{"id":105,"date":"2016-04-29T11:14:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T09:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/?p=105"},"modified":"2020-01-09T13:58:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T12:58:26","slug":"dorothy-dora-jordan-1761-1816","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/2016\/04\/29\/dorothy-dora-jordan-1761-1816\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorothy (Dora) Jordan (1761-1816)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here<\/a> for English translation<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n
Dorothy (Dora) Jordan (1761-1816)<\/span><\/h5>\n
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Dorothy Jordan, conosciuta anche come Dora Jordan, nacque a Londra nel 1761. Figlia illegittima di Francis Bland, Colonnello dell\u2019esercito, e Grace Phillips, attrice di teatro, pass\u00f2 la giovinezza in Irlanda. Nel 1784 il padre lasci\u00f2 la famiglia e a Dorothy fu assegnato il cognome della madre.<\/span><\/p>\n
Attrice e cantante, fece il suo debutto nel 1779 nel ruolo di Miss Peggy in The Country<\/em> Girl<\/em> (adattamento di David Garrick di The Country Wife<\/em> di Wycherley), <\/em>allo Smock Alley Theatre di Dublino. Il teatro, all\u2019epoca, era gestito da Richard Daly, del quale divenne ben presto amante e da cui ebbe un figlio illegittimo, Francis. Nel 1782, fu costretta a lasciare l\u2019Irlanda per sfuggire allo stesso Daly, a cui doveva ingenti somme di denaro.<\/span><\/p>\n
Giunta a Leeds, inizi\u00f2 a lavorare con il manager Tate Wilkinson, il quale le assegn\u00f2 Jordan come cognome d\u2019arte e la accolse nella sua compagnia di York. Cornelius Swan, critico e studioso di Shakespeare presso l\u2019Universit\u00e0 di York, riconobbe in lei un grande potenziale e decise di guidarla nell\u2019interpretazione dei ruoli del massimo drammaturgo inglese, dopo aver trovato il denaro necessario per pagare i suoi debiti. Per tre anni Jordan recit\u00f2 nella compagnia di Wilkinson, finch\u00e9 non fu notata dall\u2019attore William Smith che la raccomand\u00f2 a Richard Sheridan, impresario del Drury Lane, il quale decise di scritturarla. Inizi\u00f2 cos\u00ec la sua fruttuosa collaborazione col teatro dove pot\u00e9 inoltre conoscere Richard Ford, uno dei maggiori azionisti, che divenne suo amante e dal quale ebbe tre figli.<\/span><\/p>\n
Nel 1790 il Principe William Henry, duca di Clarence, dopo averla vista recitare, si interess\u00f2 alla sua storia e si innamor\u00f2 di lei. Dopo aver scoperto che Jordan era celibe e con figli, Henry decise di ospitarla nella sua residenza e di provvedere al sostentamento dell\u2019attrice e della sua prole. La coppia non fu tuttavia mai legalmente sposata \u2013 cosa che attir\u00f2 loro anche una serie di critiche pubbliche \u2013 e si sciolse nel 1811. Durante la relazione, Jordan aveva continuato a lavorare presso il Drury Lane, ma aveva collaborato anche con il Covent Garden e con numerosi teatri di provincia: nel 1801 a Canterbury, l\u2019anno successivo a Liverpool, nel 1803 a Birmingham, nel 1808 aveva intrapreso a Bath la prima delle sue stagioni annuali, per poi spostarsi a Bristol, Chester, Leicester ed in seguito a Manchester.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Trasferitasi a Chelsea dopo la separazione, seppe da subito imporsi sui palcoscenici londinesi come la prima attrice comica inglese, divenendo cos\u00ec la controparte della musa tragica del tempo, Sarah Siddons. Fra i suoi ruoli comici pi\u00f9 famosi vi furono Imogen dal Cymbeline<\/em>, Rosalind in As You like It<\/em>, Beatrice in Much Ado about<\/em> Nothing<\/em> e Viola in Twelfth Night<\/em>, tratti da opere di Shakespeare. Interpret\u00f2 inoltre Hippolita in She Wou\u2019d and She Wou\u2019d Not<\/em> di Colley Cibber, Roxalana in The Sultan<\/em> di Isaac Bickerstaff, Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal<\/em> e Lydia Languish in The Rivals<\/em> di Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Si misur\u00f2 anche in parti tragiche ricoprendo i ruoli di Ophelia in Amleto<\/em> e Cora in Pizarro<\/em> di Sheridan (adattamento dall\u2019originale di August von Kotzebue).<\/span><\/p>\n
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Attrice vivace e briosa, fu molto applaudita nelle parti che richiedevano travestimenti maschili, chiamate breech roles<\/em>, come Bollario in Philaster<\/em> di Beaumont e Fletcher, Viola di Twelfth Night<\/em>, Priscilla Tomboy in The Romp<\/em>, Little Pickle in The Spoiled Child<\/em> e Sir Harry Wildair in The Constant Couple<\/em> di George Farquhar. Fu inoltre la prima a recitare nel ruolo di Angela in The Castle Spectre<\/em> di Matthew Lewis, Flavia in Vortigern<\/em> di William Henry Ireland, Cora in Pizarro<\/em> di Sheridan e Imogen in Adelmorn the Outlaw<\/em> di Lewis.<\/span><\/p>\n
Per ragioni economiche, in quello stesso periodo, prese parte ad una serie di spettacoli in giro per il paese. Nel 1788 fu invitata a Cheltenham in occasione della visita di re Giorgio III e della regina Charlotte, nello stesso anno era poi apparsa a Reading e nel circuito di Bath, Portsmouth e Southampton, che continu\u00f2 a visitare periodicamente anche negli anni successivi. L\u2019anno seguente si spost\u00f2 invece ad Edimburgo, e successivamente tra York,\u00a0 Margate e Canterbury, fino al 1801. Il 1802 la vide a Liverpool e Preston, il 1803 a Birmingham e, nonostante l\u2019et\u00e0 relativamente avanzata e le condizioni di salute in costante peggioramento, fino al 1810 si rec\u00f2 anche a Chester, Leicester, Manchester e Worcester.<\/span><\/p>\n
Solo nel 1815 si ritir\u00f2 dalle scene per trasferirsi a Boulogne, in Francia, dove intraprese un vero e proprio esilio volontario, probabilmente dovuto alle sue precarie condizioni di salute o alla sua situazione economica, perennemente instabile. Mor\u00ec sola nel luglio 1816 a Parigi.<\/span><\/p>\n
Lo stile di recitazione di Jordan fu sempre descritto dai contemporanei come particolarmente innovativo: l\u2019attrice abbandon\u00f2 infatti l\u2019atteggiamento rigido e il dialogo manierato della scuola di Kemble, portando sulla scena una naturale vivacit\u00e0 e freschezza. Per le sue doti e capacit\u00e0 attoriali, fu particolarmente apprezzata da Charles Lamb e da William Hazlitt, che la ricopr\u00ec di lodi in uno dei suoi Dramatic Essays<\/em>; fu inoltre l\u2019attrice preferita di sir Joshua Reynolds. La sua prima biografia ufficiale, Life of Mrs Jordan<\/em> di James Boaden, fu pubblicata nel 1831.<\/span><\/p>\n
English Translation<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\nDorothy (Dora) Jordan (1761-1816)<\/span><\/h5>\n
Dorothy Jordan, also known as Dora Jordan, was born in London in 1761. She was the illegitimate child of Francis Bland, an army colonel, and Grace Phillips, a theatre actress. She spent her childhood in Ireland. In 1784, her father left the family and she took the surname of her mother.<\/span><\/p>\n
Jordan made her debut as a singer and actress in 1779 in the role of Miss Peggy in The Country Girl (an adaptation of Wycherley\u2019s The Country Wife by David Garrick), at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. At the time, the theatre was under the management of Richard Daly, who soon became her lover. They had an illegitimate child together, named Francis. In 1782, Jordan was forced to leave Ireland to get away from Daly, to whom she owed a great deal of money.<\/span><\/p>\n
Having made her way to Leeds, Jordan started to work with manager Tate Wilkinson, who gave her the stage surname Jordan and took her in as part of his York company. Cornelius Swan, critic and scholar of Shakespeare at the University of York, saw great potential in her and decided to guide her into acting in roles written by great English playwrights, after finding the necessary money to pay her outstanding debts. For three years, Jordan acted in Wilkinson\u2019s company, until actor William Smith noticed her talent and recommended her to Richard Sheridan, manager of the Drury Lane theatre, who decided to enrol her in his company. Therefore, her fruitful collaborations with the theatre began, where she was also able to meet Richard Ford, one of the theatre\u2019s stakeholders, who became her lover and with whom she had three children.<\/span><\/p>\n
In 1790, after seeing Jordan onstage, William Henry, duke of Clarence, fell in love with her. After finding out she was a single mother, Henry decided to welcome her into his home and provide for her and her children. However, the two of them were never legally married \u2014 which brought them public criticism \u2014 and they broke up in 1811. During their relationship, Jordan continued to work at the Drury Lane theatre, but also collaborated with Covent Garden and many other theatres: in Canterbury in 1801, in Liverpool the following year, in Birmingham in 1803. In 1808, she spent the first two seasons of the year in Bath and then moved on to Bristol, Chester, Leicester and Manchester.<\/span><\/p>\n
After breaking up with Henry and moving to Chelsea, Jordan hit the stages of London as the first English comic actress, becoming the counterpart of the tragic muse of the time, Sarah Siddons. Some of Jordan\u2019s most notable comic roles were Imogen in Cymbeline, Rosalind in As You Like It, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Viola in Twelfth Night, from Shakespeare\u2019s works. She also played Hippolita in Colley Cibber\u2019s She Wou\u2019d and She Wou\u2019d Not, Roxalana in Isaac Bickerstaff\u2019s The Sultan, Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal and Lydia Languish in Richard Brinsley Sheridan\u2019s The Rivals. Jordan also starred in tragic roles such as Ophelia in Hamlet and Cora in Pizarro (an adaptation by Sheridan of August von Kotzebue\u2019s original work).<\/span><\/p>\n
A lively actress, Jordan was applauded in roles that required male outfits (called \u2018breech roles\u2019) like Bollario in Beaumont and Fletcher\u2019s Philaster, Viola in Twelfth Night, Priscilla Tomboy in The Romp, Little Pickle in The Spoiled Child and Sir Harry Wildair in George Farquhar\u2019s The Constant Couple. Jordan was also the first actress to play Angela in Matthew Lewis\u2019s The Castle Spectre,<\/span><\/p>\n
Flavia in William Henry Ireland\u2019s Vortigern, Cora in Sheridan\u2019s Pizarro and Imogen in Lewis\u2019s Adelmorn the Outlaw.<\/span><\/p>\n
For financial reasons, in this same period, Jordan took part in a series of shows around the country. In 1788, she was invited to Cheltenham for the visit of King George III and Queen Charlotte. During that same year, she also worked in Reading, Bath, Portsmouth and Southampton, where she came back periodically in the following years. In 1789, she moved to Edinburgh, and later to York, Margate and Canterbury, until 1801. In 1802, she performed in Liverpool and Preston, in 1803 in Birmingham, and, despite her age and health conditions, she kept travelling to work also in Chester, Leicester, Manchester and Worcester. She retired in 1815 and moved to Boulogne, in France, where she went in a voluntary exile, probably due to her precarious health and unstable economic situation. She died alone in Paris in 1816.<\/span><\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s acting style was described by coeval critics as particularly innovative: she indeed abandoned the rigid attitude and artificial dialogues introduced by Kemble, in favour of a more natural style characterised by vivacity and freshness. She was extremely appreciated by Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt for her talent and acting style. Hazlitt praised her in one of his Dramatic Essays. She was also Sir Joshua Reynolds\u2019s favourite actress. A first official biography of her life, Life of Mrs Jordan, by James Boaden, was published in 1831.<\/span><\/p>\n
Translated by Aisha Gueye
\nRevised by Dott.ssa Valentina Pramaggiore<\/span><\/p>\n
Bibliografia\/Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Moody, Jane and Daniel O\u2019Quinn (eds), The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre 1730-1830<\/em> (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007)<\/span><\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.oxforddnb.com\/view\/article\/15119<\/a> [Paul Ranger, \u2018Jordan, Dorothy (1761\u20131816)\u2019, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography<\/em>, Oxford University Press, 2004; consultato il 19\/05\/2016]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Click here for English translation Dorothy (Dora) Jordan (1761-1816) Dorothy Jordan, conosciuta anche come Dora Jordan, nacque a Londra nel 1761. Figlia illegittima di Francis Bland, Colonnello dell\u2019esercito, e Grace Phillips, attrice di teatro, pass\u00f2 la giovinezza in Irlanda. Nel 1784 il padre lasci\u00f2 la famiglia e a Dorothy fu assegnato il cognome della madre. … Leggi tutto “Dorothy (Dora) Jordan (1761-1816)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[38,39,61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}