Hideous characters and beautiful pagans : performing Jewish identity on the antebellum American stage / Heather S. Nathans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nathans, Heather S.

Contributor:

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater--Political aspects--United States--History--19th century.

Theater.

Theater and society--United States--History--19th century.

Theater and society.

Jews--United States--Identity--History--19th century.

Jews.

History.

Theater--Political aspects.

United States.

Identity (Philosophical concept).

Jews in the theater--United States--History--19th century.

Jews in the theater.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2017.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"While battling negative stereotypes, American Jews carved out new roles for themselves within the first theatrical entertainments in America. Jewish citizens were active as performers, playwrights, critics, managers, and theatrical shareholders, and often tied their involvement in these endeavors to the patriotic rhetoric of the young republic as they struggled to establish themselves in the new nation. Examining play texts, theatrical reviews, political discourse, and public performances of Jewish rights and rituals, Hideous Characters and Beautiful Pagans argues that Jewish stage types shed light on our understanding of the status of Jewish Americans during a critical historical period. Using an eclectic range of sources including theatrical reviews, diaries, letters, cartoons, portraiture, tax records, rumors flying around the tavern, and more, Heather S. Nathans has listened for the echoes of vanished audiences who witnessed and responded to these stereotypes onstage, from the earliest appearance of Shylock on an American stage in 1752 to Jewish theater artists on the eve of the Civil War. The book integrates social, political, and cultural histories, with an examination of those texts (both dramatic and literary) that shaped the stage Jew"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Crisis and Change: Transforming Jewish Masculinity from the Revolution to the Jew Bill of 1826 19

Chapter 2 Blood and Sacrifice; Jewish Citizenship, Masculinity, and Violence, 1826-1861 51

Chapter 3 Strangers in a Strange Land: From the Wandering Jew to the Cosmopolitan Citizen 83

Chapter 4 "For They Abide with Us": Forging Communities on and off the Stage 111

Chapter 5 Beautiful Pagans: Dramatic and Domestic Encounters 137

Chapter 6 "If I Forget Thee": Performing Jewish Rituals on the Antebellum Stage 173.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

ISBN:

9780472122707

0472122703

9780472130306

0472130307

Publisher Number:

10.3998/mpub.3704206

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.