Fictions of presence : theatre and novel in eighteenth-century Britain / Ros Ballaster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ballaster, Rosalind, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Series:

Studies in the eighteenth century

Studies in the eighteenth century, 2398-9904

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English fiction.

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

English drama.

Theater--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Theater.

Great Britain.

History.

Presence in literature.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

x, 330 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Woodbridge, Suffolk [England] : The Boydell Press, 2020.

Summary:

In the years following the 1737 Licensing Act, the English stage found itself for the first time facing serious competition from the novel - newly respectable and increasingly fashionable. But the story is not one of theatre's decline and the novel's rise. As Ros Ballaster shows in this lively and innovative study, the relationship between the two media was one of an intensely creative and productive rivalry. Novelists sent their heroes to the theatre, dramatists appropriated the plots of popular novels, the celebrity status of actors was advanced through guest appearances in printed prose fictions. Some figures, like Richardson's virtuous serving maid Pamela, or Sterne's eccentrichumourist Tristram Shandy, acquired such independent lives in the minds of the public that they migrated into the mainstream of popular culture. Fictions of Presence describes how major authors of the period - Eliza Haywood, Henry Fielding, Charlotte Lennox and Oliver Goldsmith - spanned both genres. It charts the movement of popular fictional characters between stage and page. And it looks at the representation of contemporary audiences and readers in the new types of the (female) mimic and the (male) critic. Crucially, Ballaster delineates the ground over which the two media competed: the ability to create 'presence' - a sense of being present with the moment of action, of finding 'being' in fictional worlds - in the mind's eye of readers and theatregoers. In so doing, she not only illuminates the shared history of the theatre and the novel, but describes the power of aesthetic experience itself.er delineates the ground over which the two media competed: the ability to create 'presence' - a sense of being present with the moment of action, of finding 'being' in fictional worlds - in the mind's eye of readers and theatregoers. In so doing, she not only illuminates the shared history of the theatre and the novel, but describes the power of aesthetic experience itself.r fictional characters between stage and page. And it looks at the representation of contemporary audiences and readers in the new types of the (female) mimic and the (male) critic. Crucially, Ballaster delineates the ground over which the two media competed: the ability to create 'presence' - a sense of being present with the moment of action, of finding 'being' in fictional worlds - in the mind's eye of readers and theatregoers. In so doing, she not only illuminates the shared history of the theatre and the novel, but describes the power of aesthetic experience itself.er delineates the ground over which the two media competed: the ability to create 'presence' - a sense of being present with the moment of action, of finding 'being' in fictional worlds - in the mind's eye of readers and theatregoers. In so doing, she not only illuminates the shared history of the theatre and the novel, but describes the power of aesthetic experience itself.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Authors: Unconcealment and Withdrawal

1. Introducing the Authors

2. Eliza Haywood: Authoring Adultery

3. Henry Fielding: Ghost Writing

4. Charlotte Lennox: (In)dependent Authorship

5. Oliver Goldsmith: Keeping Up Authorial Appearances

6. From Author to Character

pt. 2 Characters: Occupying Space

7. Introducing Characters

8. Outdoing Character: Lady Townly

9. The Sway of Character: Pamela

10. The Expanse of Character: Ranger

11. The Play of Character: Tristram

12. From Character to Consumer

pt. 3 Consumers: What is Seen

13. Introducing Consumers

14. The Mimic

15. The Critic.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-303) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781783275588

1783275588

OCLC:

1197740906