Greenblatt has revived this controversy in a recent book of Shakespearean cultural criticism. According to him, the Sonnets are not the only evidence to attest Shakespeare's possible sexual ambiguity, and he noted that the Bard was subjected to a flintlock wedding because he'd gotten Anne Hathaway pregnant back in Stratford On Avon. He argues that the marriage may have been unhappy, and notes that his portrayals of heterosexual relationships often end badly, especially in his tragedies. Think of Romeo and Juliet, Anthony and Cleopatra, Othello and Desdemona, the Macbeths, Richard III and Anne, his wife. Of course, that didn't mean that Shakespeare neglected his parental responsibilities. When King Lear mourned the death of his murdered, faithful daughter Cordelia, he was expressing his own grief for the death of his eleven year old son, Hamnet. So, who was Shakespeare's possible male lover? According to Shakespeare criticism, it may have been Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton (1573-1624), and a ward of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Elizabeth I's long-time chancellor. Wriothesley was a member of an inner-circle of late Elizabethan male poets and courtiers. In 1592, London was exposed to one of its periodic bouts of bubonic plague, and Shakespeare was forced to leave the city. Instead of returning to Stratford, he spent the summer at Southampton's estate in Holborn. Wriothesley's circle may have been responsible for transforming Shakespeare into the eloquent and articulate poet and playwright that he became during the next twenty years of his life. As for Southampton, he foolishly married one of Elizabeth I's ladies-in-waiting, who were required to emulate the virginity of that ageing but intellectually agile monarch. Added to that, he participated in the Earl of Essex' rebellion in 1601, and was imprisoned, although James VI/I pardoned and released him upon accession to the throne in 1603. Nor does Wriothesley's marriage settle matters entirely, either. Initially, he prospered under James I, becoming a Knight of the Garter and Captain of the Isle of Wight (1603). He was a Protestant enthusiast and fought against the Spanish and Holy Roman Imperial forces during the early Thirty Years War (1614, 1617). He became a Privy Councillor in 1619, but fell into disgrace due to his opposition to the Duke of Buckingham, James VI/I's reputed lover and favourite, which raises some interesting questions about his sexuality once again. In 1624, Wriothesley died when he fought for the Netherlands, against Catholic Spain, of infectious disease. As for Shakespeare, his final canonical work was The Tempest (1612). After that masterpiece, he retired to Stratford, where he died in 1616, apparently reconciled with Anne Hathaway. Was Shakespeare gay, or was Wriothesley merely an intense platonic friendship of his? As sexuality and intimacy change relations over time, this will no doubt continue to be a controversy unless one can locate decisive evidence that specifically endorses or refutes either stance. [Editor's note: Tony of Wellington adds these thoughts about Marlowe's death and coverups of literary greats' homo-inspired writings: The three people who were present when Christopher Marlowe was stabbed on 30 May 1593 were Robert Poley, Nicholas Skeres and Ingram Frizer (who actually did the stabbing which killed Marlowe). It was not an assassination but an act of self defence after Marlowe attacked them. All three were exonerated at the inquest. However, there were some funny aspects to the affair that have never been satisfactorily explained. There's quite a good recent book about it called The Reckoning. I've always been a fan of Marlowe. Anyone who can say: "He is a fool who likes not boys and tobacco" has got to have something going for him! I'm sure that Shakespeare had a gay aspect to his character but that meant quite a different thing in Elizabethan culture to what it means to us. What's always struck me is the way in which the school curriculum stays right away from his sonnets (presumably for the obvious reasons - we can't have boys and girls becoming aware that our greatest literary figure wrote love poems to other blokes, can we now). There's an interesting parallel to that of which I became aware a couple of years ago. My long term boy friend is Chinese. All Chinese kids are taught about and read the poetry of Li Po who is a T'ang dynasty poet who occupies the same place in their literary canon that Mr S does in ours. But it took me to show him the poems that Li Po wrote to his male lover. They don't get a mention in Chinese schools either. Bullying isn't the only way that schools dump on gay identity! Cheers, Tony] Essential Reading: Alan Bray: Homosexuality in Renaissance England: London: Gay Men's Press: 1982. Greg Bredbeck: Sodomy and Interpretation: Ithaca: Cornell University Press: 1991. Louis Crompton: Homosexuality and Civilisation: Cambridge, Massachuesetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press: 2003. Dominic Green: The Double Life of Doctor Lopez: London: Arrow: 2004. Stephen Greenblatt: Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare: New York: Norton: 2004. Bruce Smith: Homosexual Desire in Shakespeares England: Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 1991. Craig Young - 12th June 2005