Women in Traditional Chinese Theater (eBook)

Women in Traditional Chinese Theatre serves as an introduction to Chinese classical drama, through original translations of six plays from the 14th to 20th centuries, and an investigation of the portrayal of women in Chinese theater. The selected plays feature the most popular female archetypes in Chinese literature, including the paragon of virtue, the stoic sufferer, the faithful wife, and the femme fatale. Appealing to both scholars and general theater enthusiasts, this book reveals how the cultural constructs of Chinese women are represented in dramatic literature, and how the theater, in turn, shapes the cultural perception of women.

---

Women in Traditional Chinese Theatre seeks to introduce Western readers to Chinese classical drama as well as investigate how women have traditionally been portrayed on stage by presenting original translations of six plays from the fourteenth to twentieth centuries. Framed with a comprehensive introduction to the Chinese theatre and its representation of women, each play is preceded by an interpretative summary of the plot, and an analysis of each play's theme and significance. The selections in this volume feature women representing the most popular female archetypes in Chinese literature: the paragon of virtue, the stoic sufferer, the faithful wife, the femme fatal, and others. Appealing to both scholars and general enthusiasts of theatre, literature, and women's studies, this book reveals how the cultural constructs of Chinese women are represented in dramatic literature, and how the theatre, in turn, shapes this representation into the cultural perception of women.