Ho Yay / Spring Awakening

• While their exact sexualities are unclear, Ernst and Hanschen both canonically show attraction towards men. They get together in "The Word of Your Body (Reprise)".
  • Even before revealing that they have feelings for each other, there's a scene early on where Hanschen offers to walk Ernst home. We even get this line from Hanschen:
  Hanschen: [suggestively] We'll huddle over the Homer. Maybe do a little Achilles and Patroclus...
  • In "The Bitch of Living" Ernst expresses his frustration of watching the other boys shower in gym class and Hanschen mentions admiring another boy's ass.
• Melchior and Moritz, being best friends, also have plenty of gay moments. "Touch Me" especially.
  • Melchior immediately jumps to Moritz's defense when their teacher starts yelling at him.
  • When Moritz tells about how he snuck into the headmaster's office to see if he passed, Melchior expresses concern for what would have happened if he had been caught. After Moritz excitedly tells Melchior he passed, they embrace.
  • On the subject of "Touch Me", Moritz says, "Still...you must admit...with the two anatomies... it truly is daunting," suggesting he's had men in his sexual thoughts along with women.
  • While there were obviously many other factors, Moritz happens to commit suicide after Melchior gets together with Wendla.
  • At Moritz's funeral we have one of the saddest songs in the musical, "Left Behind". One of Melchior's lines is as follows:
  Melchior: Can't help the itch to touch, to kiss, To hold him once again.

  • Really doesn't help with what the word "itch" was used to mean earlier in the musical...
• All of the girls seem to be extremely close and caring of each other.
  • Martha and Ilse are sometimes shipped together due to their duet in "The Dark I Know Well". Some productions even have them hug during the ending of the song.
  • Wendla feels so awful over the fact that Martha is beaten by her father, that she even asks Melchior to beat her so she can try and truly understand what Martha is going through.
  • When Ilse is reminiscing with Moritz on their younger days of playing pirates, the first person she brings up is Wendla.
  • Anna is the only girl who doesn't show any explicit attraction over a boy. In addition, she shows the most heartfelt concern over Martha's abuse; she reassures Martha that she can trust her friends, and pleads for her to talk to the authorities. Even in realizing how helpless she is in the situation, she promises to raise her own children to be strong and free. Anna is also quick to recognize Wendla's pain over Melchior's when the girls find out that he still hasn't heard of Wendla's passing.
• Taken from the Spring Awakening wiki, we have the following for Anna and Martha:
  • In Deaf West's Spring Awakening, Anna and Martha spend the latter half of "Touch Me" dancing together.
  • During "The Word of Your Body," Martha has her head on Anna's lap, and they hold hands.
  • During "The Word of Your Body (Reprise)", Martha and Anna circle each other holding hands and sign "I'm gonna be your bruise" to each other.
  • Anna is the first of the girls to join Martha and Ilse in "The Dark I Know Well".