
Feminist Comedy
Women Playwrights of London
Willow White(Author)
University of Delaware Press
Published on 14. June 2024
Book
Hardback
214 pages
978-1-64453-341-3 (ISBN)
Description
Feminist Comedy: Women Playwrights of London identifies the eighteenth-century comedic stage as a key site of feminist critique, practice, and experimentation. While the history of feminism and comedy is undeniably vexed, by focusing on five women playwrights of the latter half of the eighteenth century--Catherine Clive, Frances Brooke, Frances Burney, Hannah Cowley, and Elizabeth Inchbald--this book demonstrates that stage comedy was crucial to these women's professional success in a male-dominated industry and reveals a unifying thread of feminist critique that connects their works. Though male detractors denied women's comic ability throughout the era, eighteenth-century women playwrights were on the cutting edge of comedy and their work had important feminist influence that can be traced to today's stages and screens.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
5 color and 11 B-W images
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
68 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64453-341-3 (9781644533413)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
WILLOW WHITE is assistant professor at the University of Alberta and her research focuses on English theatre and literature of the long eighteenth century with specialization in women writers, literatures of empire, and Indigeneity. She coedited A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (2022) with Tiffany Potter, and her work has appeared in such journals as Women's Writing and Eighteenth-Century Studies. Her next research project, titled "The Theatrical Afterlives of Pocahontas and Cockacoeske: Representations and Resistance of Indigenous Women on the English Stage," has been awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (June 2024-June 2026).
Content
Figures
Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Comic Resurgence: Catherine Clive
2. Musical Comedy: Frances Brooke
3. Laughter and Femininity: Frances Burney
4. The Satirical Seraglio: Hannah Cowley
5. Sentimental Comedy and Feminism: Elizabeth Inchbald
Conclusion: Feminist Comedy 250 Years Later
Appendix: Women's Plays Staged in London's Patent Theaters, 1750-1800
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Comic Resurgence: Catherine Clive
2. Musical Comedy: Frances Brooke
3. Laughter and Femininity: Frances Burney
4. The Satirical Seraglio: Hannah Cowley
5. Sentimental Comedy and Feminism: Elizabeth Inchbald
Conclusion: Feminist Comedy 250 Years Later
Appendix: Women's Plays Staged in London's Patent Theaters, 1750-1800
Notes
Bibliography
Index