The Rhetoric of Ellen Terry's Alter Ego: Lessons From Nance Oldfield
Abstract
While Ellen Terry's Shakespearean roles are commonly discussed in considerations of her work, the actress's involvement with the comic play Nance Oldfield is glossed over if not entirely overlooked. However, Terry bought the rights to this play, revised the script with Bram Stoker, performed the leading role, and invoked this semi-fictional figure across the latter part of her career. This essay examines public theatrical ephemera in conjunction with personal photographs of Terry dressed up as Oldfield at home and the extensive marginalia on Terry's copy of the script to argue that Terry's assumption of ‘Nance Oldfield’ was a rhetorical performance. Terry's alliance with this character, as an on-stage character and an off-stage alter ego, led her to speak with greater confidence about her own professional life and about women's public role in nineteenth-century England.
- Journal
- Rhetorica
- Published
- 2017-08-01
- DOI
- 10.1525/rh.2017.35.3.285
- CompPile
- Open Access
- Closed
- Topics
-
- Export
- BibTeX RIS
Citation context
Cited by in this index (0)
No articles in this index cite this work.
References (0)
No references on file for this article.
Related articles
-
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026Miriam F. Williams
-
Rhetorica Sep 2025Brent Nelson
-
Rhetorica Jun 2024Christoph Schwameis
-
Rhetoric & Public Affairs Mar 2024Jaclyn Bruner
-
Rhetorica Jan 2024Mind the Audience: Forensic Rhetoric, Persuasion, and Identification by Reference to the Social Identity of Athenian dikastai ↗Vasileios Adamidis