Word Box:
Here are some words you need to know!
-Queer = “Queer is an umbrella term for sexual and gender minorities who are not heterosexual or are not cisgender” (Wikipedia) The term queer comes from being an insult meaning strange or unusual but has recently been reclaimed by the LGBT+ community.
-Heteronormativity = “denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation” (oxford dictionary)
Examples of heteronormativity = queer people having to “come out”
-Compulsory Heterosexuality = the theory that heterosexuality is assumed and enforced upon queer people by a patriarchal and heteronormative society
Often causes queer people to remain in the closet or even not realize they are queer until later years in their life
-Queer Coded = inexplicit identifiers that flag a character is queer through the use of recognizable traits, stereotypes, mannerisms, or references
-Gender Performativity = “is a matter of reiterating or repeating the norms by which one is constituted” (Critically Queer)
-Camp: in 1909, it was used to refer to ostentatious, exaggerated, affected, theatrical, effeminate or homosexual behavior. Today “the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration” (how camp became a queer Aesthetic)
Examples would be “Lady Gaga, a contemporary exemplar of camp, uses musical expression and the body motions of dance to make social commentary on pop culture” (Wikipedia)
The Queer Lens is a critical lens that began to gain popularity in the 1980s but was then legitimized in academia during the 1990s. One uses Queer Theory to analyze queer subtext within a piece of literature or media that is often overlooked due to heteronormativity. Since the narrative implies that heterosexuality is the "default", using Queer Lens challenges not only sexual norms but gender binaries as well.
Many of Shakespeare’s stories can be read with a queer lens. Not only do lots of his stories include queer themes (forbidden love, found family, etc), plotlines (having to leave/being abandoned by family), or queer coded characters (Antonio from A Merchant of Venice, Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet, etc), but it is believed that Shakespeare himself might have been queer. 126 of Shakespeare’s sonnets (including 18 and 116) were written about men. These are considered some of his most romantic sonnets including his most famous work "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day" (Sonnet 18). While it is debated whether or not the love mentioned in those poems is familial, platonic, romantic, or erotic, the fact that the pronouns within those sonnets were changed to female ones suggests homoeroticism to the original work which was censored in later editions. This allows a queer lens to be easily applied to his works of writing.
Midsummer is a play that is often portrayed as queer due to the multitude of queer themes that are present within the play. Some of these themes include forbidden love, fluid portrayals of love and sexuality, and unconventional interpretations of the gender binary.
The theme of forbidden love is portrayed through the relationship of Lysander and Hermia. Queer love is often seen as “unnatural” and “wrong”, it has been forbidden within heteronormative society. Lysander and Hermia defy their society to love each other and escape to the forest where love can be expressed to its full extent free from the restrictions of their society. Due to this fact, our production of Midsummer has Lysander as a lesbian, as the story of Lysander and Hermia is inherently queer.
Within Midsummer, love and sexuality are proven to be fluid through the plot device of the love potion. The love potion causes characters to fall in and out of love and lust with each other. This theme showcases how both love and sexuality are fluid but also how the environment and the wills of others may convince us to fall in love with other people when we do not feel that way. This digs into the question of compulsory heterosexuality brought about by a heteronormative society.
Unconventional interpretations of the gender binary and gender roles are not only present in Shakespeare’s original work but within our production of Midsummer. The fairies within Midsummer are otherworldly and defy societal conventions of gender, switching their roles often. Our fairies costuming and makeup are directly inspired by queer icons such as David Bowie.
Sources:
Books:
Critically Queer by Judith Butler
What's queer about queer studies now? By David L Eng; Judith Halberstam; José Esteban Muñoz
Shakespeare and Queer Representation by Stephen Guy-Bray
Shakespeare and Queer Theory by Melissa E. Sanchez
Videos/Documentaries:
Queer by Philosophy Tube
Stephen Guy-Bray on queer theory, poetics and representation in Shakespeare
Shakespeare and Sexuality by Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press)
Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Crash Course
Was William Shakespeare Bisexual? By Gay History with Tom Ranzweiler
Shakespeare Race And Queer Sexuality Panel by One by Lafaette College
Scholarly Papers:
A queer reading of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Eva Dalmaijer,BA Thesis Literary Studies. Utrecht University. 2019
"Use Me But as Your Spaniel": Feminism, Queer Theory, and Early Modern Sexualities
Websites: