How Sexy Was Shakespeare?

<p>There's a bit of interest around Shakespeare at the minute - can we call this the Paul Mescal effect?</p> <p>The Bard’s work featured many references to sex and sexuality - some more obvious than others. But what does the work reveal about the sexuality of Shakespeare himself?</p> <p>Despite being married with three kids to Anne Hathaway in the sleepy suburbs of Stratford-upon-Avon, there’s much to suggest he lived a more extravagant life during his visits to London.</p> <p>Joining Kate today is author of The Life of the Author: William Shakespeare, Anna Beer, to unpick the hints and clues to the playwright’s sexuality that lay within his work.</p> <p>This episode was edited by Tomos Delargy. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.</p> <p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p><u>You can take part in our listener survey</u><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/6FFT7MK" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u> here</u></a><u>.</u></p> <p>All music from Epidemic Sounds.</p> <p>Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.</p><p>Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: <a href="https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>