The Fruity Bard

Jaya Patricia Maree D. Tria LIT 193.29-A

*I am apologizing in advance if my essay somehow happens to offend the LGBT community or anyone else in any way. Consider this my lame attempt at sprucing up with “edgy” jokes. Don’t kill me because I love you guys, really.*

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Was Shakespeare gay?

If by gay you meant he harbored “special feelings” for people of the same sex, then there’s a chance he was. As any self-respecting budding Shakespearean such as yourself should know by now, many of his sonnets were dedicated to a mysterious Mr W.H. who may be the same person referred to as the “Fair Lord” and oddly, “Dark Lady” in the same poems. Even if he was, one must keep in mind that he lived in a much simpler time; back then thrusting power determined the gender of your baby and daily shampoo-conditioner-soap baths haven’t even crossed people’s minds yet.

What is this demonry?!

In other words, this really shouldn’t be an issue, people.

That hasn’t stopped you or me from wondering though. The magical portal of knowledge also known as Google will cheerfully complete your search for “is Shakespeare” with “is Shakespeare gay” because that’s obviously what you want to know. It doesn’t help that scholars, casual readers and even Hollywood alike have observed that there may be some homoerotic subtexts in some of The Bard’s tales.

What’s that? You say your teachers didn’t mention anything about homosexuality when you took up Shakespeare in high school English? Well then you’re in luck because I’ve made it my temporary duty to educate all you innocent bystanders in The Fruity Bard. You’re welcome.

This Guy’s in Love with You Pare

It’s great how love came to Romeo in, well, Romeo and Juliet looking like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear, but what about the other characters? Must they be content with loving vicariously through the star-crossed lovers? Fortunately, not really. There may actually be a love of the unrequited kind present in the story in the person of kick-ass Mercutio (as well as Paris, but that’s another story).

Many have pointed out to the way he berates moping Romeo on the stupidity of loving Rosaline (Mercutio: If love be rough with you, be rough with love) right before they crash the Capulets’ party as a sign of jealousy and disapproval of love between men and women. He again shows the same derision as he attempts to conjure up Romeo by mocking Rosaline’s looks as the latter goes AWOL to test his manliness on Juliet’s balcony a scene after. With this in mind, it seems Tybalt is aware Mercutio’s feelings and has no qualms on using it against him (Tybalt: Mercutio, thou consort’st with Romeo) during one of their confrontations.

Director Baz Luhrmann latches on to this idea in his 1996 film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (which I will forever will consider one of my most favorite movies despite what anyone will ever say) and depicts Mercutio as a flamboyant charmer with a talent for stealing the show in drag while shaking what his mama gave him to the tune of 70’s disco music.

The same dynamic can and has been applied to The Merchant of Venice with the relationship of BFFs Antonio and Bassanio.  When the young and carefree Bassanio loses all of his money at the very start of the play and is then of course unable to pursue the girl of his dreams, Antonio is more than willing to get the funds needed at all costs. He risks his reputation by going to the not-so-friendly neighborhood loan shark, Shylock, and even gives his life as collateral. The more imaginative Shakespeare enthusiasts have also given another spin on the famous “pound of flesh” in that it can also symbolize Antonio’s willingness to give up his heart considering their apparent bromance.

In 2004’s The Merchant of Venice that boasts of acting greats such as Jeremy Irons (Antonio) and Al Pacino (Shylock) in its cast, there’s a scene where the friends actually kiss. Although the movie was not intended to totally paint them as gay lovers, the stars as well as the director embrace the somewhat suspiciously close and loving relationship between the two.

I'd watch this movie over and over again just for Al Pacino's monologues as Shylock. I'm not even kidding.

Approaching the subject from the other side is Iago from Othello whom some think is fueled to murder and deceit by a jealous desire for the titular protagonist in probably the most extreme case of “the more you hate, the more you love”. Evidences supporting this reading are sprinkled throughout the text, as in the 3^rd Act where Iago explicitly tells his superior that he loves him (seriously, he does) while poisoning Desdemona’s well.

Is that Axe?

Clearly, men in those days were more affectionate.

I loved you bro!!!

Rome & Juliet, Were the World Mine, Private Romeo and Neo

Taking the homosexual agenda a bit further are adaptations that directly alter Shakespeare’s material to fit the theme of homosexuality. In the yet to be released movie Private Romeo, the world of Verona is transformed into McKinley Military Academy and the iconic leads become cadets Glenn Mangan (played by Jonathan from Gossip Girl) and Sam Singleton. The movie interestingly makes use of Shakespearean language in a modern setting, much like Luhrmann’s from more than a decade ago.

Hi, before you press play, there’s kinda a graphic scene at the very end. Just thought you should know.:)

There’s also the award-winning Were the World Mine, a film about a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream gone haywire. Aspiring but bullied thespian Timothy somehow manages to get his hands on a magic potion while preparing for his role as Puck and glitter madness ensues. Previously straight boys find themselves checking out their buds; girls start admiring the boo-tays of fellow ladies.

My Own Private Idaho which is based loosely on Henry IV and V has a perfectly rebellious Prince Hal in Keanu Reeves’ Scott, a master even then of the stoic face, and an unstable and tragic Falstaff in River Phoenix’ Mike. The two go on a journey to discover themselves, as the cliché goes, and end up being separated by their vastly different worlds.

Keanu Reeves: Immortal since 1991

Of course, we Pinoys (wootwoot) are not to be outdone. An indie film called Rome & Juliet starring Mylene Dizon and Andrea del Rosario was released several years ago that not only tackled forbidden love where one half of the couple is already betrothed to someone else, but a lesbian one at that. HA! Now, I personally haven’t seen this movie yet, but it seems to be actually pretty good from the reviews I’ve read online.

How about a viewing to welcome the summer vacation eh?

You know, to learn more about Shakespeare. And stuff.

Shakespeare in Video Games

Jaya Tria              III AB Economics            LIT 193.29-A                  Ateneo de Manila University

Astonishing as it may seem to those who haven’t taken Ma’am Ick’s fantastic Transmedial Shakespeare class, even the video game industry (probably as far from classic literature as you can get) finds ways to sprinkle some of The Bard here and there. First off, there are video game “adaptations”, as in:

the PC game Romeo: Wherefore Art Thou? where you play as the dashing titular Mario-wannabe who goes on a side-scrolling adventure complete with jumping across cliffs just to get to Princess Pea–I mean Juliet. This game was actually sponsored by the tourism authority of Shakespeare County in England. Shakespeare’s so awesome he has his own county.

There’s also Hamlet The Video Game in which you play not as Hamlet, sorry, but as a scientist who has a little too much fun with a time travelling machine and somehow ends up in the world of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Of course, since Hamlet’s the hero of that story, you have to help him save his damsel-in-distress aka girlfriend Ophelia from the clutches of the evil Claudius.

These two are what you would expect when you hear “Shakespeare video game adaptation”. There’s one, however, I’m absolutely sure hasn’t even crossed anyone’s mind that I’m willing to bet all the money I’ve saved for my Boracay escapade this summer on it. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me the honor of introducing you to…

Arden: The World of William Shakespeare. What’s that, you ask? Y’see, it’s an MMOG where players choose an avatar, explore the town of Illminster, interact with the characters from Shakespeare’s plays, play card games with other players, and answer trivia questions on Shakespeare to level-up. Yes, it’s Ragnarok Online, Shakespeare-style. What’s even more unusual is that it was developed not by Squeenix or Blizzard, but by social scientists at Indiana University who wanted to use it as a venue for experiments on economic behavior.

Unfortunately, in a depressing show of all that is wrong in this world, they pulled the plug on Arden because apparently, it was so boring no one would want to play it. 😦

Not to fret though because the video game industry hasn’t seen the last of William Shakespeare. While there’s yet to be another MMOG as of this writing, other video games shoehorn some good old Shakespeare references, both of his works and the man himself, as illustrated by:

Veronaville in The Sims 2, home to the Capulets, Montagues and the Summerdreams..

The Simpson’s Game for the PS3 where you have to fight William Shakespeare along with Benjamin Franklin, Buddha and God in the final level..

the original Medal of Honor for the PSX in which entering the cheat code PAYBACK allows you to play as Shakespeare in the multiplayer mode…

Dr. Pickman from Manhunt 2 who at one point utters “What Seest thou else in the dark backward abysm of time”, one of Prospero’s lines from The Tempest..

the charming and intelligent Mei Ling quoting Richard II in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, “The tongues of dying men enforce attention like deep harmony. Where words are spent, they are seldom spent in vain.”…

the Council of Loathing from the MMRPG parody Kingdom of Loathing telling you that they “don’t suppose you’d bugger off this mortal coil” in reference to Hamlet’s “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil.”…

the massively popular MMORPG World of Warcraft that is full of pop culture references. Some of the numerous throwbacks to Shakespeare in the game include the zombie family of bankers in the Undercity (Ophelia, William, Mortimer and Randolph Montague), monsters sometimes dropping “a pound of flesh”, and quirky food vendor Dirk Quikleave (pictured above) exclaiming to “Get thee to a cheesery!” when you do one of his food-gathering quests…

and the old-school SNES/NES game Mario’s Time Machine. In this, the villain Bowser (surprise, surprise) somehow gets his hands on a time machine and uses it to steal precious artifacts from the past. As you are Mario, koopa troopa-killing hero extraordinaire since 1983, you have to put an end to Bowser’s wave of theft by returning the stolen goods. To do this, you have to use the time machine to go back in the particular artifact’s time and talk to everything and everyone. After you’ve done all there is to do in the era, you have to answer a pop quiz which if you pass, magically returns the artifact to its rightful owners. One of the “eras” is Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1601 where you learn about the glory that is Shakespeare.

The long-running RPG franchise Final Fantasy, being the childhood-defining industry front-runner that it is, is in on the Shakespeare madness as well.

For instance, some of FF characters are named after characters from Shakespeare’s plays. There’s rat-prince Puck from FF9 (Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), pictured above; King Edgar (the blondie up there) and Duncan  from FF6 (King Lear and Macbeth, respectively); Shake, one of the bosses you fight in the Wutai sidequest in FF7 (Shakespeare); and honorable Beatrix, Tantalus boys Cinna & Marcus, King Leo & his daughter Cordelia from FF9 (Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, King Lear).

There’s also a part in the franchise’s last hurrah for the PSX, FF9, where you have to act in a play by a certain Lord Avon (nudgenudge) that loosely follows Romeo and Juliet’s plot. Oh, and if you guys can’t read the text properly in the screenshot above, the play’s called I Want to be Your Canary. Don’t ask.

A more recent game, FFX-2 for the PS2, makes players switch between different “dresspheres” (again, don’t ask) in order to learn and use the characters’ abilities. When changing into the black mage dressphere, perky Rikku and Yuna (who seems to have gone insane after FFX) sometimes quip “Double, double, toil and trouble” or “Fire burn and cauldron bubble”. Anyone who has gone through high school English should recognize these as coming from the Weird Sisters in Macbeth.

Also, the yet-to-be-released Final Fantasy Versus XIII’s trailer ends with the quote “There is nothing either good or bad, but only thinking makes it so.” That one’s from Hamlet.  I’m extremely low-tech, so you guys have to go to YouTube if you want to see it. And while you’re there, might as well check out

one of the ads for the PS3 which features footage from the console’s most popular games while a dramatic voice narrates this version of a famous speech in Henry V:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon this day

😀 *first posted Jan 21, edited Jan 24