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Post by lukejoo1092 on Nov 23, 2012 0:16:32 GMT -5
I know it's kind of random but do you think Shakespeare was gay? Yeah, the sonnets he wrote were all romantic and dedicated to his lover but to be honest, he didn't necessarily mention that his lover is a woman. (At least recalling from the ones that I remember.) And sonnet 20 talks about how he sees his lover as a woman while women see his lover as a man. Doesn't that mean that his lover is actually a man? I remember that there were more details about describing his lover as a man but I'm just not sure what they were. (I just listened to James and Sorn's analysis.)
Personally, I think that he might have been gay because then he would have had a different perspective to view the world, expressing things in a totally new or unexpected way and thus showing them through his genius plays.
So just out of curiosity, what do you think? Do you think Shakespeare the great play writer was gay?
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jisu25
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Post by jisu25 on Nov 23, 2012 0:20:19 GMT -5
If Shajesphere is gay, then does that mean that he was telling male readers his idea of romance and love. Now that you talk about that sonnet 20 was talking about that Shakesphere is homosexual. I wonder if these two are related in some way. IF he is gay, then i am going to have a different impression on the man.
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Post by yeajinchoi on Nov 23, 2012 7:37:03 GMT -5
I think he was gay. Or homosexual since he did get married and had a family of his own. Even some of his sonnets were clearly directed towards a man or men, and he pointed out that his lover was a man. But I think that led to his success as a poet. Being homosexual allowed him to see the world in different perspectives (like you said) and he when he wrote that down on paper, the readers would be fascinated by this new point of view. And I'm guessing that's how his writing started to spread.
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Post by ExtremelyExtremeExtremist on Nov 24, 2012 8:59:15 GMT -5
I think Shakespeare was gay. In sonnet 18, the ¡°summer¡¯s day¡± was describing a man (refer to line 6: it says that ¡°summer¡¯s day¡± is male) and said that he loved him. Generally, I feel like his lover is not just a random man; it could be his friend. But if sonnet was written to praise him, then Shakespeare is not gay. I¡¯m not sure about other sonnets.
Being a gay made Shakespeare into a writer with different perspective. I feel that he had new ideas after his point of view of gay evolved. Parents chose wife/husband for their children (similar to Marriage is Private Affair) back then. Shakespeare described that people, regardless of their social status, can love anyone they like (for example, Romeo and Juliet).
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gb1708
Junior Member
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Post by gb1708 on Nov 25, 2012 0:31:47 GMT -5
Gay detected. In sonnet 20 that Sorn and James analyze it, they said this sonnet was about one guy own the beauty as woman and SP liked it. But i'm still confusing that if he was gay, how could he have wives?  |
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Post by brandonina on Nov 25, 2012 0:55:00 GMT -5
I'm not really sure if you can tell that Shakespeare was gay just by referring to his genius qualities and unexpected perspectives on the world. But I, anyways, believe that Shakespeare was gay. I've found many internet sources (though I'm not sure if they are credible) that tell how Shakespeare was gay and had trouble with his marriage or something. Luke! We worked on Shakespeare's biography project last year! haha. But nobody knows though except Shakespeare.
After we analyzed some of his sonnets and Sorn&James came up with the evidence of Shakespeare's homosexuality, I think it isn't wrong to say that Shakespeare was gay. Well, I want to know the definite truth though.
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Post by sazad100 on Nov 25, 2012 7:09:04 GMT -5
I think Shakespeare was bisexual which Yeajin already said. He had a wife a family and his sonnets were dedicated to female and some men. And nobody knows the truth except himself like u said Brandon. I think he was straight at first then he was changing his mind.
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Post by woojongpark on Nov 25, 2012 9:23:06 GMT -5
By looking at some of his sonnets, I am brought to a conclusion that he is bisexual. He had a wife, which means that he liked women, but his sonnets mention that he likes men as well.
At that time, people were more open to homosexuality and sexual preferences, right? At least that's what I remember. And I think that is why Shakespeare could openly express his feelings about homosexuality in his sonnets.
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Post by KevinW on Nov 25, 2012 17:39:43 GMT -5
Seeing as how Shakespeare lived roughly 400 years ago with his works the only remaining evidence we have, I'd say his sexuality is undefined. I think Luke is right; his sexuality will determine the true meaning behind his words, and studying the author IS part of studying literature.
But frankly, homosexuality as a concept didn't exist back then. There were anti-sodomy laws, and that's it. It's 400 years in the past, and with no real way of nailing anything down, I'd throw it in the litterbox of still-to-be resolved mysteries. Perhaps we may be looking at this too hard; did Shakespeare write poems/plays on behalf of others?
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Post by linnie on Nov 26, 2012 1:48:50 GMT -5
Well, as Kevin said, there isn't any real authentic source for this. If you see sonnet 20, sonnet I analyzed, it was dedicated to men. But after that, I researched in the internet, people said that this sonnet is arguable. I think they believe there can be other themes, other than homosexuality. Also if you see his biography, he had a wife called Anne Hethaway or something. So it is really controversial. Oh, also he wrote many other sonnets dedicated to women as well. So this argument is really confusing me. Also Kevin had great point that there wasn't concept of homosexuality existed then.
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ony
New Member
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Post by ony on Nov 26, 2012 8:10:07 GMT -5
As everyone is saying or discussing about whether Mr. William Shakespeare was gay or not what I think is..I don't think that he was gay or homosexual or bisexual, etc. I think he wrote those sonnets about man/men just because he was showing or expressing another point of view his own opinion..like may be he had some friends who were gay and he wrote some poems and sonnets for them...And if he was gay ..then he was and if i get any evidence that shows me Shakespeare is gay it wont change thoughts about Shakespeare.(Peace)  |
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james
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Post by james on Nov 26, 2012 8:11:52 GMT -5
Well, i dont think anyone knows,, because you know the writing style of shakespeares how he hides things behind his words(sonnet especially) but,, what i think is that he was actually a gay. If you read sonnet20, which i did an annotated reading on, it clearly tells you that the sonnet is dedicated to a guy. Also, all those romantic sonnets he wrote, theyre not necessarily have to dedicated to a woman... It doesnt tell you,, were just assumin that its dedicated to a woman because shakespeare is a guy..
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Post by esther on Nov 27, 2012 7:37:25 GMT -5
If you see famous historians such as Einstein or Van Gogh, we see alot of werid things they experienced. There is a chance that Shakespeare was gay but even though, it wouldn't be something to be hated. I think it just depends on how we see it.
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Post by |Ruchira| on Nov 30, 2012 6:41:11 GMT -5
there are evidence, but i'm not sure
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Post by sergeyfen on Dec 2, 2012 2:08:36 GMT -5
I think i agree with you Luke that he was a gay. Poets that lived hundreds years ago were writing what they feel and express it, thats how they were writing their poems. Shakespeare is obviously one of them and i think he expressed his feelings in his sonnets and it sort of proves that he was homosexual.
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