It’s a tired old cliché that theater is a haven for gay people. But do you know just how old that cliché is? In Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare, academic Will Tosh looks into homosexuality in England in the 16th and 17th centuries, using Shakespeare as a doorway to the world of both theatre and homosexuality. He argues that life in England at that time basically groomed young men to have homosexual desires while demonizing those same urges. For those who think they know Shakespeare and the world he grew up in, get ready for an eye-opening journey through the sex lives of Elizabethan England’s men.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Seal Press for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare contains some spoilers!]
Straight Acting isn’t just about Shakespeare
Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare isn’t a biography of Shakespeare. In fact, while Shakespeare is the book’s main focus, he isn’t the only playwright Tosh looks at. Tosh doesn’t just look at real people, either. He uses the characters from Shakespeare’s (and others’) writing to demonstrate how common gay interactions were.
Tosh isn’t exactly interested in labeling things as “gay” or “straight” or “bi”. He also doesn’t really use labels like “cis,” “non-binary,” or “trans.” He argues that these terms and concepts didn’t really exist in Shakespeare’s time, and that trying to force modern labels onto archaic situations isn’t really useful. Of course that doesn’t mean that these things weren’t happening, they just were ignored by society, so there was no language to try and discuss them.
And that’s where William Shakespeare comes in. He put these things into his writing. People had to confront these relationships, feelings, and people in ways they didn’t before. He created a language for people to talk about what they saw.
He wasn’t the only one doing this. To hear Tosh tell it, every actor and playwright was either gay or bisexual, and they were all writing about it. Some had more success than others, though. In fact, many were brutally punished, their lives ruined for daring to force such controversial subjects into the light. But whether because of his excellent writing or his luck with sponsors or something else (or all things considered, maybe he slept with the right person), Shakespeare not only avoided trouble but flourished in those difficult times.
Straight Acting suggests society played a big part in homosexual urges
Tosh starts his look at William Shakespeare at a relatively young age. He begins with Shakespeare’s “breeching”, an essential coming-of-age rite where he was given his first set of pants instead of the skirts that young boys wore (yes, boys wore skirts as children). Then, he spends quite a while talking about what schooling was like in Shakespeare’s time, how boys were locked up together without any females around. How they were publicly beaten for infractions, both real and imagined, by sadistic teachers, creating power and pain dynamics that undoubtedly became tied to sexual desires.
Tosh shares how most texts that were taught in school were Latin copies of Greek and Roman texts that both argued for and glorified homosexuality. Tosh argues that in such an environment, it was inevitable that boys and men would turn to homosexual acts, even as those very acts were vilified and reviled by society at large. He stresses that they wouldn’t have seen those acts the way that we do, most of them seeing it as more amicitia perfecta, an idealized same-sex relationship that was honored as the most pure of all loves and friendships. I imagine it was a very confusing time for boys and men to live in.
It is worth noting that women didn’t attend school and learn about amicitia perfecta. There is some evidence that they did seek out lesbian relationships in addition to their traditional relationships. But society ignored female homosexuality even more than male homosexuality, and Tosh likewise doesn’t bother with it in Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare beyond, where he uses Shakespeare’s characters to make a point.
Potentially controversial take in Straight Acting
I thought that everyone knew, or had at least heard, that Shakespeare was gay or bisexual. Yes, Shakespeare had a wife and children, that was just what was expected at that time, so you did it regardless of your own desires. However, from how Tosh writes it, this is not well-known or accepted outside academia. So, some people might find Tosh’s claims upsetting or disturbing. There may be some that claim people want to “make everything gay.” Of course, I don’t think people who feel like that are super likely to read Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare in the first place.
Those who are more open-minded but haven’t come across the literature arguing about Shakespeare’s sexuality will probably find Tosh’s theories quite interesting. Although, at times, it feels like Tosh is trying to paint the entire Elizabethan scene with a rainbow brush, there is plenty of proof for his interpretation. It might not have been quite the swinging scene that Tosh depicts, but there was still plenty going on in Shakespeare’s time, and not everyone is going to like hearing it.
Not sure queer lives was necessary
Tosh chose to write about Shakespeare’s queer “lives” not because he had multiple lovers or homes, but because he considered the different characters that Shakespeare wrote about to prove his homosexuality further. And while it certainly proves that homosexuality was known about in Elizabethan times, I don’t think it proves anything about Shakespeare himself.
Authors create characters who are very different from themselves all the time. Just because Shakespeare created homosexual or transgender characters doesn’t mean that he himself was those things, and I think that trying to equate the two dilutes Tosh’s arguments. It was an exciting look, but I could have used a little more Shakespeare and a little less of his characters.
Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare won’t be for everyone
Tosh shares that he is an academic right away. And it comes across in his writing. Now, Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare isn’t a dry, dull paper. Tosh makes a great effort to use a conversational, amicable tone in his work. But it still comes across as a thesis. It’s a little too heavy on citations and quotes. Shakespeare’s story often feels lost in the general history that Tosh is relating to us.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with the general history, but when Shakespeare is in the title, you expect the focus to be a little more on him and his life. Admittedly, there isn’t as much known about Shakespeare’s life as people think. We don’t even know his actual birthday, just his baptism date. Still, Tosh spends some time on tangents about other people that are probably fascinating to experts in Elizabethan theatre, but are a little boring to a layperson. For those who are really into the theatre or are true Shakespeare enthusiasts, this is for you; everyone else might want to skip it.
My Rating: 6/10
Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare by Will Tosh is available now! Let us know on social media @mycosmiccircus if you have read or plan on reading this book!
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