"'Closeted' discourses in private theatricals: The mystification of genre and audience in Christian Carstairs’ 'The Hubble-Shue'"

Nineteenth-century female dramatists often had to resort to theatrical hybrid forms and transgeneric modes in order to avoid public censorship and denunciation. In this context, Carstairs’ playlet "The Hubble Shue", disruptively mixing comedic, farcical and satirical elements, provides a paradigmatic example. This chapter will aim to show why this apparently ludicrous experiment, questioning the conventional distinction between closet and staged drama with its inconsequential speeches, a rambling storyline, surreal paraphernalia and metatheatricality, deserves more critical attention than it has so far received.