A
woman of
rare talents
and high spirits,
Charlotte
Charke (1713-1760)
was an actress
who delighted
in scandalizing
proper society — whenever
she could.
Her London
was a stage
writ large
where bejeweled
ladies rode
in carriages
past prostitutes
and pickpockets,
crowds munched
on ginger-bread
while watching
hangings, and
Mrs. Mapp the
bonesetter
realigned kneecaps
for fascinated
crowds. On
street corners,
fire-eaters,
contortionists,
tumblers, and
dancing dogs
competed for
attention.
Yet even among
the spectacles
of her stylish,
savage metropolis,
Charlotte stood
out as a self-described "Nonpareil
of the Age." Every
day of her
life was
a grand performance.
The daughter
of Colley
Cibber, a
brilliant
comic actor
famous for
foppery,
Charlotte
was unconventional—even
by the standards of her theatrical
family. She raised eyebrows
with her
disdain for
needlework
and her taste
for guns,
but when
she stepped
on stage,
none of it
mattered.
Charlotte
seemed destined
for greatness.
But she would
rebel. After
making her
reputation by playing men,
she began
dressing
in breeches
offstage
as well.
When her
father and
family disowned her, her life
became a picaresque adventure
extending from the pinnacles
of posh London to its dangerous
depths.
In this fascinating work of
socio-cultural history, Kathryn
Shevelow captures Charlotte—the artist, survivor,
mother, wife, and, ultimately,
husband as well—in all
her guises, from her time among
the dueling divas of the glamorous
Drury Lane Theatre to her trials
as a strolling player and puppeteer,
to her comeback as the author
of My Unaccountable Life,
one of the first autobiographies
ever written by a woman. Set
against the culture and history
of eighteenth-century London—where
Hogarth painted, Fielding's
satires mocked the prime minister,
and The
Beggar's Opera drew raves—Charlotte is
a tale of pluck and perseverance,
enlivened endlessly by the wit,
courage, and creativity of its
ever-surprising heroine.
Published
by:
| 
Winner
of the Theatre Library
Association's
George Freedley
Memorial Award
for the year's
best book on
live theater.
"[A] vivid
and appealing
stage-struck
biography."—Christopher
Benfey, The
New York Times
Book Review
"Engrossing . . . If this story
is deliciously sordid fare, readers
have not only Shevelow's impressive
research to thank but also Charlotte's
own autobiography . . . Her memoir,
which Shevelow quotes from liberally,
is remarkable for both its Defoe-worthy
twists and turns and for being
'one of the earliest secular autobiographies
written by a woman' . . . Even
if the life of Charlotte Charke
was not an especially easy one,
her adventures—and misadventures—make
for a spellbinding read. Born anew
on [this book's] swift-turning
pages, the daring performer is
granted a richly deserving curtain
call through Shevelow's graceful
efforts."—Andrea Hoag, San
Francisco Chronicle
"[A] detailed, touching portrait."—Renate
Stendhal, The Advocate
"Shevelow engagingly details Charlotte's
adventures as a waiter, manservant,
and actor, and her travels around
England with a female companion
known to history only as 'Mrs.
Brown.' Concrete evidence for Charlotte's
life is sometimes frustratingly
scant, but Shevelow compensates
with evocative descriptions of
London playhouses and makeshift
rural stages."—The
New Yorker
"Charlotte Charke (1713-60) is
a plum of a subject for eighteenth-century
culture-specialist Shevelow. Youngest
child of noted actor, playwright,
stage manager, and poet laureate
Colley Cibber, she took to the
stage, as had her brother, Theophilus.
Although she married at 17 (unhappily
and fairly briefly) and bore a
daughter, tall, slim Charlotte
became known for her cross-dressing
both onstage and off, which, with
her public parodies of her father,
led to an estrangement she was
never able to mend. As she bent
gender roles with her dress, she
also did with her work, managing
theater troupes, starting a puppet
theater, and writing her autobiography
(the first written by a British
actress). Still, she was a poor
money manager, and with her companion,
Mrs. Brown, she often lived hand
to mouth. In vivid language, Shevelow
describes the dirt and danger of
London streets, the economics and
politics of the theater world,
the paralyzing effect of the Stage
Licensing Act of 1737, and the
creative means taken to evade it;
since Charlotte has primarily been
the subject of academics in feminist
and lesbian contexts, Shevelow
deals briefly but sensitively with
what is known about Charlotte's
sexuality. This is fine theater
history, but it is most notable
as a biography of a woman who was
true to herself."—Michele
Leber, Booklist (starred
review)
"Shevelow reconstructs the life
of a colorful, cross-dressing thespian.
Charlotte Cibber Charke (1713-60)
was one of the most talked-about
actresses in 18th-century London.
She took to the stage at Drury
Lane, managed several theater companies
(one of the first women to do so),
developed a puppet show devoted
to Shakespeare, and criss-crossed
the country as a strolling player.
Nor was her entrepreneurship limited
to theater: Charlotte briefly ran
an 'oil and grocery shop' that
stocked 'Oils, Pickles, Soap, Salt,
Hams, and several other Family
Necessaries.' A short marriage
to Richard Charke produced one
daughter, Kitty. After a few tempestuous
conjugal years, unable to pay the
court fees for a formal divorce,
Charlotte and Richard simply moved
into separate lodgings. The more
enduring relationship—and
perhaps the greatest role of Charke's
life—was with a woman Charlotte
identified as Mrs. Brown. Charlotte
played the role of Mr. Brown, and
the world (except for a few theater
friends) took the couple to be
a married man and woman. The great
strength here is Shevelow's refusal
to flatten out and pigeonhole the
dazzling Charlotte. In her hands,
Charke is not just a famous actress,
nor a strong woman in an age of
patriarchy, nor simply an excuse
to talk about the history of sexual
identity. She is all of these—and
an important contributor to the
history of puppetry to boot. Shevelow
admirably situates Charlotte's
singular life in larger currents
and contexts. When discussing Mr.
and Mrs. Brown, for instance, the
author gives us a concise history
of 'female husbands' in 18th-century
British courts. She pithily explains
that Charlotte's sexuality is hard
to categorize, because 'our modern
notions of "lesbian" and "identity" .
. . did not exist as such in Charlotte's
world.' Despite all this nuance,
Shevelow doesn't sidestep the issue;
she believes the Browns were probably
lovers and that their relationship
was akin to the relationships of
lesbian couples today. A larger-than-life
story, told with panache."—Kirkus
Reviews
"Shevelow entertainingly raises
the curtain on author-actress Charlotte
Cibber Charke (1713-1760), a cross-dresser
famed for her portrayal of male
characters. The author, a specialist
in 18th-century British literature
and culture, offers a full-scale
biography of this enigmatic eccentric,
who also wrote plays and novels
(including Henry Dumont). She was
the youngest daughter of England's
poet laureate, the actor-playwright
Colley Cibber. Estranged from him
and abandoned by her philandering
husband, Charke supported herself
and her daughter by acting, often
in male roles, and then began wearing
male clothing offstage. After a
1737 cutback in productions, she
worked traditionally male jobs
(grocer, innkeeper, pastry cook,
proofreader, puppeteer, sausage
seller, valet), assuming a male
identity for years under the name
Charles Brown. Contrasting Charke's
early theatrical triumphs with
her later misfortunes, poverty
and despair, Shevelow quotes extensively
from Charke's autobiography, A
Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Charlotte
Charke (1755), and ends with 30
pages of notes and a bibliography
. . . This splendiferous recreation
of the past is rich in period detail,
and theater buffs will applaud."—Publishers
Weekly