Impersonations The Performance of Gender in Shakespeare's England [Paperback]

A provocative exploration of gender in the Renaissance, from theatrical cross-dressing to cultural subversion.Why was England the only country in Europe to maintain an all-male public theatre in the Renaissance? This study uses this question as the starting point of a fresh exploration of the representation of gender in Elizabethan drama and society.Why was England the only country in Europe to maintain an all-male public theatre in the Renaissance? This study uses this question as the starting point of a fresh exploration of the representation of gender in Elizabethan drama and society.Why was England the only country in Europe to maintain an all-male public theater in the Renaissance? Stephen Orgel uses this question as the starting point of a fresh and stimulating exploration of the representation of gender in Elizabethan drama and society. At once provocative and witty, lucid and stylish, Impersonations will reshape our understanding of the Renaissance theater, and make us rethink our own inadequate categories of gender, power and sexuality.1. Introduction; 2. The performance of desire; 3. The eye of the beholder; 4. Call me Ganymede; 5. Masculine apparel; 6. Mankind witches; 7. Visible figures. ...the book is highly recommended for theater history, literature, and gender-studies collections. Detailed endnotes include many useful bibliographical references. J.W. Lafler, Choice