Table Of ContentVictorian Classical Burlesques
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Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception
Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception presents scholarly monographs
off ering new and innovative research and debate to students and scholars in
the reception of Classical Studies. Each volume will explore the appropriation,
reconceptualization and recontextualization of various aspects of the Graeco-
Roman world and its culture, looking at the impact of the ancient world on
modernity. Research will also cover reception within antiquity, the theory and
practice of translation, and reception theory.
Also available in the Series:
Ancient Magic and the Supernatural in the Modern Visual
and Performing Arts, edited by Filippo Carlà and Irene Berti
Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Change, edited by
Henry Stead and Edith Hall
Imagining Xerxes, Emma Bridges
Ovid’s Myth of Pygmalion on Screen, Paula James
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Victorian Classical Burlesques
A Critical Anthology
Laura Monrós-Gaspar
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
iii
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2015
© Laura Monrós-Gaspar, 2015
Laura Monrós-Gaspar has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any
information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or
the author.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-47253-785-0
PB: 978-1-47253-786-7
ePDF: 978-1-47253-787-4
ePub: 978-1-47253-788-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-Publication Data
Victorian classical burlesques : a critical anthology / Laura Monrós-Gaspar.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4725-3785-0 (hardback)—ISBN 978-1-4725-3786-7 (pbk.) 1. Burlesque
(Literature)—History and criticism. 2. English drama (Comedy)—Classical infl uences.
3. English drama (Comedy)–19th century—History and criticism. 4. Women in literature.
5. Blanchard, E. L. (Edward L.), 1820–1889. Antigone. 6. Talfourd, Francis, 1828–1862.
Alcestis, the original strong-minded woman. 7. Brough, Robert B. (Robert Barnabas),
1828–1860. Medea, or, The best of mothers with a brute of a husband. 8. Talfourd,
Francis, 1828–1862. Electra in a new light. I. Monrós Gaspar, Laura. II. Blanchard,
E. L. (Edward L.), 1820–1889. Antigone. 2015. III. Talfourd, Francis, 1828–1862. Alcestis,
the original strong-minded woman. 2015. IV. Brough, Robert B. (Robert Barnabas),
1828–1860. Medea, or, The best of mothers with a brute of a husband. 2015.
V. Talfourd, Francis, 1828–1862. Electra in a new light. 2015.
PR731.V53 2015
822’.809—dc23
2015014063
Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
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To him who inspired my love for English literature.
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Why Classical Burlesque? 1
Enacting the past and the present 1
Th e histories of Victorian classical burlesque 8
Texts and contexts 17
Note on the texts and this edition 39
List of representative nineteenth- century classical burlesques 46
Notes 49
2 Antigone Travestie , Edward L. Blanchard (1845) 61
3 A lcestis, the Original Strong-Minded Woman ,
Francis Talfourd (1850) 87
4 M edea; or, the Best of Mothers, with a Brute of a Husband ,
Robert Brough (1856) 135
5 E lectra in a New Electric Light , Francis Talfourd (1859) 207
References 281
Index 295
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List of Illustrations
1.1. Playbill of Mendelssohn’s Antigone at the Th eatre Royal
Birmingham (1845) © Laura Monrós-Gaspar 20
1.2. Playbill of J. R. Planché’s Th e Golden Fleece at the Th eatre Royal
Haymarket in London (1865) © Laura Monrós-Gaspar 25
1.3. ‘Madame Ristori as Medea’ ( Illustrated Times 14 June 1856, p.433)
© Laura Monrós-Gaspar 27
1.4. ‘Frederick Robson as Medea (from a Photograph by
Herbert Watkins)’ (1856) © Laura Monrós-Gaspar 27
1.5. ‘Scene the Last from the New Ballet of “E lectra, or the Lost Pleiad ”
at Her Majesty’s Th eatre in London’ (I llustrated London News
5 May 1849, p.293) © Laura Monrós-Gaspar 37
1.6. Folio 170 of the Manuscript of E. L. Blanchard’s A ntigone Travestie
© Th e British Library Board, BL MS 42982 ff .165–173 44
1.7. Folio 645 of Francis Talfourd’s A lcestis, the Original Strong-Minded
Woman © Th e British Library Board, BL MS 43028 ff .633–653 44
1.8. Folio 22 of Robert Brough’s M edea; or, the Best of Mothers, with a
Brute of a Husband © Th e British Library Board, BL MS 52960, K 45
1.9. Folio 7 of Francis Talfourd’s E lectra in a New Electric Light
© Th e British Library Board, BL MS 52982 45
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Acknowledgements
Th is book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement
of various people. First and foremost, for intellectual inspiration I must thank
Fiona Macintosh, who also deserves profound and sincere gratitude for her
encouragement and support for the project from the beginning. I should also
like to thank Carmen Morenilla and Miguel Teruel, who always respond to my
work generously and constructively, and all the members at the GRATUV
(Universitat de València) and the APGRD (University of Oxford), from whom
I have learnt much about the reception of the classics.
Among the many individuals who have helped me in various ways, I am
particularly indebted to Jesús Tronch, for his expert advice and infallible eye.
For discussions related to divorce laws in England I should like to thank Ann
Heilmann. I also wish to thank the members of the International Federation of
Th eatre Research (IFTR) Historiography working group who provided
valuable feedback on early versions of the book. Particular thanks are due to
Hayley Bradley, Jim Davis, Kate Newey, Janice Norwood and Yael Zahry-Levo,
for their insightful comments and suggestions to various sections of the
volume. Flavio Ferri and Nuria Llagüerri also deserve my gratitude for the
helpful references provided. Mike and Gina Hardinge should be thanked for a
‘precious present’, and Sergio Urzainqui for his help in digitalizing images.
Finally, it has been a pleasure to work fi rst with Charlotte Loveridge and Dhara
Patel, and then with Anna MacDiarmid and Alice Wright at Bloomsbury.
For fi nancial support of this project I am grateful to the Spanish Ministry of
Education and the Universitat de València, for awarding me substantial
research grants towards the writing of this book (FFI20012-32071 and UV-
INV-PRECOMP14-206579). I am also indebted to the Departament de
Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya at the Universitat de València for its support
during the carrying out of this project.
Among the staff of the libraries visited for this project, all of whom were
extremely helpful, I should like to thank librarians and staff at the British
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