16 October, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 15 of octobȝ 1595 ... ne ... R at the wonder of a womon ... liij^s 

In modern English: [16^th ] October, 1595 ... New ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 53 shillings.

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play! Sadly, The Wonder of a Woman is yet another lost play whose content is unknown.

The Wonder of a Woman presumably featured a female character who was impressive in some way, but little more can be said about it. Was she a transgressive figure taking on traditionally male roles, such as Pope Joan, Zenobia or Long Meg of Westminster? Or was she paragon of conventional female virtue like Esther? Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever the reasons for the heroine's wondrousness, The Wonder of a Woman achieved a large crowd, though not as large as the most successful premieres.

FURTHER READING

Wonder of a Woman information

• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1013.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

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