The role of women in theatre in England prior to 1642 can be contrasted with the various female playwrights, their themes and actors following 1660 in the age known as the Reformation. Before 1642, theatres were banned in England, and women had no or little chance to participate in theatrical life until 1660 when the institution of the English monarchy was restored. Various changes that were taking place in the political and social life in England during the Reformation were reflected not only in the repertoire of the London theaters, but also in the positions that female writers and performers.
Despite the fact that theatres had their heyday at the beginning of the century, they were completely closed and their activities were recognized as outlawed in England. Being a female writer in the pre-Reformation theatre was truly unusual given the role of the women in England of the era. However, it still was possible – for example, Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, achieved literary fame as a playwright, poet, and translator. Her 1592 closet drama titled Antonius was the first drama written by an English woman and meant to be read aloud in aristocratic circles. This wok had a great influence on Antony and Cleopatra written later by Shakespeare.
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"Women in Theatre Before and After the Reformation".
In Shakespearean theatre, there were no actresses since even female roles were performed by teenage boys. McManus notes that in the history of Shakespeare performance, only small number of female roles “that could be described as more than walk-on parts”, restricted the opportunities for female performance. In addition, attending the theater was considered indecent for reputable women. When the bourgeoisie confidently came to power, the theatre audience changed a lot. Gradually, young men of Shakespeare’s theater who played women roles were replaced by female performers.
On the English stage, the first female actresses appeared only after 1660 when the Reformation brought in significant changes for the English theatre. When Charles II returned to England from his exile in France, he allowed women to perform on the stage. However, the attitude of men to female actresses was then of consumerist nature. Even most popular English actresses of the time were famous not so much for their play as for women’s charms, and their position in the theater was determined by the status of their patrons. For example, Nell Guin is still known not only as one of the first English theater actresses, but also as a famous mistress of the king. According to BL.uk, “the Restoration actresses… were viewed primarily as sexual objects, placed in the public arena to titillate the audience”. That is why in theatres, actresses were often instructed to use erotic puns and all sorts of hints at the scandalous themes of that time in their speeches.
In conclusion, despite the lamentable position of women in the theatre life prior to 1642, some of them managed either to have simple ‘walk-on’ parts and remain unnamed, or, like Mary Sidney, had the opportunity to create closet plays. After the restoration of the monarchy in England, a favorable period for the revival of the theater began. The auditorium of the city theaters was exclusively aristocracy and city nobility. Dramatic art expressed an anti-Puritan and anti-bourgeois spirit that broke out after many years of persecution and forced silence. Despite the low position of the first actresses, some of the playwrights tried to showcase their talent. Overall, the first generation of theatre writers and performers secured a place for females in the English theatre of the future.
- “Did a Woman Write Shakespeare?” MarysidneySociety.org, 2016.
//www.marysidneysociety.org/aboutmarysidney/. Accessed 27 Sep 2018. - McManus, Clare. “Shakespeare and Gender: The Women Part. BL.uk, 2018. //www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/shakespeare-and-gender-the-womans-part. Accessed 27 Sep 2018.
- “Women Playing Shakespeare: The First Female Desdemona and Beyond”. BL.uk, 2018.
//www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/women-playing-shakespeare-the-first-female-desdemona-and-beyond. Accessed 27 Sep 2018.
