When Romeo Was a Woman
Subtitle: Charlotte Cushman and Her Circle of Female Spectators
By: Lisa Merrill.
Series: Triangulations
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Ann Arbor, USA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 318
Copyright date: 1999
Subjects: Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876; Actors -- United States -- Biography
First sentence: It is a small diary, approximately four inches by six inches, with a hard, marbleized cover, like a composition notebook.
Description: At the height of her career, Charlotte Cushman (1816-76) was considered America's greatest actress and one of the most famous women in the English-speaking world. Cushman challenged Victorian notions of gender in her stage portrayals of male characters and of strong, androgynous female characters. Offstage she was a powerful, independent businesswoman whose income supported her family, women lovers, and friends.

Lisa Merrill sheds new light on the actress's romantic and erotic relationships and, in turn, on our understandings of the nature of nineteenth-century women's "romantic friendships." She demonstrates how Cushman's androgynous presence served as a symbol to many of her contemporaries and revealed the period's multiple and often contradictory attitudes toward female performers, independent women, and the unspeakable possibilities of same-sex desire.

When Romeo Was a Woman will find an appreciative audience among general readers as well as specialists in gay/lesbian history, women's history, theater and performance, popular culture, Victorian Studies, and American Studies.
Notes: Cloth: alk. paper. Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-310) and index.
Table of contents: title: List of Illustrations
pagenum: ix; title: Foreword by Jill Dolan
pagenum: xi; title: Preface
pagenum: xv; title: Acknowledgments
pagenum: xxiii; label: 1
title: Crossings: Passion Embodied and Remembered
pagenum: 1; label: 2
title: The Hero in the Family and on the Stage
pagenum: 15; label: 3
title: "Is Such Love Wrong?"
pagenum: 52; label: 4
title: Embodying Strong(-minded) Women: The Shapes Charlotte Cushman Wore Onstage
pagenum: 80; label: 5
title: Wearing the Breeches: Charlotte Cushman's Male Roles
pagenum: 110; label: 6
title: Scribbling Circles and Strange Sympathies: Charlotte Cushman's London Circle of Lovers and Friends
pagenum: 138; label: 7
title: Building a Community: Charlotte Cushman's Roman Salon
pagenum: 171; label: 8
title: The Sapphic Family
pagenum: 205; label: 9
title: The Backlash and Beyond
pagenum: 243; title: Notes
pagenum: 267; title: Index
pagenum: 311