To be queer, or not to be queer, that certainly is the question! Whether you are familiar with Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Tempest or a simple enjoyer of ye olde icons, a rather intriguing question pulls out the attention of historians, literary fans and LGBTQ+ individuals alike: was Shakespeare Shakes-queer?

Surely, by now, you may recognise his all-time most quoted and brought-up story of Romeo and Juliet. This could arguably be his straightest work, but everything gets a bit more rainbow-coloured from there.

To start strong, his story Twelfth Night follows a girl named Viola, shipwrecked, dressing up as a man and working for a duke. The duke is in love with another girl, Olivia, but SHE falls in love with the leading lady in drag. However, Viola, while still drag-ified, falls in love with the duke! A fabulously scandalous queer story as juicy and fruity as the fanciest parfait this side of Stratford-upon-Avon.

Some of his works, of which quite a few were sonnets, have inspired some queer theories (queeries?) involving a “fair youth-” an attractive, anonymous young man who becomes the embodiment of praise, love and beauty. But who may this person be?

Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? was dedicated to Mr W.H., a mystery man. Many historians, based on his relations in life, believe that this person may have been Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, William’s friend and patron. It is also believed that Mr W.H. may have been William Herbert, Earl of Pembrokeshire.

But no matter who Shakespeare’s mystery babe is, many historians will forever call them besties, brosifs, anything but… you know.

Of course, some historians have a set-in-stone frame of mind when it comes to Shakespeare, attempting to prove his strapping straightness with the primary evidence being his wife, Anne Hathaway, and three children. That’s it. Case closed. 

Well, many of history’s greatest queers were in straight relationships- have you seen Oscar Wilde? Jokes aside, having a queer relationship along with a heterosexual marriage was actually quite common in the Elizabethan period. Though, at the time, there weren’t really many terms such as ‘gay,’ ‘lesbian’ or ‘bisexual,’ the act of ‘sodomy,’ as was the closest term for the time, was at least tolerated among individuals.

The UK Buggery Act, introduced in 1533 and reinstated in 1563, had sodomy technically outlawed, though it certainly did not stop members of the Queen Elizabeth I and King James I eras from having a bit of fun behind closed doors.

Though Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children and lived his life, only guesses could serve what he may have been up to alongside his adventures. 

No matter what you may believe about his personal life, his stories, characters and iconic writings were nothing short of queer: binary-bending identities, fluid senses of sexuality and no need for adhering to Elizabethan period structures were what brought the bard such a fanciful regard amongst his fellow writers of the time- of history. Even within his tall tales of epic journeys, fairies and characters larger than life, he held quite a wisdom to his words that still ring true today: “To thine own self be true.”