The struggles and emerging voice of the English actress during the Restoration period

Abstract

Whenever in my readings I come across accounts of how small minorities prevail over cultural, social, and artistic norms, I always feel a personal fascination. Moreover, the prospective influence these minorities leave on the very society that oppresses them is very inspiring to observe. In chronicles such as these, one is to recognize in the human being his\her potential strength and courage in challenging what society deems as unchallengeable norms. It is for this reason that, I chose to focus my dissertation on the Restoration actresses. The professional actresses I describe in my work command my admiration for the way they struggled against all odds to break old social and theatrical norms to better themselves. In 1660, the first professional English actress performed on the London public stage and two years later a royal warrant was issued establishing that ever after women rather than boy actors were to play all female roles. These actresses combined· their newly discovered scenic femininity with their natural attributes of talent, wit, and sex, forging a tool to use to their own advantage, changing not only their fortunes, but the whole make up of the theatre they worked in. This work is intended to shed light on how through their personal struggles the English actresses succeeded in bringing their voices to the theatre and their subsequent rise in status and popular demand between 1660 and the end of the century. My study follows two major lines of inquiry: The first concerns the emergence of actresses vis-a-vis the situation in English politics and theatre. The second examines the actresses' efforts to achieve social status. In assessing the actresses' impact on Restoration theatre, I also consider the cultural and social aspects of drama at the time. In my study, I view these against the background of the political and religious factions before and during the Restoration in order to provide a better picture of the odds the actresses had to face in their struggle for social recognition. I trace foreign influences from the continent both from a theatrical point of view and a social perspective. I give great importance to both common and royal English amateur actresses immediately before the Restoration period to illustrate the legacy the professional actress came into in 1660. I also discuss the idea of voyeurism and the actresses' sexual tactics of enticement as stepping stones to a better status in society.