344 Dorothy Chansky is then repackaged as "change"or "progress."I return to Friedan's performance of her feminist self in a later part of this essay.What follows immediately below is a consideration of Friedan's personal history with theatre and how it contributed to her feminist thinking and writing. Theatre and Fricdan:Roots and Routes Betty Friedan's own use of theatre and performance falls into two categories:she references theatre in her writing,and she labels herself an actress as she nods to her ability to galvanize crowds regardless of her personal mood.In no way do I mean to read Friedan as an actress-or even a frustrated actress-in the sense of being someone who sought to play scripted roles in the context of play productions,although she enjoyed doing this when she was very young.Rather,it is the figure of public woman seeking to convey her ideas via spoken words,embodied emotions,and personality and thereby forging a career that makes Friedan's public image-and her self-image- useful here.Her own interests in what we might call"regular"theatre(scripts,tickets, roles,programs,characters,reviews)say much about how this art speaks to educated audience members who are supporters though not professionals in the field. Friedan's interest in theatre began in childhood.Like many upper-middle-class white girls growing up on the heels of the advent of the American Little Theatre movement, Friedan had parents who encouraged her participation in dramatic activities,and she says she loved "hanging around"the amateur Peoria(Illinois)Players-a group suc- cessful enough to build their own theatre,to offer what Friedan called"semi-profes- sional"performances,and to use children,which suggests a varied repertory.Friedan claimed she always got the child parts for which she auditioned.2 She recalled her mother taking her to Chicago for a weekend for her eighteenth birthday and seeing Katharine Cornell in Saint Joan and Helen Hayes in Victoria Regina.She also wrote that seeing The Little Foxes meant recognizing her mother in the grasping,demanding wife character who is killing her husband.3 Friedan won the Dramatic Honor Prize for her performance in the senior class play,Jane Eyre,as Bertha Rochester-the original madwoman in the attic.While in high school she also drafted an outline for a play about a strike at a mill.4 Friedan thrived as an undergraduate,because,as she wrote,"the life of the mind, and the life of music and art and theater and writing and social conscience was the important life at Smith,not the small world of social snobbery."15 Theatre,then,in her mind,belongs to socially involved,mentally sharp people's habitus-an unremarkable notion among middlebrows and many intellectuals for most of the twentieth century, and arguably its own realm of social snobbery.During Fricdan's first year out of col- lege,when she attended the University of California,Berkeley,as a graduate student i For an analysis of how the American Little Theatre Movement spoke to the social and cultural aspirations of middle-class Americans during the 1910s and 1920s,see Dorothy Chansky,Composing Ourselves:The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience(Carbondale:Southern Illinois Uni- versity Press,2004). Betty Friedan,Life So Far (New York:Simon and Schuster,2000),22. Tbid.,30.Comell's Saint Joan played in Chicago in early June 1936,at which point Friedan was fifteen,so the memoir is mistaken about the eighteenth-birthday trip. 4bid.29. 15bid,37. This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat,16 Jan 2016 12:04:58 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions344 / Dorothy Chansky is then repackaged as "change" or "progress." I return to Friedan's performance of her feminist self in a later part of this essay. What follows immediately below is a consideration of Friedan's personal history with theatre and how it contributed to her feminist thinking and writing. Theatre and Friedan: Roots and Routes Betty Friedan's own use of theatre and performance falls into two categories: she references theatre in her writing, and she labels herself an actress as she nods to her ability to galvanize crowds regardless of her personal mood. In no way do I mean to read Friedan as an actress - or even a frustrated actress - in the sense of being someone who sought to play scripted roles in the context of play productions, although she enjoyed doing this when she was very young. Rather, it is the figure of public woman seeking to convey her ideas via spoken words, embodied emotions, and personality and thereby forging a career that makes Friedan's public image - and her self-image - useful here. Her own interests in what we might call "regular" theatre (scripts, tickets, roles, programs, characters, reviews) say much about how this art speaks to educated audience members who are supporters though not professionals in the field. Friedan's interest in theatre began in childhood. Like many upper-middle-class white girls growing up on the heels of the advent of the American Little Theatre movement,11 Friedan had parents who encouraged her participation in dramatic activities, and she says she loved "hanging around" the amateur Peoria (Illinois) Players - a group suc￾cessful enough to build their own theatre, to offer what Friedan called "semi-profes￾sional" performances, and to use children, which suggests a varied repertory. Friedan claimed she always got the child parts for which she auditioned.12 She recalled her mother taking her to Chicago for a weekend for her eighteenth birthday and seeing Katharine Cornell in Saint Joan and Helen Hayes in Victoria Regina. She also wrote that seeing The Little Foxes meant recognizing her mother in the grasping, demanding wife character who is killing her husband.13 Friedan won the Dramatic Honor Prize for her performance in the senior class play, Jane Eyre, as Bertha Rochester - the original madwoman in the attic. While in high school she also drafted an outline for a play about a strike at a mill.14 Friedan thrived as an undergraduate, because, as she wrote, "the life of the mind, and the life of music and art and theater and writing and social conscience was the important life at Smith, not the small world of social snobbery."15 Theatre, then, in her mind, belongs to socially involved, mentally sharp people's habitus- an unremarkable notion among middlebrows and many intellectuals for most of the twentieth century, and arguably its own realm of social snobbery. During Friedan's first year out of col￾lege, when she attended the University of California, Berkeley, as a graduate student 11 For an analysis of how the American Little Theatre Movement spoke to the social and cultural aspirations of middle-class Americans during the 1910s and 1920s, see Dorothy Chansky, Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience (Carbondale: Southern Illinois Uni￾versity Press, 2004). 12 Betty Friedan, Life So Far (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000), 22. 13 Ibid., 30. Cornell's Saint Joan played in Chicago in early June 1936, at which point Friedan was fifteen, so the memoir is mistaken about the eighteenth-birthday trip. 14 Ibid., 29. 15 Ibid., 37. This content downloaded from 183.195.251.166 on Sat, 16 Jan 2016 12:04:58 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions