Heteronormative culture often prevents scholars from reading Shakespeare’s sonnet series as the homoerotic love story that is. In his Sonnet 135, the play on the word will throughout the poem alludes to a man who wants a sexual relation and thus so far has been refuted. William Shakespeare in his Sonnet 135, uses homoerotic language, transgressive sexuality, universalizing views in his attempts to bring the Golden Young Man to bed. Sonnet 135 is full of homoerotic language queer theorists would not call it ‘coded’ at all. The homophony allows the reader to explore all sorts of sexualized ideas and expressions. Throughout the sonnet word play on will, is used to mean three things; Will the speaker, will as in the will of man expressing something
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While the recognition of homosexuality (today defined as a sexual preference for the same gender) only goes back as far as the nineteenth century, its predecessor, sodomy, was the subject of many laws forbidding its practice. (1)
Shakespeare was arguing for a universalized expression of all sexualities, he was advocating for a new way of experiencing same sex love and encouraging the Golden Young Man to do the same. “Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious. Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?” (5-6) Despite being in a society that condemned those for being gay, sodomy between these two men would have been forbidden however despite that Will wanted the Golden Young Man to experience love in a different way even if it was just once they had a transgression. Far ahead of his time William Shakespeare sets out to transgress all that is heteronormative of his time and universalize homoerotic nature. Will is inquisitory with the Golden Young Man, wanting to know why they can’t have relations. This is to be able to find what the root of the problem and refute it with a solution. Despite these attempts Will is refuted by the man for any transgressions and while his attempt is noble, the Golden Young Man will not give into any desires all the while he refutes his own homoerotic
While the recognition of homosexuality (today defined as a sexual preference for the same gender) only goes back as far as the nineteenth century, its predecessor, sodomy, was the subject of many laws forbidding its practice. (1)
Shakespeare was arguing for a universalized expression of all sexualities, he was advocating for a new way of experiencing same sex love and encouraging the Golden Young Man to do the same. “Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious. Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?” (5-6) Despite being in a society that condemned those for being gay, sodomy between these two men would have been forbidden however despite that Will wanted the Golden Young Man to experience love in a different way even if it was just once they had a transgression. Far ahead of his time William Shakespeare sets out to transgress all that is heteronormative of his time and universalize homoerotic nature. Will is inquisitory with the Golden Young Man, wanting to know why they can’t have relations. This is to be able to find what the root of the problem and refute it with a solution. Despite these attempts Will is refuted by the man for any transgressions and while his attempt is noble, the Golden Young Man will not give into any desires all the while he refutes his own homoerotic