During the 1890's, American audiences still saw theater as a form of entertainment and therefore, it could not be considered a medium through which to comment on the social situation of the society. However, across the Atlantic, Henrik Ibsen was steadily bringing realist drama to prominence and simultaneously achieving critical acclaim. At home, James A. Herne débuted his radical play, Margaret Fleming, but achieved little success. However, it did draw both positive and negative criticism. Such a varied reaction to such a controversial play at such a pivotal time must have a profound effect on the society that existed during this time. This can only be caused by a society in transit. During this period many changes such as industrialization, urbanization and women's suffrage were taking place. In this turmoil, new ideas emerged as old ideas tried to hold their ground. This tension between the old and the new, lead to the difference in opinions. During the 19th century, melodramas had become extremely popular and profitable. Playwright enjoyed writing dramas filled with spectacle and songs. They catered to audience’s desire for heroes and villains, and the audience ate up the bombastic acting. Melodramatic plays such as Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Drunkard, The Octoroon and Ten Nights in a Bar Room proved highly popular. However, due to their melodramatic nature, these plays reduce to forms of entertainment rather than commentary on the social conditions of that time. Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Octoroon discussed slavery whereas The Drunkard and Ten Nights in a Bar Room focused on alcohol abuse and its effect. Take Uncle Tom's Cabin. Originally written as a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, it was later turned into a play by various play... ... middle of paper ... ...1 Nov. 2010. "Margaret Fleming. " The Critic: a Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts (1886-1898) 19 Dec. 1891: American Periodicals Series Online, ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. ""MARGARET FLEMING" AGAIN :Mrs. Herne Acts in Mr. Herne's Play at the Fifth Avenue Theatre.. " New York Times (1857-1922) 11 Apr. 1894,ProQuest Historical Newspapers New York Times (1851-2007) w/ Index (1851-1993), ProQuest. Web. 21 Nov. 2010. “MRS. WOUTER VAN TWILLER..” Harper's Bazaar 24.52 (1891): 1014. Print. Pizer, Donald. “An 1890 Account of MARGARET FLEMING..” American Literature 27.2 (1955): 264. Web. Stephens, Judith L. “Gender Ideology and Dramatic Convention in Progressive Era Plays, 1890-1920.” Theatre Journal 41.1 (1989): 45-55. Print. Wingate, Charles E L. “Boston Letter.” The Critic: a Weekly Review of Literature and the Arts 16.406 (1891): 184. Print.
Neely, Carol Thomas. “Shakespeare’s Women: Historical Facts and Dramatic Representations.” Shakespeare’s Personality. Ed. Norman N. Holland, Sidney Homan, and Bernard J. Paris. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. 116-134.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
... comedies rather than tragedies in their source form the original characters from the source plays are revealed. Strong, ‘masculine’ women of the source are only revealed through the intertextuality of genre and the reassigned direct quotes from Shakespeare’s iconic plays. The feminist perspective of Shakespeare’s plays, which was there all along, could only be revealed by the strong use of intertextuality in MacDonald’s play. MacDonald relies on the iconic meta-theatre and intertextuality to magnify the feminist perspective within the Shakespearean plays. When turned in upon itself, Shakespeare’s plays reveal their distinct feminist perspective that could not be uncovered without the extensive and brilliant use of intertextuality such as that of Ann Marie MacDonald. Therefore the metatheatre’s intertextuality reinforces and supports the traits of the feminine.
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
Novy, Marianne L. Love’s Argument: Gender Relations in Shakespeare. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.
Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but before approaching the subject of this essay, three clarifica- tions are necessary at the outset.
...Chrie, D., (ed.), Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company, 1986. Vo. 13, pp. 53-111.
Moulton, Charles Wells. Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Volume 1. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1966. Print.
Kathleen Casey’s The Prettiest Girl on Stage is a Man: Race and Gender Benders in American Vaudeville kind of brings this essay full circle with its exploration of the adoption of gender and racial performances in American vaudeville, a popular form of entertainment during the early twentieth century. Vaudeville performances are characterized by physical humor, masquerade, and metamorphosis. This particular type of performance is not much different than “camp” explored in Newton’s Mother Camp, which emphasizes gay humor and theatrics. While camp is performed by drag queens, the vaudeville performers explored in Casey’s work perform gender in different ways. One of the four case studies in the book is that of Eva Tanguay who embodies female
I am going to start my essay by looking at the way in which plays were
This paper will look at the different conceptions highlighted by Bulman in his article through the use of different methods used by the actors in the play. Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare captures the different conceptions of gender identity and different sexualities within the Elizabethan period.
Scott, Clement. "Review of 'A Doll's House." The Theatre 14.79 (July 1889): 19-22. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Paula Kepos. Vol. 37. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Mar. 2011.
New York Times Book Review (1968): 42, 44, 46. Rpt. in Nineteenth- Century Literature Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald.
Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.
are still in place in today's society. The play is a comedy but to a