Straight Acting

The Many Queer Lives of William Shakespeare

By: Will Tosh

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Paperback | 26 August 2025 | Edition Number 1

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304 Pages

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19.8 x 12.9 x 2.3

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Was Shakespeare gay? The answer is both simpler and more complex than you might think . . .

Shakespeare's work was profoundly influenced by the queer culture of his time - much of it totally integrated into mainstream society. From a relentless schooling in Latin and Greek homoeroticism, to a less formal education on the streets and in smoky taverns, from the gender-bending of the early comedies to the astonishingly queer literary scene that nurtured Shakespeare's sonnets, this is a story of artistic development and of personal crisis.

Straight Acting is a surprising portrait of Shakespeare's queer lives - his own and those in his plays and poems. It is a journey back in time and through Shakespeare's England, revealing a culture that both endorsed and supressed same-sex desire. It is a call to stop making Shakespeare act straight and to recognise how queerness powerfully shaped the life and career of the world's most famous playwright.

About the Author

Will Tosh is Head of Research at Shakespeare's Globe, London. He is a scholar of early modern literature and culture, a dramaturg for Renaissance classics and new plays and an historical adviser for television and radio. He is the author of two academic books, and he appears regularly in the media to discuss Shakespeare and his world.

Industry Reviews

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'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating' - KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-Infinite

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