Download Free A Narrative Of The Life Of Mrs Charlotte Charke Youngest Daughter Of Colley Cibber Esq Containing Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online A Narrative Of The Life Of Mrs Charlotte Charke Youngest Daughter Of Colley Cibber Esq Containing and write the review.

In this picaresque novel, Charlotte Clarke recalls her life as an actress, and in particular, the difficulties facing a woman trying to make her way in a man's world. The issues of women's writing, education, motherhood, sexuality, and cross-dressing all come under scrutiny.
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1830 edition. Excerpt: ... following description of the room, and exact inventory of my chattels. Good people for a while give ear, Till I've describ'd my furniture: With my stately room I shall begin, Which a part of Noah's ark has been: My windows reach from pole to pole; Strangely airy--that in winter, O my soul. With the dear delight, of--here and there a hole. There is a chest of drawers too, I think, Which seems a trough, where pigeons drink; A handkerchief and cap's as much as they'll contain: 0 1 but I keep no gowns--so need not to complain. Then, for my fire-; I've an inch of stove, Which I often grieve I cannot move When I travel from the chimney to the door, Which are miles full three, if not fourscore. By that time I, shiv'ring, arrive, 1 doubtful grow if I'm alive. Two foreign screens I have, in lieu Of tongs and poker--nay, faith, shovel too. Sometimes they serve to fan the fire, For 'tis seldom that to bellows I aspire * I'll challenge England's king, and the Pretender, To say, that e'er I rust my fender. That fashion's old, I've got a newer, And prudently make use of iron skewer. Now for my lovely bed, of verdant hue, Which, ere Adam liv'd, might possibly be new. So charming thin, the darns so neat With great conveniency expel the heat: But these things will not ever last; Each day a curtain I, in breathing, waste. Then, for chairs; I indeed have one; But, since ruin draws so swiftly on, Will let my room, ere chair, screens, And curtains all are gone. These curious lines were for nineteen years, preserved by my foolish, fond sister; who, in her turn, has been a universal friend to her brethren, or rather her sisterhood. I wish fortune had been less rigorous, and gratitude more predominant; that the former might have prevented, or the latter have...
The life of actress Charlotte Charke transports us through the splendors and scandals of eighteenth-century London and its wicked theatrical world Her father, Colley Cibber, was one of the eighteenth century's great actor/playwrights-the toast of the British aristocracy, a favorite of the king. When his high-spirited, often rebellious daughter, Charlotte, revealed a fondness for things theatrical, it was thought that the young actress would follow in his footsteps at the legendary Drury Lane, creating a brilliant career on the London stage. But this was not to be. And it was not that Charlotte lacked talent-she was gifted, particularly at comedy. Troublesome, however, was her habit of dressing in men's clothes-a preference first revealed onstage but adopted elsewhere after her disastrous marriage to an actor, who became the last man she ever loved. Kathryn Shevelow, an expert on the sophisticated world of eighteenth-century London (the setting for classics such as Tom Jones and Moll Flanders), re-creates Charlotte's downfall from the heights of London's theatrical world to its lascivious lows (the domain of fire-eaters, puppeteers, wastrels, gender-bending cross-dressers, wenches, and scandalous sorts of every variety) and her comeback as the author of one of the first autobiographies ever written by a woman. Beyond the appealingly unorthodox Charlotte, Shevelow masterfully recalls for us a historical era of extraordinary stylishness, artifice, character, interest, and intrigue.