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:I notice there aren't any citations for this page. I've never heard of queer theory, so it's hard for me to tell what is right and what is made up. [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 23:01, 13 November 2008 (EST)

:I notice there aren't any citations for this page. I've never heard of queer theory, so it's hard for me to tell what is right and what is made up. [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 23:01, 13 November 2008 (EST)

::You're probably lucky enough to have gone to a conservative enough college (or gone to college long enough ago) that you wouldn't have heard of queer theory. It's a revisionist approach to literature -- the professors do it to have an edgy and new approach, but all it does is facilitate a reading of homosexual themes into places where they don't belong, nor were they intended by the authors. Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, etc, all these great world literary figures didn't intend any homosexual themes in their literary works, yet these queer theorists are purposefully misinterpreting the texts to have these themes. -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 03:06, 15 November 2008 (EST)

::You're probably lucky enough to have gone to a conservative enough college (or gone to college long enough ago) that you wouldn't have heard of queer theory. It's a revisionist approach to literature -- the professors do it to have an edgy and new approach, but all it does is facilitate a reading of homosexual themes into places where they don't belong, nor were they intended by the authors. Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, etc, all these great world literary figures didn't intend any homosexual themes in their literary works, yet these queer theorists are purposefully misinterpreting the texts to have these themes. -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 03:06, 15 November 2008 (EST)

:::I went to an extremely liberal college, but I was in the engineering program. (My only English class involved reading science fictuion.) But I did see Twelfth Night in high school, and there was a lot of generbending going on, and history (the non-revised kind) tells us that when the plays were performed men played all the parts. [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 12:46, 15 November 2008 (EST)

:::I went to an extremely liberal college, but I was in the engineering program. (My only English class involved reading science fictuion.) But I did see Twelfth Night in high school, and there was a lot of generbending going on, and history (the non-revised kind) tells us that when the plays were performed men played all the parts. [[User:HelpJazz|Help]][[User talk:HelpJazz|Jazz]] 12:46, 15 November 2008 (EST)

::::I am aware that in Greek theater and the theater of Shakespeare's time, all the roles were played by men. This was the standard, because the men held the respectable jobs and women (for the most part) stayed at home and tended to the numerous domestic duties -- don't forget that it was a full time job! However, just because all the roles were acted by men, does not mean that there was a homosexual context to the acting, and moreover, it doesn't mean that Shakespeare wanted homosexual themes in his plays. I don't suppose you think Julius Caesar's cabal of conspirators was some homosexual love pact, do you? -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 15:52, 15 November 2008 (EST)

::::I am aware that in Greek theater and the theater of Shakespeare's time, all the roles were played by men. This was the standard, because the men held the respectable jobs and women (for the most part) stayed at home and tended to the numerous domestic duties -- don't forget that it was a full time job! However, just because all the roles were acted by men, does not mean that there was a homosexual context to the acting, and moreover, it doesn't mean that Shakespeare wanted homosexual themes in his plays. I don't suppose you think Julius Caesar's cabal of conspirators was some homosexual love pact, do you? -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 15:52, 15 November 2008 (EST)

:::::[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]], have you seen Twelfth Night?  ''the professors do it to have an edgy and new approach, but all it does is facilitate a reading of homosexual themes into places where they don't belong, nor were they intended by the authors''  In the case of Shakespeare, we really have no way of knowing what he, the author, intended, except through examining the text.  (We actually know very little about Shakespeare, the man.)  I agree that just because all the roles were acted by men, does not mean that there was a homosexual context to the acting, on the other hand, it doesn't mean there wasn't one either.  I don't think ''Julius Caesar's cabal of conspirators was some homosexual love pact'', but I do think there is quite a bit of genderbending in plays like Twelfth Night, contrary to what the article claims.  In other examples, was Nancy Drew's tomboy friend George (tall, with short black hair) intended to be a subtle lesbian character, or not?  Was Enid Blyton's ''Famous Five'' series's tomboy, also named George (short for Georgina), who dressed like a boy and often passed as one, intended to be a subtle lesbian character?  I have no idea.  I don't think we should completely discount queer lit theory as a whole - surely it's a possibility that ''some'' of those authors knew exactly what they were implying and did it purposefully?  Sorting out which ones, and in which works, is pretty much the idea of queer lit theory, as I understand it. (In addition, there's the whole idea that part of literature is what the author intended, and part is how the text is read by others, which may or may not be the same thing.  I wasn't a lit major, so I'm far from an expert at this stuff.) --[[User:Hsmom|Hsmom]] 17:20, 15 November 2008 (EST)

:::::[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]], have you seen Twelfth Night?  ''the professors do it to have an edgy and new approach, but all it does is facilitate a reading of homosexual themes into places where they don't belong, nor were they intended by the authors''  In the case of Shakespeare, we really have no way of knowing what he, the author, intended, except through examining the text.  (We actually know very little about Shakespeare, the man.)  I agree that just because all the roles were acted by men, does not mean that there was a homosexual context to the acting, on the other hand, it doesn't mean there wasn't one either.  I don't think ''Julius Caesar's cabal of conspirators was some homosexual love pact'', but I do think there is quite a bit of genderbending in plays like Twelfth Night, contrary to what the article claims.  In other examples, was Nancy Drew's tomboy friend George (tall, with short black hair) intended to be a subtle lesbian character, or not?  Was Enid Blyton's ''Famous Five'' series's tomboy, also named George (short for Georgina), who dressed like a boy and often passed as one, intended to be a subtle lesbian character?  I have no idea.  I don't think we should completely discount queer lit theory as a whole - surely it's a possibility that ''some'' of those authors knew exactly what they were implying and did it purposefully?  Sorting out which ones, and in which works, is pretty much the idea of queer lit theory, as I understand it. (In addition, there's the whole idea that part of literature is what the author intended, and part is how the text is read by others, which may or may not be the same thing.  I wasn't a lit major, so I'm far from an expert at this stuff.) --[[User:Hsmom|Hsmom]] 17:20, 15 November 2008 (EST)

::::: what then of plays like Peter Pan , done in the English Pantomime tradition where the role of Peter is played by a woman ?  Is this to be interpreted now as transvestitism ? [[User:Markr|Markr]] 17:48, 15 November 2008 (EST)

::::: what then of plays like Peter Pan , done in the English Pantomime tradition where the role of Peter is played by a woman ?  Is this to be interpreted now as transvestitism ? [[User:Markr|Markr]] 17:48, 15 November 2008 (EST)