What literary criticism can be found connecting Elizabethan social issues to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night?

One social issue literary
critics have connected Twelfth Night with concerns the
prejudicial rejection of homosexuality. Literary critics
notice Antonio's dedicated love for Sebastian and liken it
to homosexual feelings. Critics also point out that at the end of the play, Antonio is
left alone, abandoned, and ostracized from society, which
critics say would point out the homophobia of the Elizabethan
society. However, Nancy Lindheim disputes
these critics' arguments and asserts that Shakespeare was not trying to make a point of
Elizabethan homophobia because Elizabethans simply did not think of
male-to-male relationships in the same way that our society does today
( href="http://home.uchicago.edu/~jorgea/untitled%20folder/Rethinking.pdf">"Rethinking
Sexuality and Class in Twelfth
Night").

We clearly see Antonio's
strong affection for Sebastian in several places. We especially see
Antonio's declaration of love for Sebastian in the first scene in which we meet both of
them in his lines, "If you will not murder me for my love, let me be your servant"
(II.i.30-31). These lines can be translated as saying, "If you do not wish to kill me
for the depth of my love for you, let me be your servant," which is another way of
saying, "I shall die if you refuse to let me serve you" (Shakespeare-online, title="William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night Or What You Will, ed. Kenneth Deighton,
Shakespare Online, shakespare-online.com"
href="http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/twn_2_1.html">Twelfth
Night). Antonio further shows his affection for Sebastian by being
unable to stay behind; he absolutely must follow Sebastian into Illyria, even though he
knows he will be arrested. He therefore loves Sebastian so
much that his is willing to endanger his life for
him.

However, Lindheim points out
male-to-male friendships of this sort were not
only common, but expected.
According to Renaissance theory, male-to-male relationships
were even considered to be a stronger bond than male-to-female relationships because
males connected with each other on a spiritual and intellectual level. Male friendships
were a "product of a moral choice" rather than the product of an instinctual sexual
desire ("Rethinking," p. 11). Furthermore, this type of male friendship did
not necessarily also imply sexual relations. In fact, Alan
Bray also asserts that the Elizabethan society held moral and legal punishments for that
type of activity, believing it to be "treason, witchcraft, and heresy" (as cited in
Lindheim, p. 15). Hence, ultimately, we can argue that Antonio has not been ostracized
by the end of the play for feeling this type of love for Sebastian because this
type of love was typical and did not also imply
homosexuality. Instead, Lindheim further points out that Shakespeare frequently makes
use of male-to-male bonds "between men who are unequal in age or social standing"
("Rethinking"). Antonio is most likely older than Sebastian, and Sebastian is a member
of the landowning gentry while Antonio is merely a sea captain, making them
unequal in education and social status. Shakespeare uses a
similar device in Love's Labour's Lost. The inequality of the
friendships can make a person wonder just how mutual the friendship
is. In other words, one can argue that Sebastian simply doesn't feel the
same way about Antonio and that that is the real reason why Antonio is
ostracized by the end of the play.

Therefore, while one
can connect Twelfth Night to social issues like homosexuality and
homophobia, it can be argued that those issues were not Shakespeare's intent because the
issues simply did not exist in Elizabethan times.