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Feminist Comedy argues that the development of modern feminist thought is closely linked to theatrical comedy. Through analysis of plays by Catherine Clive, Frances Brooke, Frances Burney, Hannah Cowley, and Elizabeth Inchbald, the book demonstrates that these authors turned to comedy as a site of feminist critique, practice, and experimentation.
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List of contents
Figures
Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Comic Resurgence: Catherine Clive
2. Musical Comedy: Frances Brooke
3. Laughter and Femininity: Frances Burney
4. The Satirical Seraglio: Hannah Cowley
5. Sentimental Comedy and Feminism: Elizabeth Inchbald
Conclusion: Feminist Comedy 250 Years Later
Appendix: Women’s Plays Staged in London’s Patent Theaters, 1750–1800
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
WILLOW WHITE is assistant professor at the University of Alberta and her research focuses on English theatre and literature of the long eighteenth century with specialization in women writers, literatures of empire, and Indigeneity. She coedited
A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison (2022) with Tiffany Potter, and her work has appeared in such journals as
Women's Writing and
Eighteenth-Century Studies. Her next research project, titled "The Theatrical Afterlives of Pocahontas and Cockacoeske: Representations and Resistance of Indigenous Women on the English Stage," has been awarded an Insight Development Grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (June 2024-June 2026).
Summary
Feminist Comedy argues that the development of modern feminist thought is closely linked to theatrical comedy. Through analysis of plays by Catherine Clive, Frances Brooke, Frances Burney, Hannah Cowley, and Elizabeth Inchbald, the book demonstrates that these authors turned to comedy as a site of feminist critique, practice, and experimentation. .
