Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
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sphere. <strong>The</strong>se gender role stereotypes provide insight into early twentieth century society<br />
and possible character motivations and objectives in classic musicals.<br />
In music scholarship, the initial focus <strong>of</strong> gender studies addressed the historical<br />
canon <strong>of</strong> art music with respect to women’s contributions as creators, contributors, and<br />
patrons. That focus has gradually moved to performance issues and the embodiment <strong>of</strong><br />
music from a feminine perspective, as evidenced in the writings <strong>of</strong> Suzanne Cusick,<br />
Susan McClary, and Renée Cox. Scholarship on gender issues in musical theatre has<br />
generally dealt with the topic in one <strong>of</strong> three ways: 1) the adulation <strong>of</strong> the gay commu-<br />
nity for the genre; 2) the stereotypical “butch” qualities <strong>of</strong> strong personalities like Mary<br />
Martin and Ethel Merman; or 3) the traditional presentation <strong>of</strong> the ideal hegemonic<br />
relationship scenario (boy and girl meet, fall in love, and wind up together after two acts<br />
<strong>of</strong> relationship roadblocks), which is subtly subverted by musical theatre’s traditions <strong>of</strong><br />
gay ideology. Feminine subversion is <strong>of</strong>ten portrayed by strong, independent female<br />
types who are social misfits if they do not win a man by the final curtain. 19 A study on<br />
gender issues that encompasses these viewpoints as well as role models for a strong,<br />
heterosexual female heroine seems lacking.<br />
19 Examples <strong>of</strong> each approach include D. A. Miller, A Place for Us: Essay on the Broadway<br />
Musical (Cambridge, MA: Harvard <strong>University</strong> Press, 1998); John Clum, Something for the Boys: Musical<br />
<strong>The</strong>ater and Gay Culture (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999); Stacy Wolf, A Problem Like Maria:<br />
Gender and Sexuality in the American Musical (Ann Arbor, MI: <strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Michigan Press, 2002);<br />
Donald Egan Whittaker III, “Subversive Aspects <strong>of</strong> American Musical <strong>The</strong>atre”; and Elaine Small Klein,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Development <strong>of</strong> the Leading Feminine <strong>Character</strong> in Selected Librettos <strong>of</strong> American Musicals from<br />
1900 to 1960” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia <strong>University</strong>, 1962).<br />
9