VICTORIAN LITERATURE | The Lady Actress

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Anne Blake - Part I

PART I: INTRIGUING, BUT LESS THAN GROUND-BREAKING Originally posted on March 6, 2023 [A recording of this play is available at Librivox]...

Aug 4, 202316 min read

The Wealth of Walter Watts vs. the Poverty of Bob Cratchit - Part II

PART II: THE PROPER PAYMENT OF CLERKS Originally posted December 19, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for...

Aug 4, 202310 min read

The Wealth of Walter Watts vs. the Poverty of Bob Cratchit - Part I

PART I: THE CHARACTER OF CLERKS Originally posted Dec. 1, 2022 [An abbreviated video version of this essay is available for viewing on...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part III

PART III: ANNA CORA STRIKES GOLD AS MARTHA Originally posted Nov. 21, 2022 Martha Gibbs, the pure-hearted heroine of J. Maddison Morton’s...

Aug 4, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part II

PART II: GLITTERING IN ENGLAND Originally posted Nov. 7, 2022 [A full cast recording of this play is available atLibrivox ] “All that...

Aug 4, 202312 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “All That Glitters is Not Gold” - Part I

PART I: JOHN MADDISON MORTON AND HIS OTHER PLAY Originally posted Oct. 24, 2022 In any well-rounded streaming service that delivers...

Aug 3, 202335 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part IV

PART IV: THE PUSHBACK Originally posted September 5, 2022 I know that I’ve been building to the negative reaction to Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

Aug 3, 202320 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part III

PART III: PUBLICATION Originally posted August 22, 2022 Although January of 1856 is usually listed as the publication date of Mimic Life,...

Aug 3, 202317 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Mimic Life, and the Critics - Part I

PART I: THE PREP Originally posted July 25, 2022 Among the reasons why it is a good thing that I am no longer in the classroom is that I...

Aug 2, 202328 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part IV

PART IV -- IN SICKNESS AND IN WEALTH: MEN, MONEY, AND ILLNESS IN MOWATT'S NARRATIVES [CONTENT WARNING: SUICIDE] Originally posted June...

Aug 2, 202324 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part III

PART III -- LOVE, SEX, AND HEROES Originally posted June 6, 2022 The truth is the majority of people don’t really care about history. ...

Aug 2, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller – Part II

PART II -- MOWATT, MEN, AND VILLANY Originally posted May 23, 2022 If you pick up a book about popular culture in the 19th century in the...

Aug 2, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Louise Waller

PART I: MOWATT'S WOMEN Originally posted May 9, 2022 A Master’s thesis is really a horrid sort of little document. In the Humanities,...

Aug 1, 202322 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and What’s in a Name – Part II

PART II: ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE Originally posted March 28, 2022 The Victorian opulence of Anna Cora Ogden Mowatt Ritchie’s name...

Aug 1, 202321 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and What’s In A Name

PART I: THE TIES THAT BIND Originally published March 14, 2022 Around this time last year, a well-meaning publishing company launched a...

Jul 30, 202311 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and the Author of “Ion”

PART II: THE BOY WHO LOVED TO DRAW SKELETONS Originally published Nov. 29, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora...

Jul 30, 202310 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and “Ion”

PART I: THE PLAY BEGINS WITH A PUNCH Originally posted Nov. 15, 2021 [This multi-part series of entries examines Anna Cora Mowatt’s...

Jul 29, 202315 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt, Pauline, and the Return to the U.S

Part XV: THE LADY TRANSFORMED Originally posted Sept. 13, 2021 [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of entries examining Anna...

Jul 28, 202318 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and The Lady at the Olympic

Part XII: IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY GHOSTWRITER… Originally published August 23, 2021 [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of...

Jul 28, 202313 min read

Anna Cora Mowatt and Pauline at the Olympic

PART XI: A PROFITABLE PERIOD OF UNEMPLOYMENT [This is a continuation of my multi-part series of entries examining Anna Cora Mowatt’s...