ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Though there is evidence that women acted in street performances, and in other notorious venues, all commercial acting companies of the time were made up entirely of men and it was illegal for women to act on stage professionally until 1661.

Detailed explanation-2: -Although women weren’t on stage during Shakespeare’s lifetime, they were involved with theatrical productions in other ways. For example, they made and altered costumes, collected admissions fees, sold food and other goods used in the theater, and even owned playing houses.

Detailed explanation-3: -1660 – At the end of the English Civil War, women’s role in English theater flourished. Anne Marshall was the first professional actress on stage, performing as Desdemona in Othello. 1670 – Aphra Behn, one of the early female playwrights, produced her first play, The Forc’d Marriage.

Detailed explanation-4: -In Shakespeare’s time acting was a profession only open to boys and men. Women were acting elsewhere in Europe but they were not allowed to perform in public theatres in England until 1660.

Detailed explanation-5: -At the age of 30, Hughes made theatre history by becoming the first woman known to perform on an English stage, when on 8 December 1660, she played the role of Desdemona in William Shakespeare’s play Othello, in a production by Thomas Killigrew’s new King’s Company at their Vere Street theatre.