1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777442203321

Autore

Wikander Matthew H

Titolo

Fangs of malice [[electronic resource] ] : hypocrisy, sincerity, & acting / / Matthew H. Wikander

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Iowa City, : University of Iowa Press, c2002

ISBN

1-58729-417-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (265 p.)

Collana

Studies in theatre history & culture

Disciplina

792/.028/019

Soggetti

Acting - Psychological aspects

Actors - Social life and customs

Theater and society

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Acknowledgments; Prologue. The Actor as Hypocrite; Act One. They dress up; Scene One. As Secret as Maidenhead; Scene Two. Putting on the Cloth; Scene Three. Humanizing the Fop; Act Two. They lie; Scene One. Rousseau and the Cult of Sincerity; Scene Two. Playing Joseph Surface; Scene Three. Ibsen's Small Stage of Fools; Scene Four. Princely Hypocrite; Act Three. They drink; Scene One. The Tavern; Scene Two. Liberty Hall; Scene Three. Harry Hope's Saloon; Scene Four. Contested Sites; Epilogue; Notes; Index

Sommario/riassunto

The idea that actors are hypocrites and fakes and therefore dangerous to society was widespread in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Fangs of Malice examines the equation between the vice of hypocrisy and the craft of acting as it appears in antitheatrical tracts, in popular and high culture, and especially in plays of the period. Rousseau and others argue that actors, expert at seeming other than they are, pose a threat to society; yet dissembling seems also to be an inevitable consequence of human social intercourse. The ""antitheatrical prejudiceo offers a unique perspective on the