Synopses & Reviews
'That woman is a woman!' So thundered Simon Callow in the film Shakespeare in Love, thus underlining one of the great differences between our theatre and that of the Elizabethans where women were prohibited from appearing on the stage. In this highly controversial book, the first on the subject for over sixty years, Joy Leslie Gibson looks at the female roles in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama from the point of view of the boys who actually had to create these fascinating and dramatic parts.
Scrupulously researched, this groundbreaking book sheds new light not only on Elizabethan drama but also on society as a whole. It will be required reading for any lover of Shakespeare or anyone made curious by a visit to the theatre to see one of Shakespeare's plays.
Synopsis
This intriguing and controversial book is the first to examine women's roles in the plays of Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists from the perspective of the boy actors who played these multi-faceted parts. Gibson examines cross-dressing, the part it played in Elizabethan society, and how it aided the boys. She argues that the emotional content of women's roles were well within the cognizance of boys of that period, given the different circumstances of their upbringing from that of boys of today. Gibson also shows that the playwrights helped the players by tailoring the parts of their vocal and emotional abilities and that the boys were properly trained to act effectively. Painstakingly researched, with beautiful illustrations, Squeaking Cleopatras sheds new light not only on Elizabethan drama, but also on Elizabethan society.
Synopsis
This intriguing and controversial book is the first to examine women's roles in the plays of Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists from the perspective of the boy actors who played these multi-faceted parts.