The Cambridge Companion to the Actress (Cambridge Companions to Literature) (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

This Companion brings together sixteen new essays which examine, from various perspectives, the social and cultural role of the actress throughout history and across continents. Each essay focuses on a particular stage in her development, for example professionalism in the seventeenth century; the emergence of the actress/critic during the Romantic period and, later on, of the actress as best selling autobiographer; the coming of the drama schools which led to today's emphasis on the actress as a highly-trained working woman. Chapters consider the image of the actress as a courtesan, as a 'muse', as a representative of the 'ordinary' housewife, and as a political activist. The collection also contains essays on forms, genres and traditions - on cross dressing, solo performance, racial constraints, and recent Shakespeare - as well as on the actress in early photography and on film. Its unique range will fascinate, surprise and instruct theatre-goers and students alike. Cambridge University Press THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO THE ACTRESS 2 Contents 6 List of illustrations 8 Notes on contributors 10 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 14 1 Revolution, legislation and autonomy 26 2 Spectacle, intellect and authority: the actress in the eighteenth century 44 3 Cultural formations: the nineteenth-century touring actress and her international audiences 63 4 The actress as photographic icon: from early photography to early film 85 5 The actress and the profession: training in England in the twentieth century 106 6 Out of the ordinary: exercising restraint in the post-war years 127 7 Icons and labourers: some political actresses 145 8 The actress as manager 166 9 By herself: the actress and autobiography, 1755–1939 182 10 The screen actress from silence to sound 202 11 Side doors and service elevators: racial constraints for actresses of colour 224 12 Mirroring men: the actress in drag 242 13 ‘Studies in hysteria’: actress and courtesan, Sarah Bernhardt and Mrs Patrick Campbell 260 14 Beyond the muse: the Spanish actress as collaborator 279 15 Going solo: an historical perspective on the actress and the monologue 298 16 Changing Shakespeare: new possibilities for the modern actress 321 General reading 334 index 337 9780521608541 This volume is a collection of original essays on the cultural role of performing women on stage and on screen, throughout history and across continents. Topics covered include cross dressing, solo performance, racial constraints, recent Shakespeare, and the actress in early photography and on film Edited By Maggie B. Gale And John Stokes. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 327-329) And Index.