"Shakespeare often uses representation not just a as a lens through which to tell a story, but as a textual tool in itself. In this engaging and accessible guidebook, Stephen Guy Bray uses queer theory to shed new light on this important writing strategy, arguing that in many of Shakespeare's works, representation itself becomes queer. A thorough introduction gives an overview of recent work in queer theory and representation, with each chapter then developing these theories to examine works that span the entire career of Shakespeare, including his Sonnets, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, King John, Macbeth and Cymbeline. The book will show the extent to which Shakespeare works can be seen to anticipate and even to extend many of the insights of the latest developments in queer theory"--
In this engaging and accessible guidebook, Stephen Guy-Bray uses queer theory to argue that in many of Shakespeare’s works representation itself becomes queer.Shakespeare often uses representation, not just as a lens through which to tell a story, but as a textual tool in itself. Shakespeare and Queer Representation includes a thorough introduction that discusses how we can define queer representation, with each chapter developing these theories to examine works that span the entire career of Shakespeare, including his Sonnets, Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, King John, Macbeth, and Cymbeline. The book highlights the extent to which Shakespeare’s works can be seen to anticipate, and even to extend, many of the insights of the latest developments in queer theory.This thought-provoking and evocative book is an essential guide to students studying Shakespeare and Renaissance literature, gender studies, and queer literary theory.