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Literature of the English Renaissance |
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Homosexuality is writ large in English Renaissance Literature, but its inscription is only rarely direct and unambiguous. Except for a few texts--including several penned by William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and John Donne--homoeroticism is expressed implicitly rather than explicitly, seen from the outside rather than the inside.
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 Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) condemned homosexuality in his more magisterial,
philosophical works, though he inserted homosexual innuendo elsewhere
in his writings, particularly in several essays. |
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The English
Renaissance poet Richard
Barnfield (1574-1620?) wrote two volumes of homoerotic verse,
but appears to have stopped writing poetry after the age of 24. |
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 John Donne (1572-1631) was
England's supreme poet of heterosexual love in the late Renaissance. He
also wrote a series of homoerotic verse letters to a young man and a
remarkable dramatic monologue in a lesbian voice. |
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 Sponsor of the English translation of the Bible that bears his name and himself an accomplished author, King James VI of Scotland (and later James I of England) (1566-1625) was well known for his passionate attachments to handsome young men.
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 Ben Jonson (1572-1637) is
one of the most important figures in English literature. Though he was
probably never involved in same-sex sexual relationships, he deserves
attention for his depictions of same-sex relationships in both dramatic
and nondramatic works. |
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 Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) represents homoerotic situations and incidents in his plays
and poems more frequently and more variously than any other major
English Renaissance writer. |
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 John Milton (1608-1674) may
be the greatest poet in the English language. While he accepted
the biblical condemnation of sodomy, some of his works suggest that his
attitude toward same-sex relations was enlightened for his age. |
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 Katherine Philips (1632-1664) was considered "The English Sappho" of her day. Two-thirds
of her poems concern erotic relationships among women. |
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 William Shakespeare is
one of the key figures that western civilization has used to define
itself. He stands in a complicated, fiercely contested relationship to
homosexuality. |
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Related Encyclopedia Entries |
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Canadian novelist Anthony Bidulka (b. 1962), author of the Russell Quant detective series, creates mysteries that skirt the dark side of detective fiction through humor and emotional buoyancy. |
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Michael Dillon
Michael Dillon (1915-1962), the first person known to have transitioned both hormonally and surgically from female to male, was a man of singular determination who articulated his life as an evolving struggle toward corporeal, intellectual, and spiritual integrity.
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 Jodie Foster
One of the most accomplished film actresses of her generation, Jodie Foster (b. 1962) has been a glbtq icon for decades, though only recently has she obliquely acknowledged her lesbianism. |
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Notable Birthdays this Week
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January 4 |
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| |  Marsden Hartley
A CENTRAL FIGURE IN THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN MODERN ART, 1877 |
|  Michael Stipe
FILM PRODUCER AND LEAD SINGER IN THE ROCK BAND R.E.M., 1960 | |
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January 5 |
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| | Juan Goytisolo
ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT LITERARY FIGURES IN SPAIN TODAY, 1931 |
|  Alvin Ailey
SEXUALLY CHARISMATIC DANCER WHO GAINED INTERNATIONAL FAME AS A CHOREOGRAPHER, 1931 | |
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January 6 |
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| |  Joan of Arc
CATHOLIC SAINT WHOM THE INQUISITION CONDEMNED TO DEATH FOR CROSS-DRESSING, 1412 |
| Marie Dorval
POPULAR FRENCH ACTRESS IN THE ROMANTIC STYLE, 1798 | |
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January 7 |
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| | Francis Poulenc
ONE OF THE MOST THOUGHTFUL CREATORS OF SERIOUS MUSIC IN THE 20TH CENTURY, 1899 |
| Robert Duncan
AMERICAN POET AND CREATOR OF A SERIES OF POEMS THAT DEAL WITH THE LOVE OF MEN FOR OTHER MEN, 1919 | |
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| | Jann Wenner
FOUNDER, PUBLISHER, AND EDITOR OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, 1946 | |
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January 8 |
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| | Graham Chapman
COMIC BRITISH ACTOR AND WRITER WHO CAME OUT PUBLICLY DURING HIS CAREER, 1941 |
|  David Bowie
A LEADING LIGHT IN 1970S GLAM ROCK, 1947 | |
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January 9 |
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| | Richard Halliburton
AUTHOR AND ADVENTURER, 1900 |
| Simone de Beauvoir
WRITER BEST KNOWN FOR THE SECOND SEX AND A RELATIONSHIP WITH JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, 1908 | |
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| |  Joan Baez
LEGENDARY FOLK SINGER AND ACTIVIST, 1941 | |
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January 10 |
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| | Manuel Azaña
SPANISH-BORN LEFTIST WITH A DEEP COMMITMENT TO FREEDOM, 1880 |
| Johnnie Ray
POP SINGER WHO SHOT TO FAME IN THE 1950S, 1927 | |
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| | Sal Mineo
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED ACTOR WHO WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED, 1939 |
| Craig Russell
A MAJOR FEMALE IMPERSONATOR AND AN ACCOMPLISHED ACTOR, 1948 | |
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| | Dennis Cooper
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BUT CONTROVERSIAL WRITER, 1953 | |
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