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Straight Acting

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Paperback / softback
26 August 2025
$25.00
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'Fluent and witty . . . confident . . . highly readable'

Kathryn Hughes, GUARDIAN

'Lively and accomplished'

Sophie Duncan, LITERARY REVIEW

'Engaging, enthusiastic and informative'

Philip Hensher, SPECTATOR

'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating'

KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-Infinite

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.

'Magisterial and saucy . . . This fresh account kickstarts the queer canon of English literature: Shakespeare won't go back in the closet again'

EMMA SMITH, author of This Is Shakespeare

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    Product Details
    ISBN-13
    9781529390513
    Author
    Will Tosh
    Publisher
    Hodder & Stoughton
    Published
    26 August 2025
    Format
    Paperback / softback

    This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!

    $25.00
    Ships in 2-5 business days

    Delivery estimate

    Hurry up! Current stock:

    Straight Acting

    $25.00

    Description

    'Fluent and witty . . . confident . . . highly readable'

    Kathryn Hughes, GUARDIAN

    'Lively and accomplished'

    Sophie Duncan, LITERARY REVIEW

    'Engaging, enthusiastic and informative'

    Philip Hensher, SPECTATOR

    'Brilliant - so vivid and so sharp, fantastically clever and consistently fascinating'

    KATHERINE RUNDELL, author of Super-Infinite

    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.

    'Magisterial and saucy . . . This fresh account kickstarts the queer canon of English literature: Shakespeare won't go back in the closet again'

    EMMA SMITH, author of This Is Shakespeare

    You Can Find This Title In

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