Same sex relations

The Trial of Lord Audley and Edward II both present the Renaissance view of homosexuality, and I found it very interesting how progressive it is, in a sense. Rather than a binary decision (a view that seemed popular until the 80s/90s when gay rights activism really became mainstream), the early modern period seemed to view it as a spectrum, much as is the popular theory today. Granted, the act of sodomy is still demonized, and the fervor with which it was prosecuted leaves no doubt the intolerance for homosexuality, but it was fascinating nonetheless how there was a sort of "don't ask, don't tell," closeted (pun intended) acceptance of homosexuality. In the Trial documents specifically, I thought that the rape was downplayed not in order to make it seem like less of a crime, but only to heighten the atroscity of sodomy. Also highlighted was the fact that Lord Audley had relations with men of a lower social order and how his actions were "against the peace." The heirarchy of religion so permeates Renaissance soceity that sodomy, a private affair, causes harm to the public, because it was believed to disrupt the laws of nature, and more importantly, of God. However, Lord Audley's actions also disrupted the social heirarchy of the time, and so his actions were offensive on so many fronts.

On the other hand, it seems as if Edward III's time spent with the mother and other significant women is somehow suggestive, as if Edward II's preference for male favorites was something genetic that would be passed down to his son; or, as if a boy that spends too much time in the company of women has a greater risk of having homosexual relationships.

The justification for male relations through Classical literature is also interesting. It seems common knowledge that the Greeks in particular viewed women as deformed men and that the only true realization of human relationship came about between two men, and these beliefs still exist, at least in part, in the Renaissance.

Perhaps my favorite part of Edward II is how Marlowe using hunting as an allegory for gay sex, and how the hunter becomes the hunted. This inversion of roles exists in both scenarios, as one male must necessarily take on the gender role of female during sex. In this sense, the hunter (read: male sexual agressor) must become submissive. Gaveston likening his relationship with Edward II to a hunt is thus very appropriate.