The French Actress And Her English Audience

Synopsis

In an unusually detailed and carefully illustrated book, John Stokes explores the reception of the French actress by English audiences, from the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth - a period when the relationship between England and France was transformed and redefined. Mlle Mars, Sarah Bernhardt and Edwige Feuillere are among the many actresses invoked; prominent English spectators include William Hazlitt, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde. The result is a vivid coming together of theatre history and cultural studies that will appeal to scholars of English and French literature as well as to students of acting.