Touche. I meant that the female parts were done by boys in Shakespeare's time. Though even in the 19th century actress meant something different than it does now. My error in not making my meaning more clear.
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Originally Posted by Joykins
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.
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