‘The top of woman! All her sex in abstract!’: Ben Jonson Directs the Boy Actor in <em>The Devil is an Ass</em>

Authors

  • Regina Buccola Roosevelt University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12745/et.8.2.700

Keywords:

article,

Abstract

Working from the premise that Jonson's copious stage directions and meta-theatrical dialogue offer insight into early modern theatrical practice, I use The Devil Is an Ass to consider anew the question of the cross-dressed boy actor. Jonson draws careful distinctions among the female characters in The Devil Is an Ass, suggesting a range of performance styles for the boy actor. The meta-theatrical discussion of cross-dressed performance in The Devil is an Ass coupled with the sheer variety in its female characters make this play a fascinating artifact chronicling the range of the boy players' abilities and what playwrights and stage managers expected of them.

Downloads

Published

2005-01-01

Issue

Section

Articles