Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays

Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays addresses a conspicuous absence in queer readings of Shakespeare’s work: the pregnant body. Through discussions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, and The Winter’s Tale , this book dismantles the heteronormative f...

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Prif Awdur: Andrzejewski, Alicia
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Cyhoeddwyd: Taylor & Francis 2026
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author Andrzejewski, Alicia
author_browse Andrzejewski, Alicia
author_facet Andrzejewski, Alicia
author_sort Andrzejewski, Alicia
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays addresses a conspicuous absence in queer readings of Shakespeare’s work: the pregnant body. Through discussions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, and The Winter’s Tale , this book dismantles the heteronormative frameworks through which pregnancy continues to be read. Its chapters challenge the assumptions in queer theory that only straight women get pregnant, that every pregnancy ends in the birth of a healthy, legitimate child, and that pregnancy always reproduces the family in a recognizable form. These frameworks not only dull the transgressive force of pregnancy in Shakespeare’s work and the expansive ways in which early moderns thought about the pregnant body, but contribute to the erasure of so many lived experiences of pregnancy in our current, cultural imagination. The concept of “queer pregnancy” not only reorients scholars to pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays and beyond — it illuminates how high the stakes are for pregnant people who continue to be read and treated through perspectives that do not take queer bodies and identities into account. Through queer methodologies, as well as an explication of early modern gynecological texts, receipt books, and botanicals, this book offers new possibilities for how Shakespeare might have encountered and understood pregnancy, making it a valuable resource to students, scholars and anyone interested in Shakespeare, queer and feminist studies, and early modern culture.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1762332026-06-21T06:24:02Z Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays Andrzejewski, Alicia Early modern sexuality Feminist literary criticism Trans pregnancy studies Gynecological history Queer theory methodologies Reproductive politics Gendered embodiment in Renaissance drama thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DD Plays, playscripts::DDA Classic and pre-20th century plays thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays addresses a conspicuous absence in queer readings of Shakespeare’s work: the pregnant body. Through discussions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titus Andronicus, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, and The Winter’s Tale , this book dismantles the heteronormative frameworks through which pregnancy continues to be read. Its chapters challenge the assumptions in queer theory that only straight women get pregnant, that every pregnancy ends in the birth of a healthy, legitimate child, and that pregnancy always reproduces the family in a recognizable form. These frameworks not only dull the transgressive force of pregnancy in Shakespeare’s work and the expansive ways in which early moderns thought about the pregnant body, but contribute to the erasure of so many lived experiences of pregnancy in our current, cultural imagination. The concept of “queer pregnancy” not only reorients scholars to pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays and beyond — it illuminates how high the stakes are for pregnant people who continue to be read and treated through perspectives that do not take queer bodies and identities into account. Through queer methodologies, as well as an explication of early modern gynecological texts, receipt books, and botanicals, this book offers new possibilities for how Shakespeare might have encountered and understood pregnancy, making it a valuable resource to students, scholars and anyone interested in Shakespeare, queer and feminist studies, and early modern culture. 2026-05-05T05:40:35Z 2026-05-05T05:40:35Z 2026-05-04T08:53:43Z 2026 book ONIX_20260429T161217_9781040484227_11 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/112853 9781040484227 9781003270348 9781040733851 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/176233 eng New Interdisciplinary Approaches to Early Modern Culture open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/112853/1/9781040484227.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/112853/1/9781040484227.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/112853/1/9781040484227.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/112853/1/9781040484227.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003270348 10.4324/9781003270348 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 Knowledge Unlatched b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9781040484227 9781003270348 9781040733851 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) Routledge Gender & Sexuality Studies 2026 Routledge 160 Oxford [...] open access
spellingShingle Early modern sexuality
Feminist literary criticism
Trans pregnancy studies
Gynecological history
Queer theory methodologies
Reproductive politics
Gendered embodiment in Renaissance drama
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DD Plays, playscripts::DDA Classic and pre-20th century plays
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history
Andrzejewski, Alicia
Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title_full Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title_fullStr Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title_full_unstemmed Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title_short Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays
title_sort queer pregnancy in shakespeare s plays
topic Early modern sexuality
Feminist literary criticism
Trans pregnancy studies
Gynecological history
Queer theory methodologies
Reproductive politics
Gendered embodiment in Renaissance drama
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DD Plays, playscripts::DDA Classic and pre-20th century plays
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history
topic_facet Early modern sexuality
Feminist literary criticism
Trans pregnancy studies
Gynecological history
Queer theory methodologies
Reproductive politics
Gendered embodiment in Renaissance drama
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DD Plays, playscripts::DDA Classic and pre-20th century plays
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHB General and world history
url ONIX_20260429T161217_9781040484227_11
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