Discovering woman: Women's performances at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893

In the late nineteenth century, actresses were trying to improve their reputations in society and, by so doing, to better their professional opportunities. Although women in theatre continued to be considered unconventional by society, their efforts, along with changing societal attitudes, effectively lessened societal denunciation of women in theatrical professions. A pivotal event in the adjustment of America's attitudes towards women was the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Because the images that women performed, both on-stage and off, in conjunction with the Exposition, reached so many people, this occasion can be considered a landmark in the shaping of public attitudes towards women in theatre and in general.; This study examines the performances of three groups of women: the Board of Lady Managers, which had official responsibility for activities relating to women at the Exposition; actresses who performed in the legitimate drama in Chicago during the Exposition; and the women who formed part of the village performances and living ethnological exhibits on the fairgrounds.; The organization of this dissertation depends upon five classifications which were used pervasively throughout the fair---history, beauty, ethnology, morality and industry. Chapter One provides a context for the World's Columbian Exposition, with an overview of the establishment and organization of the fair. Chapter Two acquaints the reader with the theatre in Chicago, on and off the fairgrounds, during the Exposition season. Chapter Three focuses on the ways women adopted contemporary historical ideas, especially the concepts of utopia and progress to promote women's achievements. Chapter Four examines how women's emblematic position as the moral center of American civilization was both reinforced and challenged at the Exposition. Chapter Five discusses the conflicts at the fair between the ideal image of women and the reality of women's lives. Chapter Six considers how late nineteenth-century definitions of beauty affected women at the fair. Chapter Seven centers on the subject of industry, or the way women worked to show how useful they were to American society. Chapter Eight, the conclusion, summarizes my findings and shows how the performances of these three groups of women intertwined.