The Restoration and early eighteenth-century theaters of London formed an important mixed-gender rhetorical venue, which was acutely focused on the age-old “querrelle des femmes” (or woman question). The immediate popularity of the newly opened Restoration theaters, the new practice of casting actresses rather than actors in female roles, and the libertine social climate of London from 1660 to the early 1700s created a unique rhetorical situation in which women openly participated as speakers and audience members. Through a methodology combining feminist historiography, performance theory, Bitzer’s rhetorical situation, and Habermas’ notion of the public sphere, this dissertation reclaims the Restoration theatre as one of the earliest public, secular, mixed-gender rhetorical venues in the English-speaking world. London theater of the Restoration and the early eighteenth century presents a feminist kairos for rereading and revisioning the actress from object to subject, from passive receiver to deliverer of performative rhetoric. Overall, the attention given to issues of femaleness in the plays of this period exceeds that of preceding and subsequent periods. The novelty of the actresses, as well as disillusionment with the male-dominated government and system of patriarchy, were major contributing factors that led to the female focus on stage. This phenomenon of female rhetoric also reflects the charisma, elocutionary skill, and visual rhetoric of the best female performers of the period, including: Nell Gwyn, Mary Saunderson Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle, Susannah Mountfort Verbruggen, Anne Oldfield, and Lavinia Fenton, all of whom are discussed from a rhetorical perspective in this dissertation.

Nessa dissertação abordamos certo poema de Paganus Bolotinus, cônego de Chartres na primeira metade do século XII. Sob a pena do clérigo são traçados diversos ataques a supostos eremitas que perambulam pela região espalhando as doutrinas das novas religiões e por isso são tidos como falsos. O estudo desses versos redigidos contra os falsos eremitas que vão à cidade em busca do exercício da palavra, permitiu-nos ir muito além das muralhas chartrenses. A análise da estruturação do discurso poético nos permitiu, primeiramente, dar sentido ao documento e apurar a identificação daqueles a quem se direcionam as palavras do cônego. Uma vez compreendidas as figuras em jogo na narrativa pudemos fazer considerações a respeito do eremitismo medieval, demonstrando a necessidade de pensá-lo no plural a fim de sempre deixar aberta a possibilidade de que práticas e representações não ortodoxas tenham existido entre aqueles que se sentiram atraídos por algum dos muitos aspectos desse tipo de vida religiosa. Finalmente, pudemos tecer alguns comentários de caráter teórico acerca do trabalho do historiador posto a refletir sobre níveis e dinâmicas culturais, tendo sempre em mente suas relações com a sociedade estudada e a forma literária impressa no relato textual objeto da pesquisa / This work deals with a poem of Paganus Bolotinus canon of Chartres in the first half of the 12th century. Under the clergy\'s writing a lot of attacks are done on alleged hermits who wander around that region spreading the doctrines of the new religions. Due to this fact they are considered false hermits. The study of these verses written against the false hermits, who go to the city in order to preach, allowed us to go further the walls of Chartres. In the first place, the analysis of the structure of the poetic discourse made possible to give sense to the document and to verify the recognition of those to whom the canon\'s words were addressed. Then, once the characters in the narrative were understood, we established some grounds about the medieval eremitism, showing the necessity to think it as a plural phenomenon, in order to consider if any non-orthodox practices and representations existed among those attracted by the different aspects of this type of religious life. Finally, we made some comments about the theoretical aspect that involves the work of the historian who reflects on cultural levels and its dynamics, always having in mind the relations with the studied society and the written form imprinted in the textual report that is his object of research

Nessa dissertação abordamos certo poema de Paganus Bolotinus, cônego de Chartres na primeira metade do século XII. Sob a pena do clérigo são traçados diversos ataques a supostos eremitas que perambulam pela região espalhando as doutrinas das novas religiões e por isso são tidos como falsos. O estudo desses versos redigidos contra os falsos eremitas que vão à cidade em busca do exercício da palavra, permitiu-nos ir muito além das muralhas chartrenses. A análise da estruturação do discurso poético nos permitiu, primeiramente, dar sentido ao documento e apurar a identificação daqueles a quem se direcionam as palavras do cônego. Uma vez compreendidas as figuras em jogo na narrativa pudemos fazer considerações a respeito do eremitismo medieval, demonstrando a necessidade de pensá-lo no plural a fim de sempre deixar aberta a possibilidade de que práticas e representações não ortodoxas tenham existido entre aqueles que se sentiram atraídos por algum dos muitos aspectos desse tipo de vida religiosa. Finalmente, pudemos tecer alguns comentários de caráter teórico acerca do trabalho do historiador posto a refletir sobre níveis e dinâmicas culturais, tendo sempre em mente suas relações com a sociedade estudada e a forma literária impressa no relato textual objeto da pesquisa / This work deals with a poem of Paganus Bolotinus canon of Chartres in the first half of the 12th century. Under the clergy\'s writing a lot of attacks are done on alleged hermits who wander around that region spreading the doctrines of the new religions. Due to this fact they are considered false hermits. The study of these verses written against the false hermits, who go to the city in order to preach, allowed us to go further the walls of Chartres. In the first place, the analysis of the structure of the poetic discourse made possible to give sense to the document and to verify the recognition of those to whom the canon\'s words were addressed. Then, once the characters in the narrative were understood, we established some grounds about the medieval eremitism, showing the necessity to think it as a plural phenomenon, in order to consider if any non-orthodox practices and representations existed among those attracted by the different aspects of this type of religious life. Finally, we made some comments about the theoretical aspect that involves the work of the historian who reflects on cultural levels and its dynamics, always having in mind the relations with the studied society and the written form imprinted in the textual report that is his object of research