Valerie Traub believes that William Shakespeare’s sexuality was unclear based on studying the writer’s sonnets, she said during a Syracuse University lecture Thursday night.

Traub’s lecture, ‘Shakespeare’s Sex,’ was the first lecture of this year’s Ray Smith Symposium, which is based on the theme ‘Sex and Power from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.’

Traub is the Frederick G. L. Huetwell professor of English and women’s studies and chair of the women’s studies department at the University of Michigan. She is also the author of the award-winning book ‘The Renaissance of Lesbianism in Early Modern England.’

In her lecture, Traub argued that the literature and history of Shakespeare’s sonnets are immediately relevant to current social issues regarding sexuality.

‘The history with which I am concerned is as much the here and now as the then and there,’ Traub said.

Traub said that Shakespeare’s specific use and exclusion of gendered pronouns raise questions in gender division that are current in today’s debate about gender identity.

The lecture also focused on the influence of Shakespeare’s sexual orientation on his own literary work. Traub said the lack of gender use in Shakespeare’s works contribute to speculation of the writer’s own sexuality.

Scholars routinely began to acknowledge the connotation of homosexuality in Shakespeare’s sonnets, and Shakespeare’s desire for his male friends as the idea of homosexuality became more socially acceptable, Traub said.

‘The meaning of queer in the sonnets turned from an insult into a powerful way of reading,’ she said.

Traub said that scholars have become so comfortable with the idea of homosexuality in Shakespeare’s sonnets that the real scandal in the sonnets has evolved from homosexuality to sexual encounters between different social classes.

In fact, scholars have become so increasingly at ease with the theme of sexual desire among men in the sonnets, that some might say the idea is on the verge of becoming overplayed, Traub said.

Despite the wide acknowledgement of homosexuality in Shakespeare’s sonnets, the topic raises specific issues of sexual roles for its readers that are far beyond the time of Shakespeare, Traub said.

‘Shakespeare’s poetry is ultimately a celebrated defense against time,’ Traub said.

Dympna Callaghan, William Safire professor of modern letters and a chief planner in this year’s symposium, said SU chose to have Traub inaugurate the symposium this year because her work exemplifies the university’s mission.

‘Traub’s lecture exemplifies that Shakespeare’s past is not just interesting for current queer and feminist politics, but indispensable,’ Callaghan said.

Susan Mihalick, a senior advertising major, said although she attended Traub’s lecture as a class requirement, she found it to be very interesting and informative.

Mihalick said that she especially appreciated the organization of Traub’s speech.

Mihalick said: ‘I think she was a really eloquent speaker, and she broke down her speech in a way that was easy for the audience to follow and understand.’

adhitzle@syr.edu

Published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Alexandra: adhitzle@syr.edu | @LexieHitzler