William Shakespeare is more myth than man in today's popular culture, a figure associated with everything from high art to raunchy comedy and countless figures of speech. But placed in his own time, Shakespeare also provides a useful lens through which to examine the fascinating sexual dynamics of the Renaissance world. Cross-dressing, same-sex love, and sexuality in general are all cornerstones of Renaissance literary culture. This course will explore Shakespearean drama, poetry, and culture with the goal of understanding how they interact with the idea of queerness in the Renaissance, as well as how this has informed queer culture in our modern day. To think about these connections, we will read texts such as Twelfth Night and As You Like It, as well as analyzing films like Romeo + Juliet and She's the Man. These different types of media will help us understand questions such as: what did queerness look like in Shakespeare's time? And: how has modern queer culture been shaped by the omnipresent literary influence of William Shakespeare?
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