The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2622  Monday, 19 November 2001

From:           Jack Heller <
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Date:           Friday, 16 Nov 2001 14:09:08 -0500
Subject: 12.2616 Re: "Gangs" of Young Women in London
Comment:        Re: SHK 12.2616 Re: "Gangs" of Young Women in London

To my comments on The Life of Mary Frith, Keith De Ornellas replied,

>Well, that text was edited by Janet Todd and Elizabeth Spearing for
>their 'Counterfeit Ladies' publication (London: Pickering and Chatto,
>1994). That is fairly easy to come by.

I will have to find out if this is available in the United States. I
believe the original question from a listserv member in Poland, so
possibly The Life would be easier to buy in Europe than in the US. But I
will check

>Incidentally, there isn't a
>shred of evidence to suggest that Frith had anything to do with that
>sensationalised 'Life'; I can't see why it should be included on any
>women's writing course.

I always get caught when trying to respond about a text I've read 4+
years ago. However, I think Nakayama suggests that Frith had a hand in
its writing. As I don't have a copy here, I'm relying on memory.

>A rather splendid article by Gustav Ungerer, in
>last year's 'Shakespeare Studies', does much to differentiate between
>the 'facts' and the 'myths' of Moll's career.

I will look this up.

>As for gangs of unruly
>women in London, the representations that immediately come to mind are
>in Fletcher's 'The Woman's Prize/The Tamer Tamed', Jonson's
>'Epicene/Silent Woman' and Middleton's 'Chaste Maid in Cheapside'.

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside? There are the Puritan women, but would they
be a gang? The Welsh whore has no particular ties to other women.

Jack Heller

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