Includes bibliographical references (p. [285]-328) and index.

Were they or weren't they?: Geishas and early Western perceptions of the morality of Japanese women -- Geishas as artefact: artifice, ideal beauty and the natural woman -- Madam Butterfly's antecedents: the women of the ports and Japanese 'wives' -- Hara-Kiri!: Sadayakko and Madame Hanako on the Western stage -- From foe to friend: geishas in Anglo-American popular culture before and after the Second World War -- Bunny-boiler or like a virgin: images of the geisha in late twentieth-century America.

"In this fascinating and wide-ranging book, Yoko Kawaguchi explores the Western portrayal of Japanese women--and geishas in particular--from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. She argues that in the West, Japanese women have come to embody certain ideas about feminine sexuality, and she analyses how these ideas have been expressed in diverse art forms, ranging from fiction and opera to the visual arts and music videos. Among the many works Kawaguchi discusses are the art criticism of Baudelaire and Huysmans, the opera Madama Butterfly, the sculptures of Rodin, the Broadway play Teahouse of the August Moon, and the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. Butterfly's Sisters also examines the impact on early twentieth-century theatre, drama and dance theory of the performance styles of the actresses Madame Hanako and Sadayakko, both formerly geishas."--Book jacket.

Description based on print version record.