A new debate has broken out between some of the world's top Shakespeare experts over whether the playwright's sonnets prove he was attracted to men.
在世界顶级莎士比亚学者中间，一个新的舆论炸开了锅：这位剧作家的十四行诗是不是在暗示他被男性所吸引着?
Sir Brian Vickers, a visiting professor at University College London, began the row by condemning a book review which suggested Sonnet 116 appears in a 'primarily homosexual context'
伦敦大学学院的客座教授布莱恩·威克斯爵士第一个对此论调提出怀疑，他抨击了一本解读莎士比亚十四行诗的第116首“首先是一个同性恋文本”的书评。
In a letter to the Times Literary Supplement, he said the claim was 'anachronistic' because scholars now accept there were forms of rhetoric that allowed men to express love without implying sexual attraction.
在写给《泰晤士报文学增刊》的信中，他说道，因为如今学者都承认，在不表明性向的时候，有一些特定的修辞用来表达对男性的爱意，这种论调是“不合时宜的”。
He also said that any attempt to find biographical information in the sonnets was doomed because Shakespeare was a professional who wrote under the identity of a 'poet-persona'.
他也说道，任何试图在十四行诗中寻找传记信息的企图都是注定失败的，因为莎士比亚是个专业的带着“诗人面具”写作的人。
Fellow academics have since hit back at Mr Vickers' comments, accusing him of promoting 'one of the great fallacies of modern Shakespeare criticism'.
随后的一些学者开始攻击威克斯的论调，指控他在传播“一个现代莎士比亚评论界的大谬误”。
Scholar Arthur Freeman, who described himself as a 'friendly acquaintance' of Mr Vickers when responding to him via the letters page, accused him of introducing 'presuppositions that many of us would question, if not reject out of hand'.
亚瑟·弗里曼学者，声称自己是威克斯先生的“友人”，在信上指控他“再不住手的话，我们都要对你的假设提出怀疑了”。
He wrote: 'I cannot think of any responsible editor ... who would dismiss the premise of homosexual, as well as heterosexual passion pervading [the sonnets].
他写道：“我不能想到任何一位有责任的编辑……在读着这些弥漫了异性恋热情的十四行诗时，会对同性恋这个前提置之不理。
'Why should Shakespeare alone be thought so committed to the "negative capability" of his dramatic craft that all his most personal writings are treated as potentially artificial?
“为什么莎士比亚所有个人作品都要被认定有人工合成的可能性，并他这些戏剧性的作品被认为是拥有了“消极的才能”?
‘And even if we insist on regarding the sonnets, wholly or in part, as a kind of long-term dramatic narrative ... why on earth would Shakespeare choose so often to impersonate a pathetically ageing, balding, lame and vulnerable bisexual suitor, abjectly whingeing about rejection and betrayal — unless the self-humiliation that surfaces again and again through these particulars were both genuine and cathartic?'
“而且即使我们这么认定他的十四行诗(全部或部分)，作为一种长时间的充满戏剧性的叙事……究竟为何莎士比亚要选择如此频繁的去扮演一个可悲的，秃着头，跛着脚，脆弱且垂垂老矣的双性恋的起诉人，悲惨地抱怨着拒绝和背叛——除非通过这些细节可以看出其一次又一次浮出水面的自卑情结，是真实可信的。”
Mr Vickers responded by saying he could not stop people from speculating, adding: 'Thought is free.
威克斯先生回应道，他不能阻止人们的猜想，并补充道：“一千人心中有一千个哈姆雷特。
'But if you fix these codes and then say that his 126 poems are like this, then people stop reading them as poems. They read them as biographical documents, looking for imputed sexuality.'
“但是如果你纠结于这些暗示，并且认定他的126首诗都是如此，那么人们就不会把他的诗当作诗，而是作为传记文献开始寻找性向的蛛丝马迹。”
Although there are few references to anything other than noble love, some sonnets appear more explicit than others.
虽然描写高尚爱情的文献没有很多，一些十四行诗显露的还是比其他要明显。
Sonnet 20 is largely interpreted as being dedicated to a man, declaring: 'A woman's face with nature's own hand painted / Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion.'
十四行诗第20首，很普遍的被认为是专写给男人的，其写道：“造物手绘你女性的脸庞-你是我钟爱的娇娇檀郎!”
In 2012, Shakespearean actor Sir Ian McKellen boldly announced that there was absolutely 'no doubt' the bard was bisexual.
在2012年，扮演莎士比亚的演员伊恩·麦克莱恩爵士大胆宣称，“毫无疑问”这位吟游诗人是双性恋。
The 75-year-old thespian said he came to his conclusion after studying the English poet's work.
这位75岁高龄的演员声称自己在研究这位英国诗人的巨作后得出了这个结论。
At the time, he said: 'I'd say Shakespeare slept with men.
当时他说道：“我敢说他肯定和男人睡过。
'The Merchant of Venice, centering on how the world treats gays as well as Jews, has a love triangle between an older man, younger man and a woman.
“在《威尼斯商人》中，其宗旨放在说明全世界怎样像对待犹太人一样对待同性恋，且在一个老人，一个青年和一个女人中存在三角关系。
'And the complexity in his comedies with cross-dressing and disguises is immense.’
“而且在他的喜剧中异装癖和化妆非常常见。”
