See the new shakespeare.com. This feature, while it still provides useful information, is no longer maintained.
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help
1. You have no idea what elements in WS's work are autobiographical and which are fiction. Without this knowledge, any analysis shows nothing. For all you know, the things you point to are 100% fictional.2. It is easy to find what you want in a text. If you want to find evidence of homosexuality, it's there. If you want to show the opposite, it's there, too. If you want to show evidence that WS was a woman, it's there, too. If you want to show that WS was a Martian, ditto. It's all a matter of selective interpretation.
3, Without confirmation from outside the works, any "proof" is meaningless. You can quote Oscar Hammerstein saying, "I'm in love with a wonderful guy." That fact, on its own, "proves" Hammerstein was gay. However, information from outside the text shows that he wasn't. Where's your confirmation?
The fact is that, when studied in a vacuume, you can "prove" anything you set out to prove by studying an author's works. You need to put it into a real-world context for it to be confirmation (not proof, which comes from facts, not fiction).
Why is that so hard for you to understand?
Posted by Reality Chuck on April 15, 1997 at 07:25:30
In Reply to "evidence" posted by Professor Mike on April 10, 1997 at 02:51:09
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help