Often viewed as theologically conservative, many theatrical works of late medieval and early Tudor England nevertheless exploited the performative nature of drama to flirt with unsanctioned expressions of desire, allowing queer identities and themes to emerge. Early plays faced vexing challenges in depicting sexuality, but modes of queerness, including queer scopophilia, queer dialogue, queer characters, and queer performances, fractured prevailing restraints. Many of these plays were produced within male homosocial environments, and thus homosociality served as a narrative precondition of their storylines. Building from these foundations, On the Queerness of Early English Drama investigates occluded depictions of sexuality in late medieval and early Tudor dramas. Tison Pugh explores a range of topics, including the unstable genders of the York Corpus Christi Plays, the morally instructive humour of excremental allegory in Mankind, the confused relationship of sodomy and chastity in John Bale’s historical interludes, and the camp artifice and queer carnival of Sir David Lyndsay’s Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis. Pugh concludes with Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi, pondering the afterlife of medieval drama and its continued utility in probing cultural constructions of gender and sexuality

"This book has secured a place among the monographs that have shaped the field of early modern queer historiography and drama." - Renaissance and Reformation

"Pugh’s well-researched and convincingly argued book demonstrates not only the value and relevance of the medieval theatrical tradition but also its long-suppressed queerness." - The Gay & Lesbian Review

"Tison Pugh’s On the Queerness of Early English Drama: Sex in the Subjunctive is a welcome addition to queer studies scholarship in early English drama studies. It reminds us how very queer early English drama is and provides fresh avenues of exploration for those of us working in this field." - Early Theatre

"For its fine scholarship, Pugh’s book stands beside related studies such as Mario DiGangi’s The Homoerotics of Early Modern Drama and James Bromley’s Clothing and Queer Style in Early Modern English Drama. For its accessible language and skillful application of current critical queer theory, this title will appeal to students at all levels." - CHOICE