Women on the Stage in Early Modern France: 1540-1750 [Hardcover]

Virginia Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2010

Focusing on actresses in France during the early modern period, Virginia Scott examines how the stereotype of the actress has been constructed. The study then moves beyond that stereotype to detail the reality of the personal and artistic lives of women on the French stage, from the almost unknown Marie Ferré - who signed a contract for 12 livres a year in 1545 to perform the 'antiquailles de Rome or other histories, moralities, farces, and acrobatics' in the provinces - to the queens of the eighteenth-century Paris stage, whose 'adventures' have overshadowed their artistic triumphs. The book also investigates the ways in which actresses made invaluable contributions to the development of the French theatre in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and looks at the 'afterlives' of such women as Armande Béjart, Marquise Du Parc, Charlotte Desmares, Adrienne Lecouvreur, and Hippolyte Clairon in biographies, plays, and films.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this lively and engaging study, Virginia Scott examines the careers of actresses in France from the late sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries, placing them firmly in their social and artistic context. Refreshingly, she eschews anecdotal evidence, thereby providing us, perhaps for the first time, with an unbiased and even- handed account of her subjects' lives and work, but which nonetheless explores the fascination these first celebrities have exercised on audiences and critics both then and since."
-Professor Jan Clarke, Durham University

Book Description

How did women become stars of the French stage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries? Scott reveals the reality of women's lives in the theatre, examines the ways in which the stereotype of the actress developed, and uncovers the invaluable contributions made by actresses to the development of French theatre.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (August 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521896754
• ISBN-13: 978-0521896757
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,632,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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