Shakesqueer: A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare

Shakesqueer puts the most exciting queer theorists in conversation with the complete works of William Shakespeare. Exploring what is odd, eccentric, and unexpected in the Bard’s plays and poems, these theorists highlight not only the many ways that Shakespeare can be queered, but also the many ways that Shakespeare can enrich queer theory. This innovative anthology reveals an early modern playwright insistently returning to questions of language, identity, and temporality, themes central to contemporary queer theory. Since many of the contributors do not study early modern literature, Shakesqueer takes queer theory back and brings Shakespeare forward, challenging the chronological confinement of queer theory to the last two hundred years. The book also challenges conceptual certainties that have narrowly equated queerness with homosexuality. Chasing all manner of stray desires through every one of Shakespeare’s plays and poems, the contributors cross temporal, animal, theoretical, and sexual, boundaries with abandon. Claiming adherence to no one school of thought, the essays consider The Winter’s Tale alongside network TV, Hamlet in relation to the death drive, King John as a history of queer theory, and Much Ado about Nothing in tune with a Sondheim musical. Together they expand the reach of queerness and queer critique across chronologies, methodologies, and bodies.ContributorsMatt BellAmanda BerryDaniel Boyarin Judith BrownSteven Bruhm Peter Coviello Julie CrawfordDrew DanielMario DiGangiLee Edelman Jason Edwards Aranye FradenburgCarla Freccero Daniel Juan GilJonathan GoldbergJody GreeneStephen Guy-BrayEllis HansonSharon HollandCary HowieLynne HufferBarbara JohnsonHector KolliasJames Kuzner Arthur L. Little Jr.Philip LorenzHeather LoveJeffrey MastenRobert McRuer Madhavi MenonMichael MoonPaul MorrisonAndrew NichollsKevin OhiPatrick R. O’MalleyAnn PellegriniRichard Rambuss Valerie RohyBethany SchneiderKathryn SchwarzLaurie ShannonAshley T. SheldenAlan SinfieldBruce SmithKarl SteelKathryn Bond StocktonAmy VillarejoJulian Yates
A queer guide to the complete works of Shakespeare.