{"product_id":"when-romeo-was-a-woman","title":"When Romeo Was a Woman","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt the height of her career, actress Charlotte Cushman (1816-76) was one of the most famous women in the English-speaking world. Cushman challenged Victorian notions of gender in her stage portrayals of male characters and of strong, androgynous female characters. Offstage, she was a powerful businesswoman who supported her family, women lovers, and friends.\u003cbr\u003eLisa Merrill examines Cushman's personal correspondence to shed new light on the actress's relationships and in turn on our understandings of the nature of women's \"romantic friendships.\" She demonstrates how Cushman's androgynous presence served as a symbol to many of her contemporaries, and revealed their multiple and often contradictory attitudes toward female performers, women, and the unspeakable possibilities of same-sex desire.\u003cbr\u003eThe biography draws upon unpublished archival material as well as on current critical work to view Cushman's career, relationships, and posthumous reception. \u003ci\u003eWhen Romeo Was a Woman\u003c\/i\u003e examines as autobiographical performance Cushman's own narratives, the stories she authorized others to write, and the letters she wrote to intimates. The book is richly illustrated with many previously unpublished portraits of Cushman in her various stage roles, including Romeo and Lady Macbeth, and other revealing photographs of her family, lovers and friends. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhen Romeo Was a Woman\u003c\/i\u003e will find an appreciative audience among general readers as well as specialists in gay\/lesbian history, women's history, theater and performance, popular culture, Victorian studies, and American studies. \u003cbr\u003e\"A fascinating story, and a major contribution to our understanding of lesbian history. . . . The work done on archival resources is both impressive in its extent and wholly convincing in its effect.\" --Jacky Bratton, University of London \u003cbr\u003eLisa Merrill is Associate Professor of Communication and Performance Studies, Hofstra University. She is the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe Power to Communicate: Gender Differences as Barriers\u003c\/i\u003e, and the author of \u003ci\u003eUntying the Tongue: Power, Gender, and the Word\u003c\/i\u003e, forthcoming.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The University of Michigan Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54260484866392,"sku":"9780472087495","price":38.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780472087495_f2b6d1d9-4ec8-4233-bc54-ca3a57138644.jpg?v=1778655623","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/when-romeo-was-a-woman","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}