Staging governance : theatrical imperialism in London, 1770–1800 / Daniel O'Quinn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Quinn, Daniel, 1962- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Colonies in literature.

Theater--Political aspects--England--London.

Theater.

Political plays, English--History and criticism.

Political plays, English.

Theater--England--London--History--18th century.

Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Politics and literature.

Imperialism in literature.

English drama--18th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 412 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Johns Hopkins University Press 2005

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Between 1770 and 1800, transformations in the relationship between metropolitan British society and its colonial holdings, and in the concept of the nation itself, left Britons with a new sense of themselves. Over the same period, the consolidation of the middle classes was accompanied by growing social constraints on sexuality and family life. Staging Governance locates the intersection of these two trends in the representation of British India on the London stage. Theatrical productions, especially those representing colonial life, pushed the limits of public discourse on sexuality and colonialism even as the government made efforts to shape and narrow them. At the same time, official discourse on colonial practices, such as the public trials of Clive and Hastings, became theatrical events themselves. Exploring this rapidly shifting world through a series of original readings of dramatic texts and important moments of oratory, Staging Governance demonstrates how the perceived crises of imperial and domestic Britain joined these spheres in the popular imagination. The economics of political and sexual exchange not only became entwined but functioned as mutual supports during a period of social, cultural, and political readjustment.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title

Dedication

Copyright

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION The Supplementation of Imperial Sovereignty

PART ONE Ethnographic Acts

CHAPTER ONE Empire's Vicious Expenses Samuel Foote's The Nabob and the Credit Crisis of 1772

CHAPTER TWO "As Much as Science Can Approach Barbarity" Pantomimical Ethnography in Omai

or, A Trip round the World

PART TWO Women and the Trials of Imperial Masculinity

CHAPTER THREE Inchbald's Indies Meditations on Despotism circa 1784

CHAPTER FOUR The Raree Show of Impeachment

CHAPTER FIVE Molière's Old Woman Judging and Being Judged with Frances Burney

PART THREE A Theatre of Perpetual War

CHAPTER SIX Starke Reforms Martial Masculinity and the Perils of Indianization

CHAPTER SEVEN War and Precinema Tipu Sultan and the Allure of Mechanical Display

AFTERWORD Recreational Alterity

NOTES

INDEX.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-399) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-8018-7961-2

OCLC:

1048221188