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Depiction of Bisexuality in Shakespeare's Sonnets

Thesis Statement

Shakespeare's sonnets provide evidence regarding his heterosexual behavior .

Introduction

William Shakespeare, the most renowned and famous writer and poet of all times, has made the most valuable and precious contributions to English literature, and because of the same reason that all the aspects of his life have gained significant importance and significance. It is a well known fact that sexual orientation if William Shakespeare has been subject of great concern by the intellectual and literary figures of all times, who have also attempted to find evidence of his sexual orientation in his poems and sonnets. The sonnets of William Shakespeare not only provide evidence of his sexual orientation but also assist in getting a better idea about his life and life events. The following paragraphs present evidence from sonnets of Shakespeare, providing evidence regarding his sexual orientation:

Discussion

Several evidences from the sonnets of Shakespeare prove that he was bisexual, as his sonnets have presented romantic idea regarding both men and women. Although it is publically known that he was married to Anne Hathaway and also had three children, his sexual orientation still remains debatable. It is eminent to mention here that the three most famous and repeatedly used characters in sonnets of William Shakespeare are: 'The young man', 'The dark lady' and 'The rival poet'. It should be noted that most of the poems of William Shakespeare, which suggest that he was bisexual, have been published without his permission in the 15th century and out of all his poems highlight his love for the 'fair lord'.

Although Shakespeare is known to have extra- marital affairs with other women, and a number of his poems also highlight his love and affection for them, the inclusion of the Fair Lord/ Fair Youth in most of his poems indicate the presence of bisexual orientation as well. Moreover, he has dedicated a number of his poems to Mr. W. H., and it is not clear if he is an actual figure of just an imaginary character created by the poet (Intervention, 1997, Pp: 152). Apart from the dedications, he has made clear references to sexual orientations in a few of his poems, including 'Dark Lady' and sonnet 13 and sonnet 15. In Dark Lady, he has explicitly and clearly stated that he and the lady are lovers, and they are also physically involved in one another while in sonnet 13 and 15, it can be observed that he is making addressing the Fair Youth romantically. He has addresses the fair lord as 'dear my love', which shows that he is interested in the man and there are a number of other examples as well, indicating that Shakespeare has addressed both men and women in his poems with the same expression and thus the same emotions.

It is eminent o mention here that the collection of Shakespeare's sonnets, published in 1609, contains 154 sonnets out of which 126 are dedicated to men and also highlight his love and ...