Rival Queens

Rival Queens PDF

Author: Felicity Nussbaum

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2011-10-11

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 0812206894

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In eighteenth-century England, actresses were frequently dismissed as mere prostitutes trading on their sexual power rather than their talents. Yet they were, Felicity Nussbaum argues, central to the success of a newly commercial theater. Urban, recently moneyed, and thoroughly engaged with their audiences, celebrated actresses were among the first women to achieve social mobility, cultural authority, and financial independence. In fact, Nussbaum contends, the eighteenth century might well be called the "age of the actress" in the British theater, given women's influence on the dramatic repertory and, through it, on the definition of femininity. Treating individual star actresses who helped spark a cult of celebrity—especially Anne Oldfield, Susannah Cibber, Catherine Clive, Margaret Woffington, Frances Abington, and George Anne Bellamy—Rival Queens reveals the way these women animated issues of national identity, property, patronage, and fashion in the context of their dramatic performances. Actresses intentionally heightened their commercial appeal by catapulting the rivalries among themselves to center stage. They also boldly challenged in importance the actor-managers who have long dominated eighteenth-century theater history and criticism. Felicity Nussbaum combines an emphasis on the actresses themselves with close analysis of their diverse roles in works by major playwrights, including George Farquhar, Nicholas Rowe, Colley Cibber, Arthur Murphy, David Garrick, Isaac Bickerstaff, and Richard Sheridan. Hers is a comprehensive and original argument about the importance of actresses as the first modern subjects, actively shaping their public identities to make themselves into celebrated properties.

Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts

Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts PDF

Author: Kate Lister

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2021-10-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 0500252440

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Authored by one of the most original contemporary thinkers on the subject, this book is an enlightening illustrated cultural history of the sex trade that puts sex workers center stage, revealing how they have lived and worked all around the globe. The history of selling sex is a hidden one—and too often its practitioners are pushed to the margins of history. This book redresses the balance, revealing the history of the sex trade through the eyes of sex workers, from medieval streets to Wild West saloons, and from brothels to state bedrooms. These enthralling tales are brought to life by Whores of Yore creator Kate Lister’s witty and authoritative text, and illuminated by a rich archive of photographs, artworks, and objects offering insight into sex workers’ lives, challenging assumptions about this age-old trade. Harlots, Whores & Hackabouts’ chapters are structured thematically in a broadly chronological order, each one introducing a lively cast of complex and entertaining characters operating in an array of different periods, locations, and settings. In ancient Mesopotamia, the harlot Shamhat was powerful and respected, able to civilize the wild man Enkidu through her charms. In medieval London, Elizabeth Moryng serviced religious clergy under the guise of an embroidery business, though she was eventually jailed for being a prolific panderer and bawd. In the hedonistic floating world of Edo, Japan, Kabuki actresses and geishas entertained and pleasured their patrons. Lister’s engaging and illuminating tales invite readers to look, listen, and reconsider everything they thought they knew about the world’s oldest profession. Together, these captivating tales of sex workers from around the world and throughout history provide a powerful context to contemporary debates about sexuality and the empowerment of women.

Whore Stories

Whore Stories PDF

Author: Tyler Stoddard Smith

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-06-18

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1440538530

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A Working History of Working Girls (and Guys) Have you ever wondered how Heidi Fleiss came to be the face of upscale prostitution or if Casanova really was the world's greatest lover? How about why Latin playboy Rubi Rubirosa got the nickname "The Ding Dong Daddy"? Anything but judgmental, Whore Stories sheds light on one of our more stigmatized icons: The Prostitute. Featuring the true stories of famous streetwalkers, call girls, rent boys, and go-go dancers, this book offers a revealing look at the men and women who have blazed the bawdy trail of prostitution since the dawn of time. While you may think that you know everything about this occupation, Whore Stories includes plenty of details and even celebrities, such as Maya Angelou and Bob Dylan, that will leave you in awe. From private schools and child preachers to mime fantasies and unfortunate amputations, this book uncovers the truth behind the world's oldest profession.

The First English Actresses

The First English Actresses PDF

Author: Elizabeth Howe

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1992-06-04

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9780521422109

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This book describes how and why women were permitted to act on the public stage after 1660 in England.

Fanny and Stella

Fanny and Stella PDF

Author: Neil McKenna

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Published: 2013-01-25

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0571288502

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'Uproarious.' The Times 'Terrifically entertaining.' Evening Standard 'Irresistible.' Daily Mail 'Gripping.' Sunday Telegraph 'A scintillating gem: a cracking page-turner, historically illuminating, culturally fascinating, and a book which effortlessly passes comment on today.' Herald London, April 1870: Fanny and Stella were no ordinary Victorian women. They were young men who liked to dress as women: Frederick Park and Ernest Boulton. Stella was the most beautiful female impersonator of her day, Fanny her inseparable companion. But the Metropolitan Police were plotting their downfall. Fanny and Stella were arrested and subjected to a sensational trial where every lascivious detail of their lives was lapped up by the public. With a cast of peers and politicians, detectives and drag queens, Fanny and Stella is a dazzling and enthralling story of cross examinations, cross-dressing and the the birth of camp.

You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again

You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again PDF

Author:

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Published: 2006-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781597775427

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Wild, graphic, sometimes funny, ultimately sad -- this is the book that had Hollywood hiding behind closed doors and "no comment." Four beautiful young women tell the stories of the famous, the sexy, the rich, and the sadistic.

Outward Appearances

Outward Appearances PDF

Author: Will Pritchard

Publisher: Associated University Presse

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780838756881

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Elucidates early modern attitudes toward women's public display. This title presents a cultural study that draws on a range of literary and non-literary texts from 1650-1700 to revisit the sites where women appeared most prominently: the playhouse, the park, and the New Exchange (a shopping arcade in the Strand).

The Problem of the Actress in Modern German Theater and Thought

The Problem of the Actress in Modern German Theater and Thought PDF

Author: S. E. Jackson

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1640140867

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Around 1900, German and Austrian actresses had allure and status, apparent autonomy, and unconventional lifestyles. They presented a complex problem socially and aesthetically, one tied to the so-called Woman Question and to the contested status of modernity. For modernists, the actress's socioeconomic mobility and defiance of gender norms opened space to contest social and moral strictures, and her mutability offered a means to experiment with identity. For conservatives, on the other hand, female performance could support antifeminist convictions and validate masculine authority by positing woman as nothing but a false surface shaped by productive male forces. Influential male-authored texts from the period thereby disavowed female subjectivity per se by equating "woman" and "actress." S. E. Jackson establishes the actress as a key figure in a discursive matrix surrounding modernity, gender, and subjectivity. Her central argument is that because the figure of the actress bridged such varied fields of thought, women who were actresses had a consequential impact that resonated in and far beyond the theater - but has not been explored. Examining archival sources such as theater reviews and writing by actresses in direct relation to canonical aesthetic and philosophical texts, The Problem of the Actress reconstructs the constitutive role that womenplayed on and off the stage in shaping not only modernist theater aesthetics and performance practices, but also influential strains of modern thought.