Shakespeare’s Drama and Homosexuality

• Název práce v češtině: Shakespearova dramata a homosexualita
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Shakespeare’s Drama and Homosexuality
• Klíčová slova: Shakespeare, Renesanční drama, queering, queer teorie, homosexualita, homosocialita, homoerotika, patriarchie, Kupec Benátský, Othello, Richard II
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Shakespeare, Renaissance drama, queer theory, queering, homosexuality, homosociality, homoeroticism, patriarchy, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Richard II
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2011/2012
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Ústav anglofonních literatur a kultur (21-UALK)
• Vedoucí / školitel: Mgr. Helena Znojemská, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno a potvrzeno stud. odd.
• Datum přihlášení: 30.04.2012
• Datum zadání: 02.05.2012
• Schválení administrátorem: zatím neschvalováno
• Datum potvrzení stud. oddělením: 09.05.2012
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 24.06.2013 08:30
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 05.06.2013
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 24.06.2013
• Odevzdaná/finalizovaná: odevzdaná studentem a finalizovaná
• Oponenti: PhDr. Soňa Nováková, CSc.

Zásady pro vypracování

Although it has always been around, homosexuality has been (re-)acknowledged as a legitimate sexual orientation only reasonably recently. In my bachelor thesis I would like to examine productions of the plays of William Shakespeare dealing with homosexual relations - romantic or sexual attraction between members of the same sex. According to some theories these may include homosocial and homoerotic relations. Homosocial bonds are of non-sexual nature, describing a remarkable friendship, or mentorship between two men, or women, whereas homoerotic relationships are based on intimate homosexual desire, which can often be subconscious, or figurative. These interpretations of the works of Shakespeare began to rise in the 1980’s. My thesis should concentrate at the various stagings in theatre, television and film, as well as point out some textual evidence leading to these interpretations. The most interesting thing about the subject is its relative novelty, sometimes even controversy, and the diversion from the readings established through centuries, not to forget about the question whether any of these interpretations could have been intended by the author.
In order to achieve representative illustration of the problem I decided to follow the established division of Shakespeare’s drama into three categories – comedies, tragedies and historical plays, and choose one play of each these categories that can be seen as a good example illuminating the problematic as well as possible. As those examples I have chosen The Merchant of Venice for comedies, Othello for tragedies, and Richard II as a representative of historical plays.
In the Merchant of Venice the discussed relationship is the one of Antonio and Bassanio, examining the possible motivation for Antonio’s incredible generosity towards his young friend. The most famous homoerotic interpretation can be found in the 2004 film version by Michael Radford, but the tradition of this view of the play is much older, the earliest example possibly being the 1987 Royal Shakespeare Company staging, directed by Bill Alexander.
In Othello I would like to concentrate on the relationship between Othello and Iago, show Iago’s distance and coldness towards his wife, in contrast with his bond with Othello. This interpretation of Iago is probably the oldest one of those that will be dealt with, as its tradition reaches back to 1938 Old Vic theatre production, where Laurence Olivier portrayed Iago’s acts as “motivated by repressed homosexual desire”[1]. This approach to Iago was reasonably popular ever since, as will be demonstrated on the 1985 Royal Shakespeare Company version, Iago being portrayed by David Suchet, who even wrote an essay about his approach to the character.
The case is a bit different when it comes to Richard II, as he is a real historic figure, but it is known that Shakespeare did not take theadumbrations of his historic figures too seriously. The main figures related to homosexuality homosexuality are Bushy and Green, the king’s favourites, as was captured by the 2006 production of the play by Czech Divadlo na Vinohradech, directed by Lucie Bělohradská. As their counterpart there is the figure of the queen, who is not in the centre of king’s attention untilBolingbrook’s return. Richard is often presented as an immature and childish king, but there are stagings with direct hints to homosexuality, the most important probably being the 1996 television version with Fiona Shaw portraying the king.
My thesis should prove that even though the homosexual nature of some of Shakespeare’s characters can be seen just as an addition of the 20^th century society, it does not mean that it is less relevant, because the flexibility and currentness of Shakespeare’s plots is what makes him one of the greatest playwrights of all time. It should also stress the fact that it is quite likely that the homosexuality of the characters could have been intended, as it is well known that Shakespeare was often inspired by Christopher Marlowe, who pointed to the same topic in his Edward II.

Seznam odborné literatury

Sources:
1. Stanley W. Wells: Looking for sex in Shakespeare, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004)
2. Stanley W. Wells: Shakespeare, Sex & Love, (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 2004)
3. ed. Occhiogrosso, Frank: Shakespeare in Performance: A Collection of Essays (London: Associated University Press, 2003 )
4. Rebecca Ann Bach: Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature before Heterosexuality (New York: Palgrave MacMilican, 2007 )
5. William Shakespeare, ed. Jonathan Bate: Othello, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
6. Woodbridge, Linda: English Revenge Drama: Money, Resistance, Equality (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010)