A new film adaptatn of Shakpeare's The Merchant of Venice rais the ntroversial qutn of whether the tle character was gay.
Contents:
IS THERE ANY EVINCE FOR A GAY RELATNSHIP THE MERCHANT OF VENICE?
The homoerotic unrtone of Anton and Bassan’s relatnship is easily discsed by analyzg the ditn and claratns of love by Anton bee he do not have a heterosexual romantic relatnship to unteract agast his love for Bassan. Rememberg that Bassan’s relatnships take place durg a time when homosexualy is a s and a punishable crime, the dience n translate Bassan’s actns as the actns of one who is assumed heterosexual by societal flt. Shakpeare has ma clear that the path to Bassan’s heterosexual love nnot seperate self om Anton’s homosexual love.
WAS THE MERCHANT OF VENICE GAY?
The RSC webse has a 1965 productn wh "the unmistakeable suggtn of a homosexual dimensn to the relatnship between Bassan and Anton".
It uld be showg them as gay or bisexual, or uld jt be showg the difference male iendships across different plac and tim. More direct discsn of queerns - or jt bg the bullet and showg the characters as gay - seems to start the late 1970s, gog by Joseph Pequey's The Two Antons and Same-Sex Love Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice (PDF).