When you call Desdemona, _enter giant_.
The prologue concludes with a promise, which certainly was not kept,
that the drama should be purged of all offensive matter:
And when we've put all things in this fair way,
Barebones himself may come to see a play.
In the epilogue the spectators were asked: "How do you like
her?"--especial appeal being made to those among the audience of the
gentler sex:
But, ladies, what think _you_? For if you tax
Her freedom with dishonour to your sex,
She means to act no more, and this shall be
No other play but her own tragedy.
She will submit to none but your commands,
And take commission only from your hands.
The ladies, no doubt, applauded sufficiently, and "women-actors" from
that time forward became more and more secure of their position in the
theatre. At the same time it would seem that there lingered in the
minds of many a certain prejudice against them, and that some
apprehension concerning the reception they might obtain from the
audience often occupied the managers. A prologue to the second part of
Davenant's "Siege of Rhodes," acted in April, 1662, demonstrates that
the matter had still to be dealt with cautiously.
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