Download or read book Nell Gwyn written by Charles Beauclerk and published by . This book was released on 2015-11-30 with total page 618 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Beauclerk brings to this book on his ancestress a rich and deep knowledge of the period conveyed in warm, unstuffy and amusing style' Daily Mail 'Succeeds in capturing Nell Gwyn's vivacity, originality and essential sweetness' - The Guardian 'Beauclerk tells Nell's story with obvious relish... a biography that feels like a good long gossip' - The Mail on Sunday Revealing and entertaining.' The Literary Review 'Beauclerk paints a lively and detailed picture of Restoration London... very enjoyable.' - The Independent "Mr. Beauclerk writes of a time when, if it was good to be a king, it was good to be his mistress too. He does not fashionably cut his characters down to modem size-and is himself directly descended from the union of Charles II and Nell Gwyn, of which he writes with such humor, spirit, and erudition." - FAY WELDON "Shining beauty and dazzling wit brought orange-seller Nell Gwyn to the attention of Charles II. For seventeen years, as lovers and loyal friends, the two shared the pleasures of the bed and the play, of falconry, fishing, and walking in the woods at night. Charles Beauclerk has the blood of Nell and Charles in his veins, and, through his easy, erudite pen, Restoration England comes alive. A book to be savored, slowly." - GILLIAN GILL, AUTHOR OF NIGHTINGALES: THE EXTRAORDINARY UPBRINGING AND CURIOUS LIFE OF MISS FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE "As well as being a cracking good read, this is both a scholarly, sympathetic, mature, and thought-provoking biography of our finest folk heroine and a well-rounded portrait of Restoration England." -HUGH MASSINGBERD, THE SPECTATOR "Charles Beauclerk's grasp of Restoration literature and culture is impressive and there is nothing he doesn't know about the politics. . . . Nell Gwyn has about it a humanity, empathy, and freshness of which his subject would undoubtedly approve." -FRANCES WILSON, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "Charles Beauclerk interweaves the development of Nell's character with a vivid portrayal of the social worlds of court and stage, in which she played such a memorable part. In spite of his obvious affection for his ancestress, he provides a well-rounded view of her character and an objective account of the role she played as a woman who crossed the social boundaries and created an unforgettable, romantic comedy in her life as well as in her art." - BETKA ZAMOYSKA, THE LITERARY REVIEW "Beauclerk tells Nell's story with obvious relish. He is particularly good on the odd mind-set of Stuart England." - KATHRYN HUGHES, THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Beautiful, quick-witted and sexually magnetic, Nell Gwyn remains one of England's great folk-heroines. The story of her exceptional rise from an impoverished, abusive childhood, to the wealth and connections that came with being Charles II's mistress is a dramatic mix of lust, money, high politics and love. Famously spotted selling oranges in the Theatre Royal, Drury Line, Nell's wit and charm brought her to the attention of one of the theatre's leading actors. Under his patronage, she soon established herself as the greatest comedienne of her day, and so caught the eye of Charles II, the newly restored 'merry monarch' of a nation in hedonistic reaction to puritan rule. Their seventeen-year affair is one of the great love stories of our history, played out against a backdrop of fire, plague, court intrigue and political turmoil. This vivid, personal portrayal brilliantly recreates the licentious, yet politically charged atmosphere of Charles II's court and casts fresh light on the real Nell Gwyn, on Charles and on the restoration period.

Download or read book Nell Gwynn written by Jessica Swale and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: London, 1660. King Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, extravagant and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn is causing stirrings amongst the theatregoers. Nell Gwynn charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain's most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the King. But at a time when women are second-class citizens, can her charm and spirit protect her from the dangers of the Court? Jessica Swale's exhilarating take on the heady world of Restoration theatre premiered at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in September 2015, before transferring to the West End in February 2016, starring Gemma Arterton. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2016.

Download or read book Mistress Nell Gwyn written by Marjorie Bowen and published by T. Allen. This book was released on 1926 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Darling Strumpet written by Gillian Bagwell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From London’s slums to its bawdy playhouses, The Darling Strumpet charts the meteoric rise of the dazzling Nell Gwynn, who captivates the heart of King Charles II—and becomes one of the century’s most famous courtesans… Witty and beautiful, Nell Gwynn is born into poverty, and trades her mother’s treacherous grasp for the grim life of a prostitute at a precious young age. But before long she finds herself drawn to the theater, where she earns a place in the King’s Company. As one of the first actresses in the newly opened playhouses, her talents and charms win the crowds’ affection—and the heart of her leading man. But when she catches the eye of the king himself, her life is transformed in ways she could never have imagined. Surrendering her body and heart to Charles, Nell will be forced to maneuver the ruthless and shifting allegiances of the royal court—and discover a world of decadence and passion she never imagined was possible…

Download or read book The First Actresses written by Gillian Perry and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring a range of large-scale, public and more intimate portraits of actresses, The First Actresses provides a vivid spectacle of femininity, fashion and theatricality from Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons. Ranging from oil paint to porcelain, these portraits illustrate the enduring popularity of portraits of women performers. Crucially the book seeks to reassess the traditional association between actress and'prostitute', and the moral ambiguity of women playing male roles. Portraiture became an important vehicle for the expression of concerns about female sexuality, social status, decorum, gender and celebrity. The authors also chart the commercialisation of the spectacle of the actress, as well as the connections between the eighteenth-century 'star system' and modern celebrity culture. Organised thematically, sections include: 'Painting Acresses' Lives', 'Nell Gwyn and Covent Garden Goddesses', 'Divas, Dancing and the Rage for Music: Painting Women in Musical Performance', 'Beauty, Ageing and the Body Politic of the Eighteenth-Century Actress' and 'Star Systems'. Illustrated with remarkable paintings by major artists of the period, a fascinating and lucid text reveals the many ways in which women performers enabled artistic innovation and creativity, provoked intellectual debate and contributed to the popularity and visibility of the theatre. Accompanies an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 20 October 2011 - 8 January 2012

Download or read book The Restoration of Nell Gwyn written by Steve Trafford and published by Oberon Books. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Full of humour and bawdy wit, this new comedy transports us into the wanton world of the English Restoration. A new comedy by Steve Trafford with songs by Henry Purcell. King Charles 2nd lies ill, Nell Gwyn, his royal whore, once the brightest star of the Restoration theatre, rages against her fate. What will become of her if Charles is summoned to his Maker? What perils will befall the English nation? Mistress Gwyn and Margery, her maid, lead us a merry dance, filled with their laughter, their tears, and Nell’s enchanting songs of the Baroque: A rollicking romp which ends with a sting in its tail. Eleanor ‘Nell’ Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687) was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. Called ‘pretty, witty Nell’ by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. She was the most famous Restoration actress and possessed a prodigious comic talent. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726); and James Beauclerk (1671–1680). The surname of her sons is pronounced 'Bo-Clare'. Charles was created Earl of Burford and later Duke of St. Albans.

Download or read book The Protestant Whore written by Alison Margaret Conway and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, Protestants worried that King Charles II might favour religious freedom for Roman Catholics, and many suspected that the king was unduly influenced by his Catholic mistresses. Nell Gwyn, actress and royal mistress, stood apart by virtue of her Protestant loyalty. In 1681, Gwyn, her carriage surrounded by an angry anti-Catholic mob, famously declared 'I am the protestant whore.' Her self-branding invites an investigation into the alignment between sex and politics during this period, and in this study, Alison Conway relates courtesan narrative to cultural and religious anxieties. In new readings of canonical works by Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Richardson, Conway argues that authors engaged the same questions about identity, nation, authority, literature, and politics as those pursued by Restoration polemicists. Her study reveals the recurring connection between sexual impropriety and religious heterodoxy in Restoration thought, and Nell Gwyn, writ large as the nation's Protestant Whore, is shown to be a significant figure of sexual, political, and religious controversy.

Download or read book Exit the Actress written by Priya Parmar and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the critically acclaimed author of Vanessa and Her Sister, the debut novel hailed by New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory as “a vivid imagining of the restoration London of Charles II with Nell Gwynn as a powerful and engaging heroine.” While selling oranges in the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, sweet and sprightly Ellen "Nell" Gwyn impresses the theater’s proprietors with a wit and sparkle that belie her youth and poverty. She quickly earns a place in the company, narrowly avoiding the life of prostitution to which her sister has already succumbed. As her roles evolve from supporting to starring, the scope of her life broadens as well. Soon Ellen is dressed in the finest fashions, charming the theatrical, literary, and royal luminaries of Restoration England. Ellen grows up on the stage, experiencing first love and heartbreak and eventually becoming the mistress of Charles II. Despite his reputation as a libertine, Ellen wholly captures his heart—and he hers—but even the most powerful love isn’t enough to stave off the gossip and bitter court politics that accompany a royal romance. Telling the story through a collection of vibrant seventeenth-century voices ranging from Ellen’s diary to playbills, letters, gossip columns, and home remedies, Priya Parmar brings to life the story of an endearing and delightful heroine.

Download or read book Charles II s Favourite Mistress written by Sarah-Beth Watkins and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2021-10-30 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nell Gwyn, the most infamous mistress of Charles II, was a commoner raised from the dingy back alleys of London to the stage and into a king’s arms. Hers was a true rags to riches story that saw a young girl rise from selling oranges to capturing the heart of a king. The Restoration period was one of change. After the troubled years of the English Civil War, it was time for pleasure, debauchery and entertainment with the ‘Merry Monarch’ restored to the throne. Nell was one of the first actresses on stage; a loveable comedienne who wowed audiences with her wit and charm. She fell in love with Charles Hart (one of the leading actors of the time), had a torrid affair with Lord Buckhurst and ultimately ended up in the king’s bed. She stayed on the stage for six years, but she stayed in the king’s heart for seventeen – his only mistress who was faithful to him. Set against the backdrop of Restoration London, this book charts Nell’s life and that of her family and friends – from her drunken mother and troublesome sister to the most notorious wits of the age John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. Nell had a generous heart and a mischievous spirit, and was friends with people from all walks of life. The only woman she really detested was another of the king’s mistresses, Louise de Kerouaille, known as the French Spy. This highly entertaining book will tell the story of Nell’s life – the good and the bad – and show why Nell truly embodies the spirit of the Restoration.

Download or read book Icons and Identities written by Tanya Bentley and published by National Portrait Gallery. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the outstanding collection of the National Portrait Gallery, this volume celebrates the variety and complexity of portraiture The National Portrait Gallery holds the world's most extensive collection of portraits: a museum of people, a gallery of stories and ideas, and a home of artistic masterpieces. Icons and Identitiesdraws together icons from Shakespeare to Audrey Hepburn alongside less well-known sitters that provide insight into the representation of identity in portraits. It also includes some intriguing surprises to reflect the diversity of the National Portrait Gallery's collection and to introduce audiences around the world to exceptional portraits of many kinds. Icons and Identitiesshows how artists, working across mediums, have revealed the visually stimulating and intellectually vibrant tradition of portrait making. The book is structured around a series of key themes and each section includes a selection of works from a range of periods. Artists include: Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Andy Warhol, Marlene Dumas and Shirin Neshat.

Download or read book Playhouse Creatures written by April De Angelis and published by Samuel French Limited. This book was released on 1994 with total page 67 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Shakespeare Revue written by Christopher Luscombe and published by Dramatic Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mistresses written by Linda Porter and published by Picador. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the great diarist, John Evelyn, Charles II was 'addicted to women', and throughout his long reign a great many succumbed to his charms. Clever, urbane and handsome, Charles presided over a hedonistic court, in which licence and licentiousness prevailed.Mistresses is the story of the women who shared Charles's bed, each of whom wielded influence on both the politics and cultural life of the country. From the young king-in-exile's first mistress and mother to his first child, Lucy Walter, to the promiscuous and ill-tempered courtier, Barbara Villiers. From Frances Teresa Stuart, 'the prettiest girl in the world' to history's most famous orange-seller, 'pretty, witty' Nell Gwynn and to her fellow-actress, Moll Davis, who bore the last of the king's fifteen illegitimate children. From Louise de Kéroualle, the French aristocrat - and spy for Louis XIV - to the sexually ambiguous Hortense Mancini. Here, too, is the forlorn and humiliated Queen Catherine, the Portuguese princess who was Charles's childless queen. Drawing on a wide variety of original sources, including material in private archives, Linda Porter paints a vivid picture of these women and of Restoration England, an era that was both glamorous and sordid.

Download or read book Nell Gwynn Comedian written by Frank Frankfort Moore and published by . This book was released on 1900 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Blue Stockings written by Jessica Swale and published by NHB Modern Plays. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Love or knowledge: which would you choose?' A moving, comical and eye-opening story of four young women fighting for education and self-determination against the larger backdrop of women's suffrage. 1896. Girton College, Cambridge, the first college in Britain to admit women. The Girton girls study ferociously and match their male peers grade for grade. Yet, when the men graduate, the women leave with nothing but the stigma of being a 'blue stocking' - an unnatural, educated woman. They are denied degrees and go home unqualified and unmarriageable. In Jessica Swale's debut play, Blue Stockings, Tess Moffat and her fellow first years are determined to win the right to graduate. But little do they anticipate the hurdles in their way: the distractions of love, the cruelty of the class divide or the strength of the opposition, who will do anything to stop them. The play follows them over one tumultuous academic year, in their fight to change the future of education. Blue Stockings received its professional premiere at Shakespeare's Globe, London, in August 2013, directed by John Dove.

Download or read book The Perfect Royal Mistress written by Diane Haeger and published by Crown. This book was released on 2007-02-27 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born into poverty and raised in a brothel, Nell Gwynne sells oranges in the pit at London’s King’s Theater, newly reopened after the plague and the Great Fire devastated the city. Soon, her quick sense of humor and natural charm get her noticed by those who have the means to make her life easier. But the street-smart Nell knows a woman doesn’t get ahead by selling her body. Through talent, charm, intelligence, and sheer determination—as well as a keen understanding of how the world operates—Nell works her way out of the pit and onto the stage to become the leading comedic actress of the day. Her skills and beauty quickly win the attention of all of London—eventually even catching the eye of King Charles II. Their attraction is as real as it is unlikely, and the scrappy orange girl with the pretty face and the quick wit soon finds herself plunged into the confusing and dangerous world of the court, where she learns there are few she can trust—and many whom she cannot turn her back on. From the gritty streets of seventeenth-century London, to the backstage glamour of its theaters, to the glittering court of Charles II, The Perfect Royal Mistress is a love story for the ages, the rags-to-riches tale of a truly remarkable heroine.

Download or read book The September Queen written by Gillian Bagwell and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-11-01 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles II is running for his life-and into the arms of a woman who will risk all for king and country. Jane Lane is of marrying age, but she longs for adventure. She has pushed every potential suitor away-even those who could provide everything for her. Then one day, adventure makes its way to her doorstep, and with it comes mortal danger... Royalists fighting to restore the crown to King Charles II implore Jane to help. Jane must transport him to safety, disguised as a manservant. As she places herself in harm's way, she finds herself falling in love with the gallant young Charles. And despite his reputation as a breaker of hearts, Jane finds herself surrendering to a passion that will change her life forever.