New Anatomies

by Timberlake Wertenbaker

The cover and pages of this used paperback are clean (no writing except for initial inside the front cover or highlighting) and in near-new condition with minimal signs of use.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, Fiction

52 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Mbuye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timberlake Wertenbaker's play, ‘New Anatomies,’ was first played in 1981, but released in book form in 1984. Essentially a study in gender politics, it is based on the tragic history of a historical person, Isabelle Eberhardt. Born of mixed parentage, with a Russian father and a German mother, Eberhardt found herself restricted and constrained among the women around her (she was then living in Switzerland with her parents and siblings), who looked down on her radical feminist ideas. Equally, among the men, her political, literary or liberal views were never taken seriously. In Europe, she was regarded as a misfit, particularly when she began cross-dressing. Hoping to be able to find liberty in another country, she goes to Algeria. Although she is able to mingle freely among the men, dressed as a man, they too indulge her, knowing all the time that she is a woman. She cannot be a woman among the women of Europe, but neither is she truly a man among Arab men.

Gender and racial identity haunt the play, giving Eberhardt no support from her own government, while towards the end, the Arabs think of her as a spy sent by the French authorities a woman in the guise of a man to report on their activities.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting it should be a pleasure and a bain to work on. I kept getting the feeling I was missing out on something. On the whole it's interesting and insightful and liberating to see a woman partake in an adventure even if it leads to a less than happy ending.