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- Title
Sexless Spirits?: Gender Ideology and Dryden's Musical Magic.
- Authors
Winkler, Amanda Eubanks
- Abstract
The article focuses on the ideology of playwright John Dryden regarding the gender of spirits which were staged in musicals. It says that spirits were frequently portrayed in theatrical productions in the late 17th century in Great Britain wherein one of the most popular playwrights in the said period is Dryden while one of the most leading composers is Henry Purcell. It mentions that Dryden stated that spirits were intended to be sexless even though they can take the external appearances of men and women. It examines the contention between Dryden and his rival Elkanah Settle on the gender ideology of spirits wherein the two agree that spirits do not have sexes. Settle notes that the performers who took the roles of the spirits have their sexuality unlike the spirits they pose.
- Subjects
UNITED Kingdom; SPIRITS in literature; MUSICAL production &; direction; STAGE actors &; actresses; THEATER production &; direction; DRYDEN, John, 1631-1700; SETTLE, Elkanah; PURCELL, Henry, 1659-1695; HUMAN sexuality in the theater
- Publication
Musical Quarterly, 2010, Vol 93, Issue 2, p297
- ISSN
0027-4631
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/musqtl/gdq010