000 00515nam a22001577a 4500
999 _c30462
_d30462
008 180403b2014 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020 _a9781107694002
082 _a822.33 RIT-F
100 _aRitchie, Fiona
245 _aWomen and Shakespeare in the eighteenth century /
_cFiona Ritchie
260 _aCambridge
_bCambridge University Press
_c2014
300 _a256 p.
365 _aGBP
_b19.99
500 _aFiona Ritchie analyses the significant role played by women in the construction of Shakespeare's reputation which took place in the eighteenth century. The period's perception of Shakespeare as unlearned allowed many women to identify with him and in doing so they seized an opportunity to enter public life by writing about and performing his works. Actresses (such as Hannah Pritchard, Kitty Clive, Susannah Cibber, Dorothy Jordan and Sarah Siddons), female playgoers (including the Shakespeare Ladies Club) and women critics (like Charlotte Lennox, Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Griffith and Elizabeth Inchbald), had a profound effect on Shakespeare's reception. Interdisciplinary in approach and employing a broad range of sources, this book's analysis of criticism, performance and audience response shows that in constructing Shakespeare's significance for themselves and for society, women were instrumental in the establishment of Shakespeare at the forefront of English literature, theatre, culture and society in the eighteenth century and beyond.
650 _aShakespeare, William, 1564-1616 - Influence
650 _aWomen and literature - History - 18th Century