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Stephen Orgel posited a famous question in early modern theatre studies decades ago: "why did the English stage take boys for women?" Years later, the academia's honest answer is, we still don't know. Yet the scholar consensus has progressed a long way since Orgel's question. For example, in the past, people inclined to assert that the female actresses on public stage was unlawful in Shakespeare's time, or England simply had little to no knowledge of the popular acting practices using real (1/2)
women for female roles in the continent. Both assertions are proved false. Now scholars believe the female roles by boy actors are more of a custom or convenience thing. Also, this practice may reflect the contemporary anxiety of women speaking in public spheres as well as the English public stage's emphasis on homosocial relationships and homo-erotic/hetero-erotic appeal. (2/2)