Resources
Societal Perspectives in Early Modern Europe
Donnell, Sidney. Feminizing the Enemy; Imperial Spain, Transvestite Drama, and the Crisis of Masulinity. London:
Associated University Presses, 2003.
A lively stab at connecting modern sexual identity constructs onto the Spanish Golden Age. Great discussions on Drag performance, though not enough on women playing women. A good juxtaposition or source for the argument to have women on stage.
Gagen, Jean Elisabeth. The New Woman; Her Emergence in English Drama 1600-1730. New York: Twayne
Publishers, 1954.
A charming read by a budding feminist before her time. Gagen speaks a bit about the archetypes that are getting written into English Drama, such as the Learned Lady, or the Amazon. A nice piece of research to remind us where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Martin, Adrienne Laskier. An Erotic Philology of Golden Age Spain. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2008.
A really fun read about the more sordid people on the Spanish Golden Age, mainly in literature. The section on Warrior Women was very interesting, lending itself well to use for Suitors as research, but also to back up how important it was that women were able to be brave and speak their minds on stage or through literature.
Perez-Romero, Antonio. The Subversive Tradition in Spanish Renaissance Writing. Lewisburg: Bucknell University
Press, 2005.
A very scholarly analysis (from a post-modern lense) on the Subversive tradition of literature and drama. I think that there is too much analysis of the text and not enough common sense about the time, though I did enjoy the chapter on the Erotic Urge and the Deconstruction of Idealist Language. Not especially useful for actresses, but useful for Spanish female characterization.
Rubik, Margarete. Early Women Dramatists 1550-1800. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1998.
Nice piece of research written with a clear chronology. Loved the section on Aphra Behn, would like to research more about her. The Author is clearly also quite inspired by Virgina Woolf, as she quotes her in several different chapters.
Actresses in Europe
Bonis, Maite Pascual. “Women as actresses and theatre managers in early modern Pamplona.” Heroines of the
Spanish Golden StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and Marguerite
Corporaal. Kassel: Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 69-87. Print.
A good article focusing mainly on women as theatre managers during the Spanish Golden Age. She discusses actresses (and actors) as individuals not to have generalizations made about them, and brings up that female performers were not a new phenomenon, since there are medieval records of such displays. A great resource to find MORE sources on Spanish Golden Age Actresses.
Braun, Beate. Restoration Actresses of Charles II; with Special Regard to the Diary of Samuel Pepys. Trier: WVT
Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 1995.
A truly luscious bit of research which spans a VERY wide breadth of types and styles of female performances, how the practices changed and what precipitated those changes, both in government and society. Very interested in the section pertaining to female freaks at fairs and foreign actresses on stage in England.
Ravelhofer, Barbara. “Women on the English courtly stage: Queen Henrietta Maria’s dramatic activities.” Heroines of
the Spanish Golden StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and
Marguerite Corporaal. Kassel: Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 129-144. Print.
Another exciting article, this one about the performing, cosmopolitan Queen, Henrietta Maria. She was both an actress and a patron of the arts, and the article goes into good detail about how she made the English court more cosmopolitan and cultured. It makes me sad that there are not more records of her masques.
Rennert, Hugo Albert. The Spanish Stage in the Time of Lope de Vega. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1963.
An older but enjoyable piece of writing about Spanish Golden Age Theatre. Gives MANY details about the development of theatre and its makers in Spain from the 1500’s to the late 1600’s. I enjoyed the section on Mariana and the Duke of Medinaceli; She cut her hair and was dressed at a man so that she could entertain the Duke on his hunting trips. Another example of women as performers (and paid!), but not on a traditional stage.
Roman, Maria Del Carmen Alarcon. “Nuns and actresses: The performance of dramatic works in the convent of the
Trinitarias Descalzas of Madrid by Sister Francisca of Santa Teresa (1654-1709).” Heroines of the Spanish Golden
StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and Marguerite Corporaal. Kassel:
Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 88-110. Print.
VERY interesting article about the theatrical activities of a few nuns in convents in Spain. The article states that it would be typical for women to play to smaller houses as if they were in the home setting. Got a kick out of Calderon being commissioned to write a piece to be performed at the convent, though probably by a professional company.
Scott, Virginia. Women on Stage in Early Modern France. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
A dense overview of 16th-18th century French Theatre. A nice history of the evolution of the French actress. Like England, they originated in troupes and were largely unpaid until about 1630. By 1700, their “line of work” was far more established, with the help of Cardinal Richleau. An interesting find, but again, a bit dense. Good for reinforcing the common European theatre practices toward women.
Tomlinson, Sophie. Women on Stage in Stuart Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
This book is an EXCELLENT resource about Actresses in England, especially during the mid-17th century when Henrietta Maria was Queen. This book seems to be a link from Spanish Golden Age Drama; the ideas of women being stronger and taking more agency like the Spanish female characters, AND the Queen’s experience with theatre from the whole of Europe. Very well written and researched.
Female Characters on Stage
Carlson, Susan. Women and Comedy; Rewriting the British Theatrical Tradition. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press, 1991.
Enjoyed the overview of female characters, but not very useful since the focus of the book is on later British plays. Would be very useful if doing any of the specific plays analyzed in the book. Liked the section on Shakespeare’s Rosiland.
Hansen, Carol. Woman as Individual in English Renaissance Drama; A Defiance of the Masculine Code. New York:
Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1993.
An interesting perspective to add flesh out my ideas of women on stage. Much discussion on the masculine code and how women break it throughout Shakespeare’s heroines and beyond. Not useful for examples of real, live actresses, but adds a degree of understanding to the text in the society at the time.
Williams, Ronald Boal. “The Staging of Plays in the Spanish Peninsula Prior to 1555.” University of Iowa, Studies in
Spanish Language and Literature. Ed. Ralph E. House, Ph. D. Iowa City: State University of Iowa, 1935.
An archaic book copied on a scantron/ditto paper and bound for prosperity. The writing switches back and forth often from English to Spanish without enough translation, but it is an interesting document on how the plays were staged from a logistical stand point. More about tech than the actors.
Images
The braggadocia souldier: and the civill citizen (1647), in English Books Online, Thomason / 246:669.f.11[81], from
British Library
Donnell, Sidney. Feminizing the Enemy; Imperial Spain, Transvestite Drama, and the Crisis of Masulinity. London:
Associated University Presses, 2003.
A lively stab at connecting modern sexual identity constructs onto the Spanish Golden Age. Great discussions on Drag performance, though not enough on women playing women. A good juxtaposition or source for the argument to have women on stage.
Gagen, Jean Elisabeth. The New Woman; Her Emergence in English Drama 1600-1730. New York: Twayne
Publishers, 1954.
A charming read by a budding feminist before her time. Gagen speaks a bit about the archetypes that are getting written into English Drama, such as the Learned Lady, or the Amazon. A nice piece of research to remind us where we’ve been and where we’re going.
Martin, Adrienne Laskier. An Erotic Philology of Golden Age Spain. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2008.
A really fun read about the more sordid people on the Spanish Golden Age, mainly in literature. The section on Warrior Women was very interesting, lending itself well to use for Suitors as research, but also to back up how important it was that women were able to be brave and speak their minds on stage or through literature.
Perez-Romero, Antonio. The Subversive Tradition in Spanish Renaissance Writing. Lewisburg: Bucknell University
Press, 2005.
A very scholarly analysis (from a post-modern lense) on the Subversive tradition of literature and drama. I think that there is too much analysis of the text and not enough common sense about the time, though I did enjoy the chapter on the Erotic Urge and the Deconstruction of Idealist Language. Not especially useful for actresses, but useful for Spanish female characterization.
Rubik, Margarete. Early Women Dramatists 1550-1800. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1998.
Nice piece of research written with a clear chronology. Loved the section on Aphra Behn, would like to research more about her. The Author is clearly also quite inspired by Virgina Woolf, as she quotes her in several different chapters.
Actresses in Europe
Bonis, Maite Pascual. “Women as actresses and theatre managers in early modern Pamplona.” Heroines of the
Spanish Golden StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and Marguerite
Corporaal. Kassel: Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 69-87. Print.
A good article focusing mainly on women as theatre managers during the Spanish Golden Age. She discusses actresses (and actors) as individuals not to have generalizations made about them, and brings up that female performers were not a new phenomenon, since there are medieval records of such displays. A great resource to find MORE sources on Spanish Golden Age Actresses.
Braun, Beate. Restoration Actresses of Charles II; with Special Regard to the Diary of Samuel Pepys. Trier: WVT
Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 1995.
A truly luscious bit of research which spans a VERY wide breadth of types and styles of female performances, how the practices changed and what precipitated those changes, both in government and society. Very interested in the section pertaining to female freaks at fairs and foreign actresses on stage in England.
Ravelhofer, Barbara. “Women on the English courtly stage: Queen Henrietta Maria’s dramatic activities.” Heroines of
the Spanish Golden StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and
Marguerite Corporaal. Kassel: Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 129-144. Print.
Another exciting article, this one about the performing, cosmopolitan Queen, Henrietta Maria. She was both an actress and a patron of the arts, and the article goes into good detail about how she made the English court more cosmopolitan and cultured. It makes me sad that there are not more records of her masques.
Rennert, Hugo Albert. The Spanish Stage in the Time of Lope de Vega. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1963.
An older but enjoyable piece of writing about Spanish Golden Age Theatre. Gives MANY details about the development of theatre and its makers in Spain from the 1500’s to the late 1600’s. I enjoyed the section on Mariana and the Duke of Medinaceli; She cut her hair and was dressed at a man so that she could entertain the Duke on his hunting trips. Another example of women as performers (and paid!), but not on a traditional stage.
Roman, Maria Del Carmen Alarcon. “Nuns and actresses: The performance of dramatic works in the convent of the
Trinitarias Descalzas of Madrid by Sister Francisca of Santa Teresa (1654-1709).” Heroines of the Spanish Golden
StAge; Women and Drama in Spain and England 1500-1700. Ed. Rina Walthus and Marguerite Corporaal. Kassel:
Edition Reichenberger, 2008. 88-110. Print.
VERY interesting article about the theatrical activities of a few nuns in convents in Spain. The article states that it would be typical for women to play to smaller houses as if they were in the home setting. Got a kick out of Calderon being commissioned to write a piece to be performed at the convent, though probably by a professional company.
Scott, Virginia. Women on Stage in Early Modern France. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
A dense overview of 16th-18th century French Theatre. A nice history of the evolution of the French actress. Like England, they originated in troupes and were largely unpaid until about 1630. By 1700, their “line of work” was far more established, with the help of Cardinal Richleau. An interesting find, but again, a bit dense. Good for reinforcing the common European theatre practices toward women.
Tomlinson, Sophie. Women on Stage in Stuart Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
This book is an EXCELLENT resource about Actresses in England, especially during the mid-17th century when Henrietta Maria was Queen. This book seems to be a link from Spanish Golden Age Drama; the ideas of women being stronger and taking more agency like the Spanish female characters, AND the Queen’s experience with theatre from the whole of Europe. Very well written and researched.
Female Characters on Stage
Carlson, Susan. Women and Comedy; Rewriting the British Theatrical Tradition. Ann Arbor: The University of
Michigan Press, 1991.
Enjoyed the overview of female characters, but not very useful since the focus of the book is on later British plays. Would be very useful if doing any of the specific plays analyzed in the book. Liked the section on Shakespeare’s Rosiland.
Hansen, Carol. Woman as Individual in English Renaissance Drama; A Defiance of the Masculine Code. New York:
Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1993.
An interesting perspective to add flesh out my ideas of women on stage. Much discussion on the masculine code and how women break it throughout Shakespeare’s heroines and beyond. Not useful for examples of real, live actresses, but adds a degree of understanding to the text in the society at the time.
Williams, Ronald Boal. “The Staging of Plays in the Spanish Peninsula Prior to 1555.” University of Iowa, Studies in
Spanish Language and Literature. Ed. Ralph E. House, Ph. D. Iowa City: State University of Iowa, 1935.
An archaic book copied on a scantron/ditto paper and bound for prosperity. The writing switches back and forth often from English to Spanish without enough translation, but it is an interesting document on how the plays were staged from a logistical stand point. More about tech than the actors.
Images
The braggadocia souldier: and the civill citizen (1647), in English Books Online, Thomason / 246:669.f.11[81], from
British Library