Using historical evidence and personal accounts, Davis examines the reality of conditions for ordinary actresses, their working environments, employment patterns, and the reasons why acting continued a popular, though insecure, profession.

In Victorian society performers were drawn from various class backgrounds, and enjoyed a unique degree of social mobility. Nevertheless, the living and working conditions of female performers were very different from those of their male colleagues. Their segregation and concentration in low-status jobs, like dancing, guaranteed economic insecurity. Actresses' attempts to reconcile sexuality and the female life cycle to a physically demanding, itinerant occupation while under constant public scrutiny led to assumptions about their morality - assumptions that were constantly reinforced by theatrical conventions which reflected popular pornographic images. This is an important book that brings fresh perspectives to bear on 19th-century theatre. It will nevertheless be of interest to a wide range of specialists including historians and feminist critics.