Abstract
In Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, in moments of glorious self-irony, Cleopatra dismisses her youthful “salad days, / When [she] was green in judgment, cold in blood” (1.5.73-74). Instead, she acknowledges an older but still enticing body that is “with Phoebus’ amorous pinches black / And wrinkled deep in time” (1.5.28-29). In the twenty-first century, a seeming celebration of female “post-salad days” has become a fashion: Thousands of websites tell women, “Sixty is the new forty.” However, for women in theatre, Shakespeare’s plays offer limited stage opportunities once they are beyond their salad days,1 a situation that many older performers lament. After providing an overview of what older female performers encounter in Shakespeare’s plays, this chapter presents and discusses excerpts from Janet Hill’s interviews with women who have been acting in those plays for many years. Their words provide a valuable perspective not only on the profession, but also on attitudes toward age/aging and performance.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Works Cited
Belsey, Catherine. The Subject oj Tragedy: Identity and Difference in Renaissance Drama. London: Methuen, 1985.
Clapp, Susannah. ‘“Tis a Far Better Fang: Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter Are a Mesmerising Antony and Cleopatra.” Observer, Apr. 23, 2006 <Guardian.co.uk/stage/2006apr/23theatre>.
Gay, Penny. As She Likes It: Shakespeare’s Unruly Women. London: Routledge, 1994.
Gullette, Margaret Morganroth. Declining to Decline. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1997.
Hart, Christopher. “The World Will Love These Lovers: The RSC’s Complete Works Promises a Glorious Summer.” Sunday Times, Apr. 23, 2006. <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol>.
Higgins, Anne. “Reinventing Women: The Example of Cleopatra.” The Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Scottsdale, AZ. Apr. 12, 2002.
Hill, Janet. Stages and Playgoers: From Guild Plays to Shakespeare. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s UP, 2002.
Holland, Peter. “The Resources of Characterization in Othello.” Shakespeare Survey 41 (1988): 119–32.
Holland, Peter, and Stephen Orgel, eds. From Script to Stage in Early Modern England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Howard, Jean E. The Stage and Social Struggle in Early Modern England. London: Routledge, 1994.
Jardine, Lisa. Still Harping on Daughters: Women and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare. Sussex: Harvester Press, 1983.
Kastan, David Scott. Introduction. King Henry IV Part 1. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden, 2002.
Korda, Natasha. “Labours Lost: Women’s Work and Early Modern Theatrical Commerce.” From Script to Stage in Early Modern England. Ed. Peter Holland and Stephen Orgel. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 195–230.
MacMillan, Scott. Shakespeare in Performance: King Henry IV Part One. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1991.
MacMillan, Scott. “The Sharer and His Boy.” From Script to Stage in Early Modern England. Ed. Peter Holland and Stephen Orgel. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 231–45.
Mares, F.H. Introduction. Much Ado About Nothing. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. 1–47.
Newman, Karen. Fashioning Femininity in Renaissance Drama. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1991.
O’Connor, John. Shakespearean Afterlives: Ten Characters with a Life oj Their Own. Thriplowe: Icon Books, 2005.
Orgel, Steven. Impersonations: The Performance oj Gender in Shakespeare’s England. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996.
Rutter, Carol. Clamorous Voices. London: Women’s Press, 1988.
Shakespeare, William. Antony and Cleopatra. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G.B. Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974.
Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus. Ed. Reuben Brower. New York: Signet, 2002.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G.B. Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974. 1055–99.
Smith, Alistair. “Ian McKellen Joins Call for More Older Female Roles.” The Stage, June 4, 2009. <http://www.thestage.co.uk/newsstory.php/24608>.
Spencer, Charles. “Middle-aged Passion Goes to the Heart.” Daily Telegraph, Apr. 20, 2006 <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol>.
Stock, Angela. Introduction. Much Ado About Nothing. By William Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. 48–59.
Van Dyke, Joyce. “Making a Scene: Language and Gesture in Coriolanus.” Coriolanus. Ed. Reuban Brower. New York: Signet, 2002. 244–54.
Werner, Sarah. Shakespeare and Feminine Performance. London: Routledge, 2001.
Wilders, John. Introduction. Antony and Cleopatra. By William Shakespeare. London: Arden, 1995.
Woodward, Kathleen. Aging and Its Discontents. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2010 Valerie Barnes Lipscomb and Leni Marshall
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hill, J., Lipscomb, V.B. (2010). Performing Female Age in Shakespeare’s Plays. In: Lipscomb, V.B., Marshall, L. (eds) Staging Age. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230110052_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230110052_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-38497-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-11005-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Theatre & Performance CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)