Dorothy Jordan Research Paper

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This essay focuses on the rise and fall of Dorothy Jordan. Jordan in the late 1700’s rose to fame as an actress and quickly became admired by all of Britain. Her sincerity in her performances made her distinctive and a joy to watch. Her curls became a symbol for her theatrical performances and sexual identity as a woman. Furthermore she had a laugh that captivated an audience and a singing voice that did the same. Many people in the height of Jordan’s career were writing about how fantastically she performed on a stage. She caught the eye of many well-established men, the last and most significant man Jordan was romantically involved with was the Duke of Clarence, who later became King William IV. Together, the Duke and Jordan had ten children. However, their relationship did not last and ended so that the Duke could marry…show more content…
When her father left the family in 1774, Jordan followed in her mother’s footsteps in becoming an actress. However Jordan was tremendously more successful that her mother and rose to fame quickly. She first gave herself the stage name Miss Francis but later adopted the name, Mrs Jordan (Boaden, 1830, p.23). Francis was Jordan’s mother’s maiden name. They did not want to use Jordan’s original surname ‘Bland’ as both Jordan and her mother did not want to be associated with Jordan’s father, after her walked out on the family. In the beginning of her career her mother, who had previous experience in theatre, kept very involved with Jordan’s career and Jordan and her mother were very close (Boaden, 1830, p.26). Jordan’s mother was more ambitious for Jordan’s success than she had been for her own. Jordan looked up to actress Mrs Yates when she first began her career and was fortunate to meet her in April, 1785 (Boaden, 1830,

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