Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
Even in the 19th century Actress had a different meaning than now. It was another name for prostitute. Instead of a girl all female parts were played by young boys back then.
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Women started appearing on stage in England during the Restoration period. There were some respectable actresses, but many of them did supplement their income from the stage (which wasn't great) the old-fashioned way.
I started Zola's _Nana_ (19th cent. French novel) and there's this great opening scene where the audience refers to the theatre as a theatre and the theatre owner keeps correcting them, telling them it's his brothel. The heroine appears to be an courtesan with perpetual financial trouble who can't act very well but no one cares because she's lovely on stage.