Women in Traditional Chinese Theatre serves as an introduction to Chinese classical drama, through original translations of six plays from the 14th to 20th centuries, and an investigation of the portrayal of women in Chinese theater. The selected plays feature the most popular female archetypes in Chinese literature, including the paragon of virtue, the stoic sufferer, the faithful wife, and the femme fatale. Appealing to both scholars and general theater enthusiasts, this book reveals how the cultural constructs of Chinese women are represented in dramatic literature, and how the theater, in turn, shapes the cultural perception of women.