"The Ladies" is a study of the connection between women and the theatre in Restoration England. It examines the plays they saw, what they liked, how often they went, how they behaved in the theatre and their role as patrons of drama. It also examines their class backround and describes the position of women generally in Restoration society. Roberts criticizes the view that a "ladies faction" caused the change from bawdy to sentimental comedy, thereby altering the course of English drama. However, he argues that certain sentimental comedies catered for the interests of their female audience by taking advantage of the fashionable concern for women's rights.
- ISBN10 0198117434
- ISBN13 9780198117438
- Publish Date 1 March 1989
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 18 January 1999
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Oxford University Press
- Imprint Clarendon Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 198
- Language English