Adah Isaacs Menken
“Adah Isaacs Menken.” American Jewish Historical Society.
Mark Twain review of Adah Isaacs Menken
Mark Twain, “Territorial Enterprise,” San Francisco Correspondent, September 17, 1883. Mark Twain Project, The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.
Document Text |
Summary |
| Letter from Mark Twain | The Menken- Written especially for Gentlemen. |
| When I arrived in San Francisco, I found there was no one in town-at least there was nobody in town but “The Menken”-or rather, that no one was being talked about except that manly young female. I went to see her play “Mazeppa,” of course. They said she was dressed from head to foot in flesh-colored “tight,” but I had no opera-glass, and I couldn’t see it, to use the language of the inelegant rabble. She appeared to me to have but one garment on-a thin tight white linen one, of unimportant dimensions; I forget the name of the article, but it is indispensable to infants of tender age-I suppose any young mother can tell you what it is, if you have the moral courage to ask the question. | When I got to San Francisco, everyone was talking about a manly young woman called “The Menken.” I went to her play called “Mazeppa.” I was told that she wore a skin-colored leotard but I was sitting too far away from the stage to see it. It looked like she was wearing a diaper. |
| With the exception of this superfluous rag, the Menken dresses like the Greek Slave; but some of her postures are not so modest as the suggestive attitude of the latter. She is a finely formed woman down to her knees; if she could be herself that far, and Mrs. H.A. Perry the rest of the way, she would pass for an unexceptional Venus. Here every tongue sings the praises of her matchless grace, her supple gestures, her charming attitudes. Well, possibly, these tongues are right. In the first set, she rushes on the stage, and goes cavorting around after “Olinska,” she bends herself back like a bow; she pitches headforemost the atmosphere like a battering ram; she works her arms, and her legs, and her whole body like a dancing-jack: her every movement is as quick as thought; in a word, without any apparent reason for it, she carries on like a lunatic from the beginning of the act to the end of it. At other times she “whallops” herself down on the stage, and rolls over as does the sportive pack-mule after his burden is removed. If this be grace then the Menken is eminently graceful. | Beside the diaper, the Menken is dressed like a Greek slave. But she does not act like one. She has a good body down to her knees. If she had better calves and feet she would be a goddess. Everyone in San Francisco praises her grace, movements, and charm. Well, maybe they are right. In the first act she does wild acrobatics all over the stage. She looks like a lunatic. Sometimes she slams her body on the ground and rolls around like an animal. If this is grace, than the Menken is graceful. |
Mark Twain, “Territorial Enterprise,” 1863.
Mark Twain, “Territorial Enterprise,” 1863. Mark Twain Project, The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.
Background
In the 1800s, American society had clearly defined roles and acceptable behavior for women. But some women happily flaunted these standards. Adah Isaacs Menken was an American Jewish actor who regularly performed for audiences including men. This fact alone put Adah well outside the bounds of modest female behavior. But Adah took things a step further in the early 1860s production of Mazeppa.
Before Mazeppa, Adah’s career was on the decline. Reviewers did not think she was a very good actress. She needed a way to make herself unforgettable. In Mazeppa, she played a male character that was stripped naked and tied to a horse. Previous productions used a mannequin for the nude scene. Adah acted the scene wearing a flesh-colored body stocking so that she appeared to be nude. Her choice was so shocking and titillating that it made her an international sensation.
About the Document
The undated photograph shows Adah Isaacs Menken in costume, possibly the costume from Mazeppa. This costume would have been considered extremely scandalous by mid-1800s standards because her legs are fully visible.
The article is a review of Adah’s performance in Mazeppa by famous American author Mark Twain. The review captures the shock and amusement audiences felt at her performances.
Discussion Questions
- What is Adah Isaacs Menken trying to convey about herself in her studio portrait?
- How does Mark Twain feel about Adah Isaacs Menken’s performance in Mazeppa?
- What does Adah Issacs Menken’s story reveal about the distance between American ideal and American practice in the mid-1800s?
Suggested Activities
- Teach these sources together with Evolving Fashion and “The Two Sexes” for a lesson about the differences between ideals and lived reality in the mid-1800s.
- Adah Isaacs Menken made her career off of making artistic choices that shocked and titillated her audiences, and her story helps us better understand the culture and values of her time. Ask the students to pick a modern-day provocateur and write a short analysis of what their career and choices reveal about U.S. culture and values of the present moment.
Themes
AMERICAN CULTURE
