麻豆传媒

News — WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 20, 2011)鈥擜 fairy queen falls for a man called 鈥淏ottom鈥� who, thanks to some mischievous magic, has the head of a donkey. A woman falls in love with a man who is actually a woman posing as a man.

Both are plot developments from works of William Shakespeare that might be considered unusual or 鈥渜ueer鈥濃�攗nless you happen to be a historical traditionalist.

Queer theory is a form of literary criticism through which texts are interpreted from a queer perspective (mostly focused on desire, power, identity, temporality, and language). Many scholars say queer theory is not relevant to Shakespeare鈥檚 works because he died on April 23, 1616鈥攏early 200 years before homosexuality and heterosexuality were 鈥渋nstitutionalized鈥� around 1800. But Madhavi Menon, editor of the book Shakesqueer: A Queer Companion to the Complete Works of Shakespeare (Duke University Press, 2011), says the gap between Shakespeare and queer theory can be bridged if queer theory adopts a more broad definition of 鈥渜ueer.鈥�

Rather than referring exclusively to homosexuality, 鈥渜ueer鈥� should encompass everything and anything odd, eccentric, and unexpected, such as the fairy queen Titania falling in love with the donkey-headed Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream, or King Lear鈥檚 complicated take on the limits of the human.

Menon, a literature professor at American University, says queer theory鈥檚 hitherto straight and narrow definition of 鈥渜ueer鈥� and the notion of Shakespeare as sacrosanct (a phenomenon she calls 鈥淪hakesfear鈥�) disregards the Bard鈥檚 reputation as an author who speaks across time.

鈥淭he reason we still study Shakespeare is because his works are compelling in their seemingly endless complexity,鈥� said Menon. 鈥淲hy, then, should we say we cannot bring our knowledge generated today to bear on a text from 400 years ago?鈥�

Menon says there are plenty of ways to think queerly about Shakespeare and for Shakespeare to enrich queer theory.

鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檓 interested in is how or why Shakespeare, from the 16th and early 17th centuries, can talk to a phenomenon that got codified only in the 20th century,鈥� said Menon. 鈥淐learly, there cannot be a relationship if we think of chronology or of history as separated into discrete compartments, such that every century is contained within itself. There has to be some kind of conversation across time.鈥�

The book, which grew out of Menon鈥檚 Shakesqueer course at American University, adopts the broader approach to queer theory as its 48 essays chase all manner of stray desires through every one of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays and poems.

Menon hopes it will set the course for a queer theory that will at last bring Shakespeare out of the closet and into full theoretical discourse.

American University is a leader in global education, enrolling a diverse student body from throughout the United States and nearly 140 countries. Located in Washington, D.C., the university provides opportunities for academic excellence, public service, and internships in the nation鈥檚 capital and around the world.