Joseph Pequigney

This was amusing. Scholars have gone into contortions to avoid or confute the blindingly obvious fact that Shakespeare wrote love sonnets to a guy. That no, this wasn't part of a friendship tradition -- nothing traditional about them. That yes, the Sonnets are explicitly sexual (in his witty way). Pequigney mocks and teases the scholars who can't cope, and that makes for a funny book.

However, he's a Freudian. He thinks the Freudian theory of homosexuality (excuse me?) fits the Sonnets nicely. I know this will put a few people off, but it's worth it for the other parts of the book. The story he draws from the Sonnets convinces me more than what Katherine Duncan-Jones derives in her edition, which is famous for being the 1st not to be awkward with the sexuality (did we catch up with you in four centuries, Will?). But Pequigney is even more at ease with the Sonnets as they are -- except when Freud leads him astray.… (mer)