Harlequin Britain: Pantomime and Entertainment, 1690–1760
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.80 (899 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0801879108 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-07-29 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
John O’Brien is the NEH Daniels Family Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Virginia.
Why did pantomime become so popular so quickly? Why was it perceived as culturally threatening and socially destabilizing? O’Brien finds that pantomime’s socially subversive commentary cut through the dampened spirit of debate created by Robert Walpole's one-party rule. In the fall of 1723, two London theaters staged, almost simultaneously, pantomime performances of the Faust story. Its extraordinary popularity underscores the continuing centrality of live performance in a culture that is most typically seen as having shifted its attention to the written textin particular, to the novel.Written in a lively style rich with anecdotes, Harlequin Britain establishes the emergence of eighteenth-century English pantomime, with its promiscuous blending of genres and subjects, as a key moment in the development of modern entertainment culture.. Alexander Pope and
A good read for even the most casual theater historian. (David Mayer Theatre Notebook)A good example of how to write cultural history today. (Scriblerian)He develops his micro-history of the growth and changes in British life with finesse and precision and a rich grasp of detail. (Robert Markley, University of Illinois) . (Jacky Bratton Journal of British Studies)For readers who share O'Brien's intellectual priorities, this book may well come to be regarded as an important contribution. Brewer Modern Philology)John O'Brien's Harlequin Britain is an original and