Browse Items (166 total)
- Tags: gender norms/bending
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Letter from Charlotte Cushman to King, n.d.
Cushman mocks the gendered criticism of her figure and riding skills.
Credit
Houghton Library
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Mary Devlin Booth
Cushman talks about acting as Hamlet and fears she caught an inflammation of the throat. Her engagement was cut short, most likely because Edwin Booth will play the part of Hamlet after her. She asks Mary to have Edwin commission a pattern of the…
"Editors' Table," Godey's Lady's Book, Jan 1840 to Dec 1877
"Editor's Table" is a column in Godey's Lady's Book that covers a vast variety of topics, often relating to women's issues in some way. Recurring topics include book recommendations and literary reviews, short biographies of public figures and…
Athenaeum, Cushman Mentions, Jan-June 1845 (Vol. 1)
Excerpts from the Athenaeum issues from the first half of 1845, which mention Charlotte Cushman;The passage praise Cushman as a versatile genius on stage despite at times gender-bending practices. The first volume of 1845 shows how the British press…
Tags: gender norms/bending, London, press coverage
"The Connoisseur", Northern Star, Aug 16, 1845
This article compares Charlotte Cushman with William Macready and discusses how they share a strong resemblance in both performance and physical appearance.
Credit
The British Library Newspapers,Gale Digital Collections
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to George Combe, Nov 21, 1845
Cushman presents herself as shocked and surprised at the "gross motive [that] might be attributed" to her performance of Romeo on stage together with her sister Susan: "your hints have only plunged me into trouble — for I find the subject, in a new…
Romeo and Juliet Performance, Haymarket Theatre, London, Dec 30, 1845
Charlotte Cushman performs as Romeo and her sister takes over the role of Juliet.Cushman's performance as Romeo is generally met with wild enthusiasm. There were, however, also critical voices, among them Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855). Mitford was…
Tags: gender norms/bending, London, travel/touring
"The Theatres", Era, Jan 4, 1846
This is a long, detailed review of Charlotte and Susan Cushman's performance of Romeo and Julietat the Haymarket Theatre in London. The review contains high praise of Charlotte Cushman and her talents as an actress and the Cushman sisters' appearance…
Letter from Robert Browning to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jan 31, 1846
Robert Browning tells Elizabeth Barrett about seeing Cushman and her sister on stage, performing Romeo & Juliet: "I went last night, out of pure shame at a broken promise,-to hear Miss Cushman & her sister in "Romeo and Juliet"-the whole play…
Tags: gender norms/bending
"Theatre Royal", Freeman's Journal, Mar 17, 1846
This article reviews Charlotte Cushman's performance as Lady Macbeth. She is praised for her powerful interpretation of the character compared to the rather "feminine" portrayals from other contemporary actresses. However, the article states that…
Howitt's The Miss Cushmans (1846)
In this biographical article, Mary Howitt recounts events from Charlotte Cushman's life and emphasizes her personal virtues, her talent on stage and the struggles she faced in her career. She describes Cushman's long and painful struggle to success,…
"First Impressions of Cushman's Romeo", People's Journal, Vol 2, July 18, 1846
This is a review of Charlotte Cushman's performance as Romeo at the Haymarket Theatre in London. The article praises her performance and compares it to that of William Macready. However, her fine qualities as actress are also deemed by the article as…
Wemyss's Twenty-Six Years of the Life of an Actor and Manager (1847)
Francis Courtney Wemyss is an actor and theater manager. The entry for Cushman envisions her as a business woman that cleverly paved her way to success by acquiring knowledge about the profession of an actress and the respective people involved in…
"The Misses Cushman", Manchester Times, Jan 22, 1847
This article contains the review of Charlotte and Susan Cushman's performances in Romeo and Juliet at the Theatre Royal in London and mentions a few other of Cushman's performances as comparison. It also reports that the biographical article written…
Criticism of Cushman's Performance as Romeo, May 29, 1847
Article or chapter that is dismissive of the Cushman sisters performing Romeo and Juliet; The article describes the 1845 performance as "disgustingly monstrous grossness of such a perversion" by the "transatlantic sisters." Without mentioning their…
Tags: gender norms/bending, London, press coverage
"Theatres, etc.", Era, Oct 10, 1847
This article contains a detailed review of Charlotte Cushman's perfomance as Lady Macbeth in the Princess' Theatre alongside William Macready. Cushman and Macready are compared on the basis of appearance and performance and Cushman is thoroughly…
Letter from Jane Welsh Carlyle to Thomas Carlyle, [April 7, 1848]
Jane Carlyle mentions that Geraldine Jewsbury is having a good time with Charlotte Cushman, Matilda Hays, and W.E. Forster.
Credit
The Carlyle Letters Online/CLO
Excerpt from Grace Greenwood's "Sketch from Life" (1849)
Greenwood writes a sketch about Henry Elliot. The (auto)biographical account is published by Sara Josepha Hale in an edited collection called The Opal: A Pure Gift for the Holy Days (1849).
Credit
New York Public Library
"Rogers (the poet) and the Misses Cushman", Northern Star, Dec 8, 1849
This short entry concerns the rumours about Susan Cushman's wedding and Samuel Roger's wife's remark that the former should marry her sister Charlotte Cushman.
Credit
NCSE: Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition
Letter from Grace Greenwood to James Fields, Apr 22, 1850
Greenwood states that Fields remains the same individual in her eyes, even if he is a married man.She asks him to write Willis regarding the portrait, which should no longer be delayed, and informs him that she will send the first proofs by express…
Tags: gender norms/bending, humor, social capital
Featured Item
Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Cushman becomes widely known on both sides of the Atlantic as the first successful US-American actress. Earlier, she was a singer under the tutelage of James G. Maeder, married to actress Clara Fisher, in Boston. Charlotte has been the sole financial support of her mother since her father…