Homosexuality In Shakespeare's Sonnet 20

Interpretation over William Shakespeare's sonnets is so controversial that many scholars have long debated whether it is based on the homosexuality or males' friendship over centuries.(Alexander) In the early 17th, people who first read the sonnets of Shakespeare were shocked, because the 126 of 152 sonnets were about his love for a beautiful man, not a woman. Some scholars argue William Shakespeare was just intending to convey his spiritual love between male friends, while others insist that he was talking about sexual attraction to a boy(Glanfield). However, analyzing clear manifestations of his homosexuality, or at the least his bisexuality in the sonnets, considering William Shakespeare's open heterosexual life and other implications in

For instance, the second line reveals a womanlike man who dominates the author's passion. The lines at the first half praises the beauty of the man that surpasses any other women. Though at the end of the sonnet, the author releases the man physically to the women, while asking for the emotional love for him.(Greenspan) This is the most controversial part of the sonnet 20. Because the author seems to be satisfied with the man's spiritual love. However, that is a mere lamentation of the reality that author cannot own the man's body. If the author only pursued emotional love to his beloved without any ambitions of physical love, all the vague, complimentary words to the man's beauty wouldn't have been necessary. Furthermore, by emphasizing that the man's beauty is superior to any other girls, the author implies his homosexuality. Thus, it is unreasonable to argue the sonnet 20 regards pure male friendship, not about sexual

For instance, he used homosexual elements in his literatures, for instance the Merchant of Venice regards triangular homosexual relationship of the old man, young man and women.(Kryssi) In Henry.V, two men kiss as they die.(Greenspan) Also, Hamlet acrostic spells "I am a homosexual."(Morgan). The author seemed to expose his sexuality through his works of literature, considering the literature to the writer is to the mirror to the people. Many point out Shakespeare’s plays were all originally performed by men, men kissed men on stage, and several of them were cross-dressing as women. The fact that the females weren't allowed to act does not change the fact Shakespeare’s canon contains a lot of cross-dressing. In Twelfth Night, it plays with this and the idea of homosexuality very clearly. Shipwrecked Viola, dressed as a man called Cesario, enters the service of Duke Orsino and begins to fall in love with him. Orsino, in turn, is in love with wealthy countess Olivia. Olivia is in love with Cesario, but does not realize she is actually in love with a woman dressed as a man.(Morgan) Likewise, William Shakespeare enjoyed performing bisexual, homosexual factors in his own plays and works of literature, and as a result he often revealed his sexuality in those works. Thus it is reasonable to insist that the sonnets of William Shakespeare also indicates his homosexual