|
|
Article: The "female Martinet": Mrs. Harper, gender, and civic virtue on the early republican stage.(American symbolic representations during the 1780s)(Critical essay)
- Article from:
- Comparative Drama
- Article date:
- December 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 www.wmich.edu/compdr. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
On 12 May 1788 in New York, the Daily Advertiser ran a letter to the editor from "Z" a pseudonymous theater fan, commending one Mrs. Harper, an actress with the Old American Company of John Henry and Lewis Hallam Jr. "No actress deserves more esteem for her judgment, assiduity, and theatrical knowledge," declares Z, who also lauds Mrs. Harper's frequent performance of virtuous roles--especially those of "aunt and mother" Z draws Mrs. Harper especially to the attention of the women in the audience of the Old American Company's John Street Theatre, since the onstage depiction of "the amiable virtues of the wife, the unspotted character of the private woman, must, or ought, ...