Fashion: Or, Life in New York

by Anna Cora Mowatt

Book by Mowatt, Anna Cora

Genres: Plays, 19th Century, School, Theatre

53 pages, Plastic Comb

First published January 1, 1845

About the author

Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie (née, Ogden; after first marriage, Mowatt; after second marriage, Ritchie; pseudonyms, Isabel, Henry C. Browning, and Helen Berkley) was a French-born American author, playwright, public reader, actress, and preservationist. Her best known work was the play Fashion, published in 1845. Following her critical success as a playwright, she enjoyed a successful career on stage as an actress. Her Autobiography of an Actress was published in 1853. Anna Cora Mowatt played a central role in lobbying and fundraising during the early years of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States.

Reviews

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2,75

It wasn't a great read, but it was quite funny and likable.

The characters of "Fashion" cover the whole social spectrum. We see all kinds of people from poor servants ( who actually know the most about fashionable French customs) to aristocrats who employ them. We can find contrast between characters who symbolize virtues of simplicity and sincerity and characters symbolizing hypocrisy of fashionable life.

[Seamaiden · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay for a play but I got bored of it really quickly. I don't think I would have finished it if I didn't have to. I liked that at some parts there was musicality, and I enjoyed some characters, especially Trueman, but others made me roll my eyes so much that it hurt.

[Lucía Ruescas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I have been reading piles of plays for a grad school project, I have known that I wouldn't be thrilled with all of them. However, I did not expect to despise any of them as much as I did "Fashion: Or, Life in New York." Even taking into account that this is a 19th century work, it is incredibly racist and sexist, and the complicated plot is stuffed with awkward exposition and bizarre asides. The satire that seems to have kept this play in conversation wasn't even all that good. Apparently, a lot of rich people are shallow and commit crimes. What a shock!
If you love plays where there are only two characters who have any honesty whatsoever, especially if one of them is a racist old man with a penchant for beating people in the street, and the other gets derided first as a whore for being alone in a room with a man and second as devious and underhanded for trying to expose a crime (though that's okay, because that's just how we ladies are), and like it even better if the aforementioned old man is the woman's secret grandpa after he had her hidden away in Europe after his daughter was apparently the main character in Charlotte Temple, you will love this play. Personally, I felt like finding a way to throw an eText out of a window after reading it, but that may just be me.

[Annathelle26 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing. Very amusing.

It made me laugh many times, and I liked Trueman's sense of humor a lot.
The story became somewhat boring in the end though, but at least there were these sudden splashes of humor, that kept me wanting to finish it.

[Humphrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything is pretty contrived, but there are some entertaining moments and it's certainly brisk. Also, of course, an interesting snapshot of American opinions on themselves and Europe in the mid-19th.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

important, but not a great read