Shakespeare on Lesbians
Today marks the traditional observance of Shakespeare’s birthday. In honor of the Bard, therefore, I give you two lesbianish quotes.
The first is from his gender-mix-up comedy Twelfth Night. Viola, disguised as a man, comments upon the Countess Olivia:
She made good view of me; indeed, so much
That methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure . . . .
Next, from his little-known Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music:
Were kisses all the joys in bed,
One woman would another wed.
Clearly there were limits to even the Bard’s imagination . . . .
Since some of my best friends are Actual Shakespeare Scholars, I hasten to add that all this proves is that Shakespeare is quotable enough to be used for any purpose, however anachronistic or out of context. He himself played fast and loose with history, though, so I don’t feel too much remorse. (That’s probably also why I’m enjoying The Tudors. Either that, or I’m just trying to amuse myself between the end of The L Word and the beginning of Weeds.)
(Reposted with slight variation from a post I did a couple of years ago on this observance.)
6:01 am
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