17th Century Drama
Professional Women and Restoration Theatre The position of
women in the eighteenth century made it relatively difficult
for a woman to be professional; however, the changing cultural
climate meant that the theatre in particular opened up a variety
of possibilities for women who wished to escape the confines
of domesticity. As playwrights and actresses, women had the
opportunity to follow socially rewarding- if not socially
acceptable- careers, and the increasing female patronage of
theatres, along with the advances of professional women in
the theatre, meant that the content of plays became more concerned
with female problems of marriage, gender constructs, sexuality,
and morality. Three main points are worth noting about the
professional woman in this period: the woman as a writer had
the power to both explore and re-write popular conceptions
of the woman; the concern of the public with women's bodies
and with their sexuality and morality put actresses into a
position of power on the stage; and that both of these positions,
combined with the increasing female patronage of the theatre,
led to a more challenging and ambiguous portrayal of the woman
in theatre than had been previously seen. This essay will
explore these three points, as well as offering a reading
of Behn's "The Rover", which incorporates aspects of all three.
Women as Professionals
The Restoration period in English history saw an immense rise
in the number of women writers. For a woman to be a professional
was considered at the best improper, and at the worst taboo.
Angeline Goreau (1980) says:
It was a bold act for a girl educated in the seventeenth-century
manner to affirm that she intended to 'decide for herself',
but trafficking her way through the battle of the sexes and
dealing with the consequences her decision was likely to bring
upon her presented considerable difficulties.
As the standard idea of women had, for centuries, been that
she should be seen and not heard- chaste, silent, obedient,
and, as a result, dependant, any woman who sought a profession
was inevitably met with disapproval. To be public and self-reliant
at the same time could be equated with only one female profession
traditionally- prostitution. Writing, commercially, was particularly
dangerous, as a woman was speaking out, displaying herself
to the public for money. Any woman who chose to write professionally
would have to face the difficulties of the male-dominated
literary world of the time, as well as the social ideas concerning
women which prohibited a respectable female from being ether
vocal, public, or professionally self-supporting. Cheryl Turner
(1994) says:
…there were several dramatists and prose-fiction writers amongst
the earliest female literary professionals. In view of the
mores governing female behaviour, it was perhaps inevitable
that these pioneers should attract hostility, and it is arguable
that the character of their work intensified contemporary
hostility.
By this, Turner means that for a woman to write about women
and for women was a particularly threatening phenomena in
a society that was troubled about changing views of morality,
gender, and relationships. The success of a woman as a writer
would feed and give credence to the challenging female characters
she could write, which would in turn support and legitimize
women in the notoriety of being a writer, in a self-propitiating
cycle that must have been threatening to those who sought
to conserve traditional female cultural roles. However, despite
all of the difficulties, the Restoration period saw a boom
in the number of women writing, particularly for the theatre.
Angela J. Smallwood (2000) says:
Of the 600 (known) plays written by women between 1660 and
1823, nearly 200 appeared between 1770 and 1800, a period
which witnessed the culmination of a number of favourable
developments. Professional opportunities for women writers
generally had increased markedly; the London theatre audience
had broadened to accommodate more of the middling classes
and a newly respectable image; acting was becoming increasingly
professionalized and the star system was flourishing, notably
for top female players.
Changing cultural values and popular ideas of morality and
respectability meant that women were able to push the boundaries
of female propriety, and the position of a female playwright
was particularly suited to such experimentation. Much like
the playwrights, female actresses had a rough but rewarding
battle to fight in the professional world of theatre. Anthony
Masters (1992) discusses the role that the actress-mistresses
of Charles II, such as the famous Nell Gwyn, played in both
popularizing and patronizing the Restoration theatre, while
The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (Fisk
ed., 2000) also discusses the involvement of the king, giving
leave to actresses to perform in the name of morality, but
also having sexual relations with several of them. It states:
The revolutionary introduction of women onto the English stage
was a deliberate act of policy in the name of the reformation
of morals, an act that was shared between the royal state
and the 'Mimic State', a clear instance of cultural authority
improvising itself through reciprocal performances onstage
and behind the scenes…
With royal patronage to legitimize her position, the actress
found herself in a unique cultural niche- she was both risqué
and morally sanctioned (after all, the introduction of women
to the stage was primarily due to concerns about the immorality
of allowing boys to cross-dress to play female parts). The
actress had a position of power, in that her public role allowed
her to escape the confines of female propriety, even though
such a freedom was ultimately a product of the commoditization
of her body and sexuality. This can be seen particularly in
the contemporary popularity of cross-dressed role for women,
or 'breeches parts'. It is described in The Cambridge Companion
to English Restoration Theatre:
Cross-dressed roles allow heroines to reverse the usual flow
of power… such roles often merely offered the opportunity
for a display of female legs and sexy roguishness, but they
could also indicate that it is custom, not ability or intrinsic
modesty, that keeps women covered and quiet.
English Essays - See a full list of other free English essays
![English Essays Phone Number](http://www.englishessays.org.uk/images/phonenumber.png)
Custom Essays
Use our custom writing services to excel in your studies and graduate with a 1st Class degree.
More about Custom Essays
Essay Marking Service
Improve your grades - let our qualified experts advise you on how to improve the overall quality of your own essay.
More about our Essay Marking Service
£5000 No Plagiarism Guarantee!
Detect plagiarism in our work and get paid £5000 and a free paper!
Learn about our Guarantees!
Our Press Articles
The Times, The Observer, BBC, ITN News, Sky News, The Independent. Read our press articles
Most Popular Pages:
Custom English Dissertations, How to Write an English Essay, Press articles about our service, Custom English Essays
How to write English essays?
Academic
English essay, Admissions essay, Cause and Effect essay, Conclusion essay, Comparison and Contrast essay, Definition essay, Descriptive essay, Expository essay, Evaluation essay, Narrative essay, Non literary essay, Literary analysis essay, Persuasive essay, 5 Paragraph essay, Photo essay, Scholarship essay
FREE English Literature essays
Free English literature essays written by students for students. English
literature essays
FREE English essays
Read some of the English essays we received from students. English
essays
English Literature in the UK
Colleges and universities that offer English Literature degrees. English Literature in the UK
Free Plagiarism Scanner!
Free scanning software to check for and detect plagiarism. Free
Plagiarism Detection Tool
Our Affiliate Program!
Sell our custom essays and get 15% commission! Affiliate
Program For Essay Resellers
Want to earn £5000 per month!
We are always looking for good research writers! Become
our research writer
Customer testimonials
We've helped many students achieve
better grades. Read our customer testimonials.