Articles liés à Fangs of Malice: Hypocrisy, Sincerity, and Acting

Fangs of Malice: Hypocrisy, Sincerity, and Acting - Couverture rigide

Livre 4 sur 43: Studies Theatre Hist & Culture

Wikander, Matthew H.

 
9780877458098: Fangs of Malice: Hypocrisy, Sincerity, and Acting
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 087745809X ISBN 13 : 9780877458098
Editeur : University of Iowa Press, 2002

Synopsis

The idea that actors were hypocrites and fakes and therefore dangerous to society was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries. This work examines the equation between the vice of hypocrisy and the craft of acting, as it appears in anti-theatrical tracts, in popular and high culture, and especially in plays of the period. Rousseau and others argue that actors pose a threat to society; yet dissembling seems also to be an inevitable consequence of human social intercourse. The ""anti-theatrical prejudice"" offers a perspective on the high value that modern western culture places on sincerity, on being true to one's own self. The book is structured in acts and scenes, each based on a particular slander against actors. A prologue introduces his main issues. Act One deals with the proposition ""They Dress Up"": foppish slavery to fashion, cross-dressing, and dressing as clergy. Act Two treats the proposition ""They Lie"" by focusing on social dissembling and the phenomenon of the self-deceiving hypocrite and on the public, princely hypocrite. Act Three, ""They Drink"", examines a wide range of antisocial behaviour ascribed to actors, such as drinking, gambling, and whoring. An epilogue ties the ancient ideas of possession and the panic that actors inspire to contemporary anxieties about representation not only in theatre but also in visual and literary arts.

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À propos de l'auteur

Matthew Wikander is professor of English at the University of Toledo and the author of The Play of Truth and State: Historical Drama from Shakespeare to Brecht and Princes to Act: Royal Audience and Royal Performance, 1578-1792. He is a founding member of the North Coast Theatre, which performs in the galleries and for special exhibitions at the Toledo Museum of Art.

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Éditeur
University of Iowa Press
Date d'édition
2002
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
087745809X
ISBN 13 
9780877458098
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
252
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible