Contradictions in Proper Society

When thinking about the culture of the late 1800s into the early 1900s, the words prim and proper come to mind. Society, especially high society, was confined to strict conventions and inflexible gender roles. Even alluding to sex was considered taboo. It was frowned upon for visibly pregnant women to go outside because then people looking at her would obviously think about the process that led to her state. During this rule-laden era, men were gentlemen, and women were ladies and some things were simply not talked about in polite society.

That’s why the phenomenon of burlesque seems so out of character. Although the burlesque show of Lydia Thompson and the like seem relatively innocent now, at the time it was quite scandalous. While the can can probably made more than a few people blush, what made burlesque scandalous were the ideas that it represented and the perception that it was provocative. I think it is evidenced by how they first promoted the show. Lydia Thompson was portrayed as a classic temptress-a seductress with undeniable beauty and the will more than likely cause men’s downfalls. If you believed their stories, men across Europe were head over heels, trying to send her gifts, even committing suicide. But, by all accounts, Lydia Thompson was pretty average looking; she was not even the most beautiful girl in her troupe. A crazed fan abducted that girl in a carriage and tried to force her to marry him, a move that would surely generate a high five from Montraville of Charlotte Temple.

Burlesque continually violated the norms of society. It bent gender roles, altered the traditional structure of fine theater. Society was so sheltered, it was intrigued by anything out of the ordinary. It is not much of a surprise that “freak shows,” like the one at the theater where Thompson’s show first premiered in the New York, were common. Beneath the turn of the century’s veil of purity and convention lay a curiosity and fascination with the erotic and grotesque.