Through examining John Lyly’s Galatea from the lenses of queer theory and gender theory, it is clear that the play’s titular character—herein referred to as Tityrus II—serves as an explicit example of transmasculine identity within Renaissance literature, specifically Renaissance plays. Drawing upon Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity and Agnes Callard’s theory of aspiration, this essay explores the repeated enactments of masculinity that produce Tityrus II’s gendered substance, revealing a persistent desire to live as authentically male. Through a close reading of Galatea, the essay analyzes the ways in which transformation and erasure function as strategies of self-construction and survival by contrasting Tityrus II’s comfort with masculine performance to Phillida’s resistance to boyhood. In highlighting the relationship between gender enactments within the play, this essay uncovers transgender possibilities within the scope of Renaissance plays.
Elliot Gray Boodhan (Wed,) studied this question.