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The Savoy\u00a0was one of the most prominent little magazines of its time. \u00a0With the Yellow Book\u2019s recently ousted Arthur Symons and Aubrey Beardsley as its editors, The\u00a0Savoy represents the aesthetic ambition of two of the most forward-thinking literary and art creators (Claes and Demoor).\u00a0 The two pieces I will be analyzing are “A Romance of Three Fools” <\/a>by Ernest Rhys and \u201cAt the Alhambra: Impressions and Sensations\u201d<\/a> by Arthur Symons, both of which were published in volume five of The Savoy in September 1896.\u00a0 Rhys\u2019 fairy tale uses satire to emphasize how working women in music halls are sexualized and demoralized by the audience who gives them fame, while Symons\u2019 essay plays into society\u2019s criticism of music halls by feeding into the double standards which condemn women performers.\u00a0 Music halls were extremely controversial in the 1890s, often being disparaged by \u201cmoral conservatives\u201d because \u201cthe flouting of women\u2019s bodies in combination with licentious words, gestures and costumes\u201d was thought to lead to the sexual excitement of audiences (Davis 39).\u00a0 Rhys\u2019 fairy tale takes a feminist approach in challenging society and Symons\u2019 expectations of women and the reluctance to let women earn a living.\u00a0 Although Rhys\u2019 narrative is told from male perspectives, he uses their voices to satirically highlight the judgments passed onto women performers.<\/p>\n During the 1890s, London was at its peak; according to Andrew Horrall, it was the largest and richest city, therefore, making it the most important metropolis in the world (1).\u00a0 Thanks to the industry and shipping from the Empire, London experienced rocketing profits across all markets, including popular culture.\u00a0 It was music halls that gave way to true entertainment success.\u00a0 Being an imperial capital meant an influx of countless performers who brought with them \u201cforeign influences, idioms and ideas\u201d and whose \u201cnew perspectives on popular culture\u201d would be broadcast around the world (Horrall 1).\u00a0 Music halls originated from public-house evenings, where men and women would perform on table tops to be rewarded with free drinks; it was not considered a professional industry.\u00a0 Later, music halls were commercialized, and professionals wrote songs and skits to perform (Horrall pp. 1-2).\u00a0 Music halls became one of the most important modes of popular culture, as it was Britain\u2019s \u201cfirst entertainment industry\u201d (Horrall 3).\u00a0 It was through the construction of entertainment venues like the Alexandra Palace, the Ally Pally, and the People\u2019s Palace that the Victorian middle class and poorer Londoners were able to provide themselves with edifying leisure (Horrall 10).\u00a0 While provoking challenging alternatives to conservative progressivist views, music halls used their stages to evoke modern conversations about class, gender, national identities, and mainstream political issues (Platt and Becker 1).\u00a0 Because of their liberality towards sexuality and gender, music halls were criticized and defamed by upper-class members of the public.\u00a0 With new restrictions imposed on women\u2019s costumes and religious sectarians procuring the deeds to halls in order to halt performances, many theatre managers began to question \u201chow far \u2018the moral sense of majorities\u2019 would be allowed to dictate public access to art\u201d (Davis 40).\u00a0 Then in 1889, the supremacy over music hall licensing was transferred to the London Country Council\u2019s new subcommittee on Theatres and Music Halls, ultimately tipping the scale in favour of reformers (Davis 41).\u00a0 However, although access to popular culture was spread across London, parts of the population, and women, in particular, had a more limited access to private entertainment (Horrall 11).<\/p>\n The quality of life among Britain\u2019s working class was at an all-time high in the late nineteenth century; the living standards drastically improved, and patrons were able to properly enjoy the growing consumer and leisure culture (Parratt 22).\u00a0 The gender order of late-Victorian England saw that women not only had less access to leisure activities than men, but men would knowingly pursue leisure at the expense of their families\u2019 welfare.\u00a0 Work became an integrated attraction in the lives of women, although they were denied equal access and fair wages for their labour.\u00a0 Much of the domestic work women were required to perform was illegitimized and industry jobs were unqualified, without job-protection, and low-paying (Parratt 25).\u00a0For working-class women, the decision to take the stage was not a superficial one.\u00a0 In a society of over-crowded and unskilled labour markets, women were able to find expertise and validation in their theatrical vocation.\u00a0 Not all women were trying to become actresses, but they were all trying to earn their own living (Faulk 114-115).\u00a0 There is value in considering the motives behind Rhys\u2019 decision to center his fairy tale on the pursuit of a female performer\u2019s attention. \u00a0If Marie Barrone was seeking the fame and attention assumed of her, readers would not expect her character to be as uncomfortable as she is with using Momus\u2019 coachmen.\u00a0 In a conversation with Momus, Barrone also claims she needs a holiday to rest her voice, suggesting perhaps that she is overwhelmed by the devotion her occupation places upon her.\u00a0After thanking the men for their support, Rhys writes, \u201cher voice had that little quiver again\u201d (59).\u00a0 This statement comes after Barrone has repeatedly tried to excuse herself from the conversation.\u00a0 Because she is a music hall performer, she is expected to entertain and therefore feels a sense of obligation to keep up her appearance and engage with the men, otherwise swift dismissal could have a negative effect on her career and her ability to make an income.<\/p>\n Female performers in late-Victorian music halls were victims of great condemnation.\u00a0 Often, these women were subjected to associations with prostitution and regarded as having low moral standards because of the costumes they wore and the characters they had to present themselves as on stage.\u00a0 Examples of the judgments passed onto female entertainers are replicated in both Symons\u2019 \u201cAt the Alhambra: Impressions and Sensations\u201d and Rhys\u2019 \u201cA Romance of Three Fools.\u201d\u00a0 Symons uses his experience during a night at the Alhambra Theatre to explain the frenzy in preparation to the start of the show.\u00a0 He describes the illusion created by the wigs, make-up, and costumes of female performers.\u00a0 Symons reveals that make-up on an unattractive woman has no cause, but make-up on a beautiful woman serves to emphasize her charm.\u00a0 He states, \u201cThe very phrase, painted woman, has come to have an association of sin; and to have put paint on her cheeks, though for the innocent necessities of her profession, gives to a woman a sort of symbolic corruption\u201d (Symons 77).\u00a0 The woman\u2019s appearance and sexual aura, although created for the purpose of her performance, are seen as immoral and offensive to the high-class late-Victorians.\u00a0Dancing allegedly prompted promiscuity and prostitution, creating local music hall controversies (Kift 155).\u00a0Because these women presented themselves in a forward way, in front of large assemblies of the public, they were seen as both immodest and lower class.\u00a0 Respectable working women had domestic or industry jobs, they did not wear provocative clothing and present suggestive material to the community.\u00a0Rhys uses his fairy tale \u201cA Romance of Three Fools\u201d to exemplify these uncharacteristic behaviours found in music hall women.\u00a0 The character of Marie Barrone uses her beauty to garner the attention of multiple men, and in a fairy tale-like manner, charms three different men into believing they are the sole proprietors of her affection.\u00a0 This stereotype plays into the indecency of music hall performers and is further upheld by complaints that a pair of American men were \u201cbeing \u2018continuously accosted by night and solicited by women\u2019\u201d during an evening at the Empire theatre (Faulk 79).\u00a0 Rhys later contradicts his earlier stereotypes when it is revealed that Marie is married to Mr. John Jones.\u00a0 The satirical irony of this event draws attention to the unsolicited devotion and gifts brought to Marie by Jack Momus because of her occupation, which therefore classified her as an exhibitionist.\u00a0 The assumptions placed on women in music halls speaks more of the society of late-Victoria than it does the performers.\u00a0 Because of the topics and their presentation, music halls were labeled as uncouth and provocative, subsequently subjecting those who performed and worked in music halls to those same labels.\u00a0 With such a high emphasis placed on the vulgarity of these popular events, the sexual excitement of the audience was a natural outcome that reflected the indecency of the clientele, not the performers (Faulk 3).<\/p>\n Both \u201cA Romance of Three Fools\u201d and \u201cAt the Alhambra: Impressions and Sensations\u201d use fairy tales within the stories to depict conservative, elitist opinions of popular culture music halls.\u00a0 Fairy tales were and are now generally meant for the entertainment of children, but in the 1890s, many adults began to indulge in the fantasy of these stories.\u00a0These works can be categorized as fairy tales because of the spectacular events and characters.\u00a0 This is evident in Rhys\u2019 story because Marie\u2019s mannerisms and behaviour bare striking similarities to those of the famous Cinderella, a fact which is quite comical because of Miss Barrone\u2019s portrayal of that exact character in the music hall production of \u201cSweet Cinderella\u201d as is mentioned in the narrative.\u00a0 Momus can be likened to common characters of Prince Charming as he chases after the illustrious woman who has captured his attention.\u00a0 Using different locations, with each presenting their own challenges, readers are offered passage around the United Kingdom to experience the scenery alongside Momus.\u00a0 The same can be used to describe what Symons encounters at the Alhambra as he illustrates the varying sensations awarded to him simply by changing his position within the theatre.\u00a0 \u201cA Romance of Three Fools\u201d is more of a modern fairy tale that uses a man\u2019s desire and his ignorance against him, in an effort to contradict assumptions about women.\u00a0\u201cAt the Alhambra: Impressions and Sensations\u201d can be classified as an essay that uses the music hall and fairy tales to play into the conservative, elitist mindset to criticize the middle-class leisure forms.\u00a0 Very few of the literary works found within volume five of The Savoy <\/em>fall into the defined category of a fairy tale; other than Rhys\u2019 work, Olivia Shakespear\u2019s \u201cBeauty\u2019s Hour,\u201d and an English translation of \u201cO Petites F\u00e9es\u201d by Gabriel Gillett from Frenchman Jean Mor\u00e9as fall under this genre.\u00a0 This is because innocent and child-like themes contradicted the licentious and \u201cflamboyant\u201d reputation The<\/em>Savoy<\/em>was attempting to establish for itself (Claes and Demoor 139).<\/p>\n Music hall performances were the most sexualized and provocative modes of popular entertainment of the 1890s.\u00a0 This resulted in their actresses being among the most degraded of working-class women professions.\u00a0 Authors like Rhys and Symons were able to use the decadent reputation of The Savoy\u00a0<\/em>to present their scandalous fairy tales in a way that was acceptable of that era.\u00a0 Rhys uses the fairy tale genre to satirically comment on assumptions placed on female performers in music halls and the uncomfortable advances they were subject to as a result of the sexualization of their occupation.\u00a0 Symons critique of the music hall gives an audience perspective of the actresses that sheds light onto how and why society views them as indecent.\u00a0 The Savoy <\/em>was able to publish these works of such controversial topics because they coincided with themes readers expected to find in the magazine.\u00a0 The fairy tale genre was simply a tool used to make these works seem more appropriate to the conservatism of the late-Victorian era.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Claes, Koenraad, and Marysa Demoor. \u201cThe Little Magazine in the 1890s: Towards a \u201cTotal Work of Art\u201d.\u201d\u00a0English Studies<\/em>, vol. 91, no. 2, 2010, pp. 133-149. Scholars Portal Journals, doi: 10.1080\/00138380903355049<\/p>\n Davis, Tracy C. \u201cThe 1890s: The Moral Sense of the Majorities: Indecency and Vigilance in Late-Victorian Music Halls.\u201d\u00a0Popular Music<\/em>, vol. 10, 1991, pp. 39-39. JSTOR, https:\/\/www-jstor-org.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca\/stable\/853008?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents<\/p>\n Ernest, Rhys. \u201cRomance of Three Fools.\u201d The Savoy, <\/em>vol. 5, September 1896, pp. 57-69. Internet archive, https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/savoy02symo\/page\/56<\/p>\n Faulk, Barry J.\u00a0Music Hall & Modernity: The Late-Victorian Discovery of Popular Culture.<\/em>\u00a0Ohio University Press, 2004.<\/p>\n Horrall, Andrew.\u00a0Popular Culture in London c. 1890-1918: The Transformation of Entertainment.\u00a0<\/em>Manchester University Press, 2001.<\/p>\n Kift, Dagmar.\u00a0The Victorian Music Hall: Culture, Class, and Conflict.<\/em>\u00a0Cambridge University Press, 1996.<\/p>\n Parratt, Catriona M. \u201cLittle Means or Time: Working-Class Women and Leisure in Late Victorian and Edwardian England.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>The International Journal of the History of Sport<\/em>, vol. 15, no. 2, 1998, pp. 22-53. Scholars Portal Journals, doi: 10.1080\/09523369808714027<\/p>\n Platt, Len, and Tobias Becker. \u201cPopular Musical Theatre, Cultural Transfer, Modernities: London\/Berlin, 1890-1930.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>Theatre Journal<\/em>, vol. 65, no. 1, 2013, pp. 1-18. JSTOR, https:\/\/www-jstor-org.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca\/stable\/41819819?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents<\/p>\n Symons, Arthur. \u201cAt the Alhambra: Impressions and Sensations.\u201d The Savoy, <\/em>vol. 5, September 1896, pp. 75-83. Internet archive, https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/savoy02symo\/page\/74<\/p>\n Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a92019 Payton Flood, Ryerson University Introduction The Savoy\u00a0was one of the most prominent little magazines of its time. \u00a0With the Yellow Book\u2019s recently ousted Arthur Symons and Aubrey Beardsley as its editors, The\u00a0Savoy represents the aesthetic ambition of two of the most forward-thinking literary and art creators (Claes and Demoor).\u00a0 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,99,25],"tags":[410,94],"class_list":["post-3619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eng810-w2019","category-fairy-tale","category-the-savoy","tag-late-victorian-music-halls","tag-working-women","column","threecol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3619"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8235,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3619\/revisions\/8235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cdh.rula.info\/y90sclassroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1890s Britain and Popular Culture<\/u><\/h3>\n
Working Women<\/u><\/h3>\n
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Women in Music Halls<\/u><\/h3>\n
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Late-Victorian Fairy Tales<\/u><\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/u><\/h3>\n
\nWorks Cited<\/h3>\n
\n