Shakespeare and Sexuality

This volume draws together ten important essays which use a variety of approaches and materials to explore the significance of sexuality in Shakespeare's work. Some consider the erotic effect of Shakespeare's language; others are concerned with expressions of desire (male, female, inter-racial, homosexual and heterosexual) in performance as well as text. Many are reprinted from Shakespeare Survey. They are introduced by Ann Thompson's survey of the topic in recent criticism, and conclude with a new essay by Celia Daileader on nudity in Shakespeare films.

Catherine M. S. Alexander is Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Centre, Stratford-upon-Avon and Research Fellow, University of Birmingham. She has written on eighteenth-century appropriations of Shakespeare and is the co-editor with Stanley Wells of Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge, 2000)

Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He is General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare, co-author of William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion (1987), author of Shakespeare: A Dramatic Life (1995), co-editor with Catherine M. S. Alexander of Shakespeare and Race (Cambridge, 2000) and co-editor with Margreta de Grazia of The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare (Cambridge, 2001).