The Orient on the Victorian Stage

by Edward Ziter

Overview

Edward Ziter explores the impact of the Middle East and the "Orient", (as it was known), on writing and performance in nineteenth-century British theater and how these portrayals influenced public perception of the region. British audiences marvelled at depictions of desert storms and harem dances as well as scenes of the Nile and colonial armies throughout the nineteenth century. Ziter extends his study from the Romantic through to the late-Victorian period, including taking in melodrama, pantomime, ballet, and opera, as well as museum displays and exhibitions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521818292
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/25/2003
Pages:	246
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Edward Ziter is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at Ohio State University. He has published articles in Theatre Survey, Theatre Journal and The Wordsworth Circle and in two anthologies, Land/Scape/Theatre: Views of the 20th Century and Living Displays. He has co-edited the reviews section of Theatre Journal.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: 'real sets', geography, and race; 1. Spectacle and surveillance in orientalist panoramas; 2. Fantasies of miscegenation on the romantic stage; 3. The built-out East of popular ethnography; 4. The biblical East in theatres and exhibitions; 5. The geography of Imperial theatre; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Ziter offers a fascinating look at the impact of the Middle East on British thetrical entertainment and stagecraft in the 19th century. Highly recommended." Choice

"...this is still a timely, thought-provoking, and thoroughly impressive work." Victorian Studies

From the Publisher