Title Impersonations : the performance of gender in Shakespeare's England / Stephen Orgel

Published Cambridge [England] ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1996

Copies

Location	Call no.	Vol.	Availability
W'PONDS	792.0942031 Org/Itp		AVAILABLE

Description xv, 179 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm Contents 1. Introduction -- 2. The performance of desire -- 3. The eye of the beholder -- 4. Call me Ganymede -- 5. Masculine apparel -- 6. Mankind witches -- 7. Visible figures Summary "Why was England the only country in Europe to maintain an all-male public theatre in the Renaissance? Stephen Orgel uses this question as the starting point of a fresh and stimulating exploration of the representation of gender in Elizabethan drama and society. Why were boys used to play female roles in drama, and how did such cross-dressing impact on the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries? What was the place of women in the Renaissance theatre, either on the stage or in the audience? And what did society make of those women who significantly and successfully violated accepted gender boundaries? At once provocative and witty, lucid and stylish, Impersonations will reshape our understanding of the Renaissance theatre, and make us rethink our own inadequate categories of gender, power and sexuality." http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/cam027/95041287.html Analysis England Theatre History Notes Includes index Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 154-172) and index Subject Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Dramatic production. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters -- Women. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Dramatic production -- Dramatic production Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Relations with actors Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Stage history -- To 1625. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Characters. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Relations with women. Child actors -- England -- History -- 16th century. Child actors -- England -- History -- 17th century. Child actors -- England -- History. Disguise in literature. English drama -- Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600 -- History and criticism. English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism. Gender identity in literature. Sex role in literature. English drama -- Early modern, 1500-1700 -- History and criticism. Theater -- Casting -- England -- History -- 16th century. Theater -- Casting -- England -- History -- 17th century. Women in literature. Drama -- history. Drama -- english Genre/Form Drama. LC no. 95041287 ISBN 052156056X (hardback) 0521568420 (paperback)

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