Lyly and Lesbianism: Mysteries of the Closet in Sappho and Phao

Abstract

In a recent essay on ‘The (In)Significance of “Lesbian” Desire on the English Renaissance Stage’, Valerie Traub worries that in writing on the topic she might be accused of ‘creating something quite literally out of nothing’.1 She continues: ‘To this charge I can only answer that I find it inconceivable that within the vast array of erotic choices reported by early modern culture, “feminine” bodies did not meet, touch, and pleasure one another/ The wheel has turned full circle since Queen Victoria refused to believe that there could possibly be such a thing as lesbianism. Now Professor Traub refuses to believe that there could possibly not be such a thing as lesbianism. But surely she is right to suppose, despite the paucity of documentary evidence, that at least some women in early modern England gave sexual pleasure to one another; and men no doubt dimly guessed of such a situation. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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