Madelyn Davis

My name is Madelyn and I am a doctoral student in the Department of English at the University of Toronto. My research project incorporates archival records, paleography, extant play texts, and visual arts to explore the largely untouched topic of child performance in early English drama situated outside of London. It considers how children’s bodies were used to communicate various ideas to playgoers, including political rhetoric, religious symbolism, social dynamics, and embodied sexuality (or a marked lack thereof). I seek to identify symbolic and practical trends to create a fuller picture of child performers, their situations, and their spectators, as well as how they connect to their more researched London counterparts.

While early English drama is the primary subject of my research project, I am also passionate about the Old English language, paleography, and the practices of medieval religious women.