LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:9 September 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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The Shakespearean Unseen:
Homosexuality and Heterosexuality in Sonnets

Poulami Ganguly

Abstract

The canon of Shakespeare includes 154 sonnets which are emblematic of his passion, sexual urge and need of the mind. The Fair Youth sonnet sequence encompasses the concept of male friendship where at the same time the poet craves for the body of his friend. After first 126 sonnets there is a turn from male friendship to a longing for a woman’s body. The lady is often termed as mistress and black in skin tone and her morality. The poet makes a candid confession in spite of the hideous appearance and immorality he loves her and wants to be united both physically and mentally. But she proves to be a female fatal being in love with the friend of the poet.

Keywords: Shakespeare, Homosexuality, Heterosexuality, Fair Youth, Dark Lady, Sonnet- sequence.

Composition of Sonnets

William Shakespeare, an ever-luminous star in the sky of English literature, explicitly exposes the themes of homosexuality and heterosexuality in almost all of his sonnets. It really remains a matter of dispute whether he is homosexual or heterosexual or both. Critical opinions vary regarding the dates of composition of the sonnets, to whom they are addressed, the identity of Mr. W. H. as well as that of the Dark Lady. But most of the critics tend to say that the sonnets are autobiographical in nature and unlock the mystery of Shakespeare’s life which still remains a dark cave after a series of research and scholarly study. Most of the critics agree with the fact that the sonnets were written in the early part of Shakespeare’s life and published by Thomas Thorpe in 1609 in a quarto edition. Professor Colin Burrow rightly argues, “Several of the sonnets are very likely to have been composed at the start of Shakespeare’s career, and the whole sequence should be thought of as something approaching Shakespeare’s life’s work, receiving touches of the poet’s pen until shortly before its publication” (17). Thus, the sonnets become a replica of Shakespeare’s early life, his marriage and struggle for establishing himself as a dominant playwright during the Elizabethan period. Joseph Bristow in his book Sexuality claims that the bisexuals fall into two categories: conjunctive (who feel a sensual love in double direction) and disjunctive (who experiences only a romantic gentle love for young men). Bristow argues Shakespeare is a disjunctive bisexual:
Regarding the latter, Ulrichs declares: Shakespeare perhaps belongs in this category (Ulrichs 1994: 313-314). No doubt the nineteenth- century critical controversies surrounding Shakespeare’s sonnets were on Ulrichs’s mind when pondering sexual love between older and younger men. The final two categories identify female bisexuals and intersexual persons who bear the physical characteristics of both sexes. (24)

This is only the beginning part of the ARTICLE. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Poulami Ganguly
Guest Lecturer in English
Bankura Christian College, Bankura
UGC NET (JRF), WB SET
West Bengal, India
poulomiganguly990@gmail.com

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