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DPSL

Arts || Theatre & Performance Studies

Actresses as Working Women -Their Social Identity in Victorian Culture

Author: Tracy C. Davis

Illustrations : 15 b+w photos

Master eBook ISBN10 : 0-203-20001-2

Master eBook ISBN13 : 978-0-203-20001-8

No of pages : 228

eBook Price : $35.95

Originally Published : 27 Jun 1991

In Victorian society performers were drawn from various class backgrounds, and enjoyed a unique degree of social mobility. Nevertheless, the living and working conditions of female performers were very different from those of their male colleagues. Their segregation and concentration in low-status jobs, like dancing, guaranteed economic insecurity. Actresses' attempts to reconcile sexuality and the female life cycle to a physically demanding, itinerant occupation while under constant public scrutiny led to assumptions about their morality - assumptions that were constantly reinforced by theatrical conventions which reflected popular pornographic images.
This is an important book that brings fresh perspectives to bear on 19th-century theatre. It will nevertheless be of interest to a wide range of specialists including historians and feminist critics.



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Quotes

`This book transforms nineteenth century theatre studies. Tracy Davis brings feminist scholarship and perspectives tellingly to bear on her investigation of the meanings and practices of the world of actresses in the nineteenth century.'' - Theatre Research International

`It's a sophisticated scholarship (there are over 450 footnotes) championing a neglected rarity of 19th-century cultural history: women as legitimate autonomous professionals'' - City Limits

`It is fascinating and important that someone has at last tackled the topic of women performers as workers, and Tracy Davis is particularly insightful about the ways their image was sexualised by society.'' - Morning Star

`What is most impressive in Davis's study is the broad spectrum of her research. It includes not only the famous names from the era, but the working women of low rank who entered the profession as a means of securing social independence in an age when women belonged to men.'' |I New Statesman & Society

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