Homosexual desire in Shakespeare's England
Subtitle: a cultural poetics
By: Bruce R. Smith.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 1991
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 329
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616; English literature -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism; Homosexuality and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century; Homosexuality and literature -- England -- History -- 17th century; Poetics -- History -- 16th century; Poetics -- History -- 17th century; Sexual orientation in literature; Desire in literature; Sex in literature
Other titles: Homosexual desire.
Description: In the most comprehensive study yet of homosexuality in the English Renaissance, Bruce R. Smith examines and rejects the assessments of homosexual acts in moral philosophy, laws, and medical books in favor of a poetics of homosexual desire. Smith isolates six different "myths" from classical literature and discusses each in relation to a particular Renaissance literary genre and to a particular part of the social structure of early modern England. Smith's new Preface places his work in the context of the continuing controversies in gay, lesbian, and bisexual studies -- Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [271]-315) and index.