Women in British Romantic Theatre: Drama, Performance, and Society, 1790–1840

Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 11/16/2000
EAN 9780521662246, ISBN10: 0521662249

Hardcover, 364 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

First published in 2000, this collection of essays examine the extraordinary contribution of women playwrights, actors, translators, critics and managers who worked in British theatre during the romantic period. Focusing on women well known during their day but neglected for some 150 years, the volume provides a crucial perspective that revises historical narratives and reflects the rapidly changing terrain of scholarship in the complex field of romantic theatre and drama. Eleven specially commissioned essays by a distinguished team of scholars explore the role of numerous theatrical women including the eminent actress Sarah Siddons and two of the period's most prolific playwrights Elizabeth Inchbald and Joanna Baillie. The book strikes a balance between literary and theatrical approaches, showing how the period's preoccupation with categories such as text and performance, closet drama and stage, provide a key to 'uncloseting' an important group of female theatre artists.

List of illustrations
Notes on contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
uncloseting women in British Romantic theatre Catherine Burroughs
Part I. Historical Contexts
Revolution and Entrenchment
1. Baillie, Siddons, Larpent
gender, power and politics in the theatre of Romanticism Jeffrey N. Cox
2. Reviewing women in British Romantic theatre Greg Kucich
Part II. Nations, Households, Dramaturgy
3. Women and history on the Romantic stage
More, Yearsley, Burney and Mitford Katherine Newey
4. English national identity in Mariana Starke's The Sword of Peace
India, abolition and the rights of women Jeanne Moskal
5. Women's sovereignty on trial
Joanna Baillie's comedy The Tryal as metatheatrics Marjean D. Purinton
Part III. Performance and Closet Drama
6. Outing Joanna Baillie Susan Bennett
7. The management of laughter
Jane Scott's Camilla the Amazon in 1998 Jacky Bratton and Gilli Bush-Bailey
Part IV. Criticism and Theory
8. Elizabeth Inchbald
a woman critic in her theatrical culture Marvin Carlson
9. Authorial performances in the criticism and theory of Romantic women playwrights Thomas C. Crochunis
Part V. Translation, Adaptation, Revision
10. Suicide and translation in the dramaturgy of Elizabeth Inchbald and Anne Plumptre Jane Moody
11. Remaking love
remorse in the theatre of Baillie and Inchbald Julie Carlson
Bibliography
Index.

'… a worthy addition to the field; it demonstrates the best kind of work being done … the essays illustrate the richness of the field … The collection is a fine example of shared endeavour … The book exhibits collective and individual ambition, impressive labour in libraries and archives, and theoretical sophistication. Its achievements, large and small, are admirable.' Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film