Vestal Flirtations: The Performance of the Feminine in Late-Nineteenth-Century British Music Hall

The essay explores the role of women performers in late nineteenth-century music hall by developing a theory of performative flirtation. It argues that the gendered dynamics of serio-comic modes such as those performed by Vesta Victoria and Marie Lloyd and of the male impersonations of Vesta Tilley provide materials to combat the routines of gender representation current in the 'legitimate' theatres of the period.