Cross-Casting in French Court Ballet: Monstrous Aberration or Theatrical Convention?

Abstract

The phenomenon of men playing women's roles in the theatre has always provoked comment, and often controversy. Anti-theatrical tracts in Renaissance England, for example, are riddled with the complaint that actors who perform female roles are 'monsters'. This charge stems not only from a belief that cross-dressing will lead to effeminization on the part of both cross-dresser and viewer, but moreover from the way cross-casting highlights disturbing insights into questions of personal identity. In this article, I examine the ways in which this notion of monstrosity is played out with regard to cross-cast roles in French court ballet under Louis XIV. While cross-casting is sometimes employed to monstrous effect, it will be seen from contemporary ballet programmes that the monstrosity of a man appearing in feminine attire was subordinate to the need for women at court to conform to their role as beautiful object.