THE ERA OF THE VICTORIAN MUSIC HALL HOW WOMEN WERE SEEN

The submission consists of two parts; the first is a written dissertation addressing the question of women's rights in Victorian Britain and how these issues were reflected by the cultural signifiers of the time. The discourse produced by the dissertation has then been used to engender and inform the second part of the submission, namely a series of bookworks on the subject with an accompanying project report. The research method of using art, as an indicator of social convention is a well acknowledged and frequently utilised. Researching Victorian sexuality through the canon of Victorian art has also been well-documented (Nead, 1988, Nochlin, 1999, Chadwick, 1990). But art cannot be isolated from other social signifiers; it must be examined in conjunction with other cultural displays if a true reflection of the status quo is to be found. The dissertation attempts to do this by discussing the social significance of art together with other social cultural discourses, predominantly the repertoire of the Victorian music hall, within the context of Nineteenth Century social structures. The contradictory facets of the Victorian female persona are examined through examples from each genre and show the complexity of the sexual hierarchy then in place. The inclusion of bookworks as part of the submission is intended as a 'visual commentary' on the research. Images can be used to further illustrate insights into a particular subject and it is hoped that the bookworks produced as part of the project add another dimension to the ideas previously explored in the dissertation. A visual interpretation of the essay also offers the chance to manipulate the resources collected and analysed in its construction, and the opportunity for a more personal response to the issues raised